Speedo1968

Where I live south of Khon Kaen on the outskirts of a small town and seems to have its own micro - climate.

Wind ( cool - cold - dry - no sand like last year but fine dust ) everyday  of the China desert, dry ( low RH ).

For 3 months there was no rain, apart from a splatter for 10 minutes one morning.

Nearly at the end of the 4th month and a half hour of rain a couple of days ago has vanished.

Temps already had been hitting 36C, nights cool / cold, one night very warm, now after the rain day temps down to 24 / 26C. 

People still dithering about clearing blocked water flow channels to the drains or like last year ( s ) doing nothing, but will be moaning when the road is closed or having to wade thru snake infested water.

The local "pond" was flash flooded with pig s... from a local farm last year and people to continue to dump waste, which is then bulldozed making the pond smaller and smaller.    It was, I think, originally fed from an underground  spring - not no more !

The local "common land" where buffalo wallowed, is slowly having the wallows filled with waste from cement trucks clearing out their tanks at the end of the day.

The rubbish, even " the local school and scout" trips that visit and sit in the field leave all their waste strewn everywhere.

I have been in Thailand 17 years and here where I live now for four years, have seen a rubbish free pleasant area turned in to a tip.   So sad but so like Thailand of today.

19 hours ago, swissmaninthailand said:

After reading all your comments, I announce you I will decrease my Soja consumption. I started to have a pain in the right side of my intestines since I drink soja a lot . I always had pain here when I eat fat food. I will keep my Soja consumption at 1 or 2 cups a week from today. Wish me luck.

Probably gas, something else over indulgence in soy milk can produce.

To "Hereinthailand"

Just that someone else asked about moving bewteen HortiAsia and Agritech and VIV ASIA using a registration form from the shows you mentioned.   Supposedly all on at the same time in BITECH.

VIV ASIA is 15 - 17th March I think the other shows are after these date.

Enjoy the shows anyway.

VIV ASIA is free as far as I know.

Try making your own wine from Rose Apple ( chompoo ).   Don't mix with other fruit.

I have only done this with rose apples from Malaysia, as an experiment and only a small amount.

This was in the late 1990's, when I put my large sports bag full of rose apples through the X-ray machine at the airport all the alarms went off, the police came and I had to open the bag.   I was eventually allowed to put the bag on the flight after it was fully inspected and I had eaten a couple of the fruit to prove what they were.

Cartoned  soy milk Lactosoy Blue also contains cows milk and double the sugar of Lactosoy Red ( no cows milk / less sugar ).

From my own experience 2 cartons of soy milk a day affect the joints of my fingers, three cartons my finger joints are painful.

Yes, fresh soy milk may be better but there are still risks of quality and adulteration.

As for taste, I first drank it here in early 1971, if I remember it was in a smallish triangular shaped carton, the milk was grainy but the taste was fantastic.

I have tried making yogurt from soy milk but no success.

I drink a little every day as I am a vegan, and I do occasionally eat tofu.

In some China cities which I visited on business  regularly in the 1990's, public toilets were a long cement block with a main entrance door.    There were half wall cubicles along each wall, with NO DOORS.    You squat, read the newspaper, contemplate the ceiling or whatever else you do

20 minutes ago, Hereinthailand said:

The problem I see here is there is only one way to do things, the thai way so trying to introduce anything new or different from what they have done for 100 years is a waste of time trying to sell or market. Then you add in the import and customs duties on anything brought in from outside the country and there is little hope for change.

I agree on your main point.

Talking ducks .....

However, having spent 6 years visiting almost monthly and then 10 years working with one particular company in Thailand, I found the main problem to be that, when you recommend they "try" something ( with all the pros and cons clearly explained ) on / in one building first they often make it different to the suggested design / management and / or they do it in all buildings.

Decision making is of course 'sit on the fence' and when this attitude is also taken by senior Thai management, whom the company owners do not want to upset, then the customer s complaints about quality etc are often totally ignored just to save face.

The equipment companies, particularly for buildings and environmental control seem to take no account of what livestock will go in to the building, location of farm, 'what if' related to government regulations etc.  No doubt its just "you like ? you buy ?" sales pitch and then the purchaser, if naive, is left to figure out why it doesn't work.

Its often that the "new" things that are offered are in real day to day  use of no use , even totally impractical.

