timber

Sorry about that. I talk too much and forgot to include the address to the site.

http://www.fas.org/china_lands/tea.htm

For those with a bit of a scientific vent, this is an interesting article on intercropping tea with rubber. If you are planting rubber a good idea to intercrop something especially legrumes

Bud,

I'm the first to admit that I don't know all there is to know about rubber, and maybe some that do don't. I am a forester from the west coast of Canada so don't know a lot about tropical trees. I don't really see the relationship between wind and flat ground. There might be a problem with drainage, but I don't know the ground. Where bouts are you Bud? What area are you located. Wind can be a problem if you don't have enough moisture as it may elevate the transpiration rate and lower the humidity, but you said you had enough moisture. Not telling you what to do, but should check out drip irrigation as it keeps the trees moist, but not wet and easy to fertilize. You have an investment and proper moisture and fertlizer to the trees may significally increase the return.

Nitrogen fixation is the process by which nitrogen is taken from its relatively inert molecular form (N2) in the atmosphere and converted into nitrogen compounds useful for other chemical processes (such as, notably, ammonia, nitrate and nitrogen dioxide) [1]. (same as adding nitrogen fertilizer) Plants need the nitrogen for growth.

I wonder what they used on the rubber trees. Following is a quote from Purdue University lecture.

"It has even been found that very light applications of 2,4-D or such growth regulators as ethephon just below the tapping cut can increase the yield as much as 30% without damaging the tree."

In the south the rubber latex is generally processed on site. Need as said chemicals rollers and other equipment and a lock up storage area for the movable stuff. Generally have cement block walls. The mats are generally moved home to dry. There is a lot of thief if you leave it on site, even at home the rubber will disappear on occasion. Its worth a lot of money to the rubber people and people who don't tap.

Sorry mates logged in under the wrong name. Will try to update this tonight.

Nawtilus

Below is an interesting extract from a site by Purdue University. The site is a bit dated in places but gives a good overview, in a usable manner, of tropical agriculture.

http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/tropical/

Yield

The oil palm is extremely responsive to encironmental conditions and yields therefore show great variation. The course of yield over time, however, shows a clear trend, rising to a maximum in the first few years (6-8 years after planting in the field), usually declining slowly thereafter. In well managed plantations in Malaysia and Sumatra, on soils with a reasonable availability of nutrients and a good water-holding capacity under uniform and adequate rainfall, yields of bunches of 24-32 t/ha are common. At the factory, extraction rates of oil with reference to bunch weight are 20-22%; this represents oil yields of 4.8-7 t/ha, which is higher than in any other oil crop.

If you use history to predict the future for oil palm and rubber, you will find that each has good times and bad times. Taking advantage of opportunity with a little common sense plays a large part.

I was wondering what the current prices were per kilogram for Palm Oil Fruit. The price for rubber is on the front of the business section of the Bangkok Post. The local price in Chomphon is about 10 baht less than the price shown but fairly consistent. I don't know of a reliable way to get the current price of Palm Oil Fruit without going there and asking. I still live in Bangkok.

Here we go again. Everybody passes, what a travesty. That's never bothered me one little bit. I've been teaching for years and there have been very few students that were incapable of passing my course. 95 percent of the failing students simply can't be bothered to help themselves and even the most inspirational teacher is not going to reach them. Why would I want to fail them ? Most of them were lazy, pain in asses, who dragged the whole class down. Here's your fifty percent. Good riddence. I don't want you back next year to spoil another class. Anyone should be able to determine they are not much of a student whether they have the 12 percent they earned or the 50 percent they're given. Don't see this as a problem. What I do see as a major problem are the other scores. According to the MOE, 80-100 percent is a grade point average of 4.0. The grade point average is all the students care about because that's all the unversities see. But a student who gets 80 percent is not the same as the one who gets 99. Yet, in the eyes of university admissions they are one and the same. There is no real way for them to determine who is an outstanding student and who is just okay. 80 percent is a B- where i come from. This is a much bigger problem in my opinion than having to pass everyone.

How long before the passport expires can you apply for a marriage visa. I think I saw somewhere where it was mentioned 18 months. I was hoping to apply for a marriage visa about Christmas and if my pass port expires in April I would have to wait. Would appreciate some comment.

Thanks a lot "Think_too_Mut" you are a great help.

