oceanrover

i'm not a tourist, but I was once. Most people leaving the airport are tourists. I've been living here 7 years, came here as a tourist before that. In the time I have been here I have seen attitudes to foriegners worsen, that is something I do not like. Maybe it's because I now speak the language and understand the culture better than before that I notice it more, but i'm pretty sure things are getting worse.

My problem isn't actually so much with the 200 baht raise, but more with the fact that we (those using the airport), are expected to pay more than before when the deal we are getting is worse. So what if the airport is shiny and new, there is no public transport and no taxis from the main terminal. We are being expected to pay more whilst they think they can give us less in return, not a good deal in my opinion.

So my first answer relates to the title because I am fed up with prices rising in so many places in Thailand when standards and services are actually falling.

Yes i'm whinging, but I thought forums were a place where we can air our views?

Yes I did bring up the fact I may well leave, i'm just pretty fed up that no one can come back with something better than "you know where the door is".

I asked a sensible question, "is anyone else feeling the same?"

If not maybe tell us why I am wrong and why the 200 raise is justified, also maybe some examples of where prices are being raised, but services and standards are getting better as a result.

That would be a little more constuctive than "you know where the door is", which i've seen said by people a 1000 times on here and it's much easier to say than actually post a reply with data and stats to proove a person wrong in their assumption.

The thread is related to tourism as it involves the airport, and I think there's nothing wrong with taking someone to task when they state tourists are ######ing up the country, when in all likelyhood they first came here as a tourist. Also stating problems with the tourist and housing industry when that person themselves is an owner and therefore directly a part of that problem is a bit hipicritica don't you think?

I am still a tourist and I have found the attitude in Thailand quite pleasant. Having landed in BKK 4 or 5 times in the last year there was always someone willing to offer assistance, give directions and I am not sure where you are looking for taxis (or not looking) as there are taxis everywhere at the airport. Compared to other airports in the world I would say that I am usually on my way quicker into the city than elsewhere with the exception of JFK. I am sure glad that there are no other issues of consequence in Thailand right now to worry about if this is the hot topic of conversation

Mike

gai yang, som tom lao, and khao nieow. >> SUpER YUMMY

and my favorite LAB MOO!!

also anyone run DUm DanG ( cucumbers smashed up with peppers hot hot hot)

and i love sangsom usually get it by the case !! supER YUMMY!

Nam Khoi Tod is my favorite in Isaan, Thailand and here in the states (when I can find it).

Called the