Your last sentence I agree 100%, as much equipment for poultry / ducks etc is plastic.      If you were a poultry / duck person I could give you a wonderful example of what companies are willing to sell but are totally unfit for purpose.

16 hours ago, djayz said:

This year I've registered for HORTI Asia. Do you happen to know if I can pass from HORTI into VIV and subsequently into AGRITECHNICA with the same pre-registered pass or must I pre-register for all three events seperately? 

Thanks! 

Hello "djayz"

Thanks for the interest.

Sorry I have no idea about wandering from one show to another.

I would pre- register for all 3, at least you  wont risk being turned back to fill in a form.  Online app is quick as you know.

Enjoy the shows although I have to admit, that the last one ( VIV ) was not so good, too many booths and not enough people on hand to talk too, as usual only the big boys get to talk with the big companies.

I found more interesting chats with the smaller companies.

Nothing really new that would help the livestock, just tinkering with old ideas and "Now for something completely different !"

There seems to be no doubt that equipment ( and breeder companies ) take little or notice of climate change and that this is ASIA not the US, China or Europe.  

I started in general farming in 1961 and have been a freelance consultant since 1983, almost entirely outside the UK, firstly in poultry then ducks   All the companies that sell poultry equipment ( housing, ventilation, feeding, drinking, weighing etc ) seem to think their equipment will do as well for ducks as it does for chickens.    It leads to big issues with animal welfare, if you are a caring farmer, and it leads to losses in production / quality too.

Even back in the 80's if you thought "outside the box" you could modify poultry equipment and save money.

Sorry to rabbit on, hope you find something useful to consider or buy.

The VIV ASIA Trade Show ( mainly poultry - or used to be ! )

Dates March 15th - 17th.

Location - BITEC

You can pre - register online.

Day 1 always very busy.

Day 2 good day to go

Day 3 as usual in international events a lot of stands starting to close.

Choice of buses or minibus from Banphai, about 80 baht, about 2 - 3 hours.

The water park at The Mall has a 50 metre pool, well worth it if you want a real swim.   Take your M Card if you have one for discount.

A number of bus company's near to the bus station ( Banphai ) on the 7 / 11 side.

Nakhonchaiair - I think you have  to go to the highway for the bus and to the booking office.

You can book for on the day or in advance.

Seats upstairs and downstairs, remember which side is the sun if you get a window seat.

You get provided with a simple meal and snacks.

Return fare is about 680.

Some buses have power supply if you want to use laptop / phone.

Some buses may stop at the old airport in Bangkok, ( taxi ) depends where you are heading once in Bangkok.

The buses normally nowadays normally dont stop for a "pit-stop" en-route.   The toilets on the buses are generally  ..........

Seating upstairs has a single seat on front left and double on right, you may be able to book a specific seat.

Travel time can vary from 6 - 8 hours.

If you are returning to Banphai BE WARNED sometimes the bus stops on the highway i.e. does not come in to Banphai.  Happens for Thai and falang passengers.    Mainly if the bus is arriving early evening.   It may not stop at all if you are the only person hoping to get off at Banphai, ensure you know where you are on the highway and remind the driver.

May have been posted already !

K.Bank now charging 220 Baht for ATM Visa withdrawal.

What a rip off, only went to 200 Baht last year.

Does any one where I could buy a basic max / min re-settable centigrade thermometer in Khon Kaen ?

See pictures attached.

Fahrenheit scale not required.

I dont know KK very well so some directions would be great.

Thanks in advance.

I had previously posted in KK Forum, but no useful replies.

On 2/12/2017 at 4:14 PM, mfd101 said:

Yes, a mystery. I was worried about avian flu - which could affect humans - but my family perfectly serene on the subject. They think it's just the onset of monsoon, sudden change in weather etc. Interestingly, it affects only the chooks - not the turkeys, ducks or geese.

 

Ducks very fat & healthy. Army loves them for eating - they send a truck or motor scooter every few days to buy 1 or 2 or 3 for lunch or dinner. Only egg-stealing problem we've had recently was neighbourhood dogs at night - but that was the goose eggs (and we have only 1 gander & 1 goose so that was a bit of a bummer - but 8 eggs currently being sat on, 4 by the goose, 4 by a chook of which 2 hatched a couple of days ago). We keep them locked up now in small cages so the dogs can't get at them.