Hello, I know someone who is looking to rent a decent place to live in Chomphon. Does anyone know an agent or person that they can contact?

As someone has already mentioned, Muang Ake Vista course, near Rangsit University is 400 baht for 18 holes Tuesday-Friday if you tee off before 11am. 610 baht in the afternoon. Pretty little course. A bit short(Par 70), some narrow fairways and lots of water, so it requires a bit of accuracy.

Also in Pakkret, near the intersection of Chaengwattana and Tivanon Roads, is the Royal Thai Irragation course. 400 baht for 18 holes mon-fri, and 500 baht at the weekend. That's a great price for the weekend, but it plays real slow. Several groups of six playing. Good during the week though.

There are only 9 holes, but on the back nine you tee from a slightly different area. Of course there are caddie fees and tips to be added on to these prices. Still those are two cheapest I know of, and they are better courses than you would think for that money.

They were forcasting very heavy rains the latter part of November and early December due to la nina

Thank you Comproez!! A nice summary. On the thai income side. Do you need a sheet from the taxation department to show you are paying taxes and from your employer to show legit employment?

Just some comments for information. I just came back from the inlaws. They live in the south. One was harvesting 17 mats per night on 7 rai and the other harvested 48 mats on 15 rai. It goes up and down a bit. They are getting about 3 kg/rai per night. They lose about 50 days a year for leaf fall and I couldn't find out how much downtime they have for rain. Would be nice if you have some comments for the database. Pretty hard to get records that aren't there.

In the west there used to be and maybe in some places still is the "right of notorious domain" If you use a piece of land notoriously for ten years and don't try to hid it it more or less becomes yours. This was made to cut down on absentee landowners.

Mosha interesting point. I think most of my wife's plantations are in that type of ownership. Probably most of the plantations on the east side are. Interesting political battle if someone tries to do something about it.

'chang35baht'

You wrote that there is 4 rai next door that is getting 29 - 30 mats per day. My in-laws are on the coast in the south. Good rain fall and soil seems ok. They don't get nearly that much on 7 rai. Is their anything special that your neigbhors do to their plantation? They are making good money for a rubber tree plantation. How often do they tap.? Down south they are tapping for three days then a day of rest.

If you are under 25 in Thailand you can vote, be a policeman, have children, be a member of the armed forces and die for your country but not drink?

Well Hello,

Not a bad place to be this time of year. Better here than there. So you live in Chumphon and have some land in Ranong. Like Ranong because of the islands and ocean. I know they don't get much for coffee. My wife has some and trying to get her to put in something else. Want to build a house before I buy any land. Kind of hard to guess what is going to happen over the next year. What are you doing in Chumphon now? My wife's family has lots of coconut, rubber and the oil palm is just coming on stream. Making good money off the rubber. I think have to get into small scale utilization, keep people working and make some more money. Like you say the only money they make is from rubber.

I don't think I will be down there for a year. I am sure there is some net working in there some where. We can talk.

I have been chasing this bio-diesel thing for about a year now. Everything seems to deadend with bio-diesel opportunities with higher prices for other uses. I thought that vegetable oil would be the way to go, but in looking at answers.com it looks like bio-diesel will remain a small home type operation.

Many advocates suggest that waste vegetable oil is the best source of oil to produce biodiesel. However, the available supply is drastically less than the amount of petroleum-based fuel that is burned for transportation and home heating in the world. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), restaurants in the US produce about 300 million US gallons (1,000,000 m³) of waste cooking oil annually.[1] Although it is economically profitable to use WVO to produce biodiesel, it is even more profitable to convert WVO into other products such as soap. Hence, most WVO that is not dumped into landfills is used for these other purposes. Animal fats are similarly limited in supply, and it would not be efficient to raise animals simply for their fat. However, producing biodiesel with animal fat that would have otherwise been discarded could replace a small percentage of petroleum diesel usage

Maps look good. Should contact the local Amphure's and get contracts for all. Chumphon could use one I think. Can never find the roads on the map that I am driving on it that area. Got spoiled in canada with the maps they have there.

We definately should get together have some of the same interests. Was going down that way to visit the relatives for a bit about the 18th or so. Wife is mad at me right now so not sure. PM me your phone number. There are some others with plantations that are not that far away. A lot of the things I have thought about and I am sure you have too are a bit of a pain to do by yourself. When I move there was hoping to get some type of network set up and maybe start some type of co-op.

Take care,