timber

Landman

Thanks for the reply. Not looking at a major investment right now unless it looked so attractive that I couldn't refuse. Was interested in rubber and palm inland. 12 year old rubber tree plantations seem to good to be true. When you say land is fairly cheap near the sea how much are you talking about. What are rough prices for rubber, coconut and oil palm land now.

Thanks for your information.

I am looking at building a house down south in one or two years. A brother in law has some nice timber near his house that could be used for the interior or furniture. I am looking at a fair amount of deck material and I really don't want to use nice wood for exterior. Would just as soon paint the decking and cut down on the maintence. I was thinking of using coconut wood for the decking. I would

think it would wear ok. Comments please.

Landman...Name seems to bring a vision. Would be interested in knowing about land opportunities down south. Both interested in land on the coast and interior. On the coast for a home and in the interior for rubber or palm oil plantation.

Cost of Laying a Track?road

I don't know where you live or the type of ground cover so hard to help you without some comments about the ground. Fill can be fairly cheap but has to be suitable. Have to think about source of fill, drainage, what the fill is going on (type of sub-grade). Slope of the road. Do you need clearing? Do you need a bulldozer for the sub-grade? The main problem they have in Thailand is that they don't worry much about the sub-grade. If you don't mind spending money to get a good road. It you decide what kind of surface you want the person who provides it can give you the name of someone who will do the sub-grade work. Sometimes it is a good idea to put in good fill and run on it for a few years then put on a good surface. There are contractors around that can give you bids on doing the work. If you get a few bids you can then compare them with each other.

Hi there all.

I may have to lay some hundreds of metres of track/road, and would like to know if anyone's done it and the metre cost involved. I would prefer something that will last longer than the norm here.

It would be the sort of narrow track that two vehicles can just pass.

I guess the options are concrete, or those interlocking blocks....any comments on their various merits?

Peter,

Those were some opinions. The price of rubber will go up for sure. If you have land about ready to produce rubber against oil palm which may take four or five years to get going. The main reason I like oil palm is that it is capable of producing so many products. If you were starting from scratch. The land near Chonburi is not that far from Bangkok so it might be good for producing something else also. Maybe your girlfriend could ask for some comparative prices in the area. It would be nice to get an opinion from a technician involved with agriculture. In North America it isn't that hard. I don't know about here. You just have to take all of the information you can ahold of and make a gut feel decision.

Return on investment.

Peter

Some general comments. I'm sure someone can prove me wrong in all accounts. Rubber and Oil Palm can grow in a surprising variety of sites. I am an ex-forester from the West Coast of Canada and it amazes me where they will grow. The bottom line is good production of either fruit or rubber. Normally in the tropics the soils are not very deep and if you are growning crops they are fertile for a very short time. If you want to produce something like rubber or oil palm you have to fertilize to optimize production. I have listed some sites to look at that explain a lot for oil palm and rubber. As with anything the land is site specific and maybe you can get a government agricultural person to assess what you need.

50,000 babt per rai may not be a bad price depending on where it is. If there are producing rubber trees on it so much the better. Problem with rubber tree lumber is that the trees give very poor recovery as the spacing is tight and no pruning. Can always cut and grow oil palm. But that would mean a four year gap in production. Interesting state address by Bush saying that all the stops are out for ethanol production. My feel is that they will probably be buying ethanol to an extent as not much of the states is good for ethanol producition.

The foregoing has a lot of opinion in it so not stating as facts.

http://www.irrdb.com/IRRDB/NaturalRubber/R.../RubberTree.htm

http://sres.anu.edu.au/associated/fpt/nwfp...uralrubber.html

http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/duke_en...guineensis.html

http://journeytoforever.org/biodiesel_mike.html

Hi Peter,

I am at work now and will send you some stuff when I get home. There is probably a bit of a spike in the Rubber market due to floods and a shortage of rubber. I would think the long term opportunities are tied into oil, so it looks good. Where bouts are you planning to go to? I have some relatives that grow rubber and know a lot of tricks of the trade. I guess your biggest decision is to buy an existing plantation or start from scratch. I would think starting from scratch is a lot cheaper. Although sometimes a plantation owner just decides to sell.

Take care,

Thanks for the infor. The area I am looking for is between Chomphon and Luan Suan but if attractive enough could go further south. Thanks again and cheers

I am looking to build on the south east coast of Thailand in a couple of years. South of Phra Chaub Kili Khan All of the people I have talked to are looking at about 1 million baht per rail for ocean front. Do you think I could do better than that. Location isn't too important. More important that it is buildable and not too hard to get electricity to.

Azul----

Thanks for the infor. He...He... if you want to make your own fuel there is a guy in Washington who has come up with a system to make your own bio-diesel. Can make enough to start a business.

Some nice tips on growing things on the page also. Probably will move down to south of Chumphon in a year or two. It would be nice to keep this forum going on rubber and oil palm. Possibility of starting a co-op if enough people. They give you some good advantages on prices and selling and other things.

Doesn't cost anything.

http://journeytoforever.org/biodiesel_mike.html

Take care,

Hi Azul,

My wife has about 10 rai of land up coast aways and she has oil palm on it. Is only three years old and just getting ready to produce. She has a lot of family in the area so haven't done much except fetilize.

I was wondering about buying more land and growing some more, but I don't have the slightest clue on how much reture their is on oil palm production. I can figure it out from research information, but I was wondering what they are really getting from a practical sense. Just want to figure out the return on investment. Can you help me?

Thanks

Hi close to bed time so won't say much for now. Chumphon depends more on what you like. If you need bangkok maybe too quiet. Tell me something about what you want to see if it has it. Will probably move near there in about two years as my wife is from that area. It is quiet but have some good festivals. Lots of relatively undeveloped ocean front. Some nice islands and good boating. A lot of fishing. Seems to be a relatively prosperous area. Lots of nice country not too far away. About six and one-half hours from Bangkok. Not too much of a farang presence yet. The gate way to koh Tao

Hope this helps a bit. Like I say I don't live there yet.

Interesting discussion. My wife has just planted Oil Palm and her brother and sister has rubber. The discision

is not easy and are betting on the future a bit. Malaysia over the years has gone back and forth. Rubber is tied to oil and the price will go up. Lumber looks ok but have to prune and work with trees to get good return. Recovery isn't great with hard woods.

Oil palm is interesting because of the committment that Thailand has made that it will have a difficult meeting on

gasahol. Should be lots of incentives and opportunities in the next few years. There is an awful lot of uses for various oils from the oil palm. http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/duke_en...guineensis.html

so the flexibitiy is there

I think you can't go wrong with either one as long as you don't spend too much for the land and the environment is suitable.