 Could I ask again please if any of your hens lay blue eggs ?    I have seen this in South America and the chicks from these eggs were special.

39 minutes ago, mfd101 said:

We have a mix of Muscovy (Barbary) and Pekin ducks. Not much laying going on at the moment.

 

The goose pair keep on laying (but it's a slow process). The turkeys and chooks on the other hand are laying & hatching like it's going out of fashion.

 

On past experience most of the chooks will die quite suddenly over several days in mid-year [flu of one kind or another, I assume]. So the sensible thing would be to kill & eat or sell most of the chooks before then each year. However forward planning is not a local strength ...

Out of curiosity do any of your hens lay blue eggs ?   

1 hour ago, SidJames said:

I don't know what breed they are Speedo but they appear to be mixed bunch.

3 of them are mostly white feathered, bigger that the others & proper bullies.

Feed hasn't changed & we give them off cuts of fresh greens as well.

They seem settled & act as they always have, it's just that we're getting 2-3 eggs every other day now & there's no real way to know who's laying & who isn't without installing 24hr cctv which would include adopting a duck fetish.

 

Thanks for reply.

Are they loosing feather ( moulting ).

You maybe able to tell if they have eggs by feel.

Larger birds are possibly Pekin, if their bullies are you sure their not males ( um ! ) ?

Have any of them gone "broody". possible if you have bullies in the flock ?

Drop egg numbers probably means they are at the end of lay, now 2 years old !    If they are you can "force moult" them to stop them laying altogether, then they will normally come back in to lay after about 3 months.

Without a thought for himself

What more can one say about love

RIP dear children

My sympathies with all the family

What breed are they ?    Are they local or did you manage to get some from imported stock ?    It's possible they have come to the end of their normal laying period !

Have they suddenly gone broody ?    Have you changed to a different feed ?    Have they been without water for a long period or has water source changed ?     Have you had a stranger visiting the ducks who frightened them ?   Are they loosing feather ?

I worked many years in different countries with ducks - I have seen them on a big company farm in Thailand stop laying

overnight - open houses - the birds got too cold on that one night.    It surprised even me, even with all my past experience, and the ducks did not come back in to lay they just moulted.     The choice was to moult fully and loose production or slaughter.

Thanks "agudbuk" but the ones in 20 baht shop is normally not a max / min reset, they are just a simple C temp thermometer.

Does any one where I could buy a basic max / min re-settable centigrade thermometer in Khon Kaen ?

See pictures attached.

Fahrenheit scale not required.

I dont know KK very well so some directions would be great.

Thanks in advance.

I use Torch Browser because of its easy download option.

I have carried out a scan using Kaspersky and can find no malware.

I have W7, from choice.

Recently, after updating to the newest vesion of Torch ( which has a 12 hour clock only ! ),

if I have fully downloaded a film, when I try to download a second it will show the film but, the film does not start nor will it download.  

It will download IF I click on next button, when that film loads and starts I go back to the one I want to download, then it is ok.

I have tried deleting original Torch file and reinstalling new file but same problem.

Any ideas, apart from dumping Torch ?

If they are popular videos from TV programs you could try Dailymotion and Putlocker.

You need to be on the original link not a copy.

If you are lucky you will find all episodes from a series, if luckier still you may find them for free.

Many good European TV series now available with and without English subs.

Thanks "qaviz"

Appreciate your response even though my posting was March 2016.

Had to go to HP in Khon Kaen.

They tried as you suggested as they initially worked from the manual for repairs.

The problem could only be solved by replacing the print head.   It is a generic fault with this model.   My machine was out of warranty by a few days so it cost me almost half the price of the original printer.

Machine to date has been ok, but i print a lot less.

Some issues with smudging for the past month even though print heads  are clean

The second major problem with the extra large margin cannot be solved by anyone at HP.

The only way round it is to use a blank of a previous saved file from my Toshiba W7 + MS Office laptop.

This gives perfect margins every time.

Again HP are unable to help so I must assume others using Windows W7 + MS Office may be finding the same problem.

As a byline this model printer does not work with W10 ( I use W7 even on my newish laptop ).

Try geese, however, having a house 300 metres away from your livestock here is not a good idea in the first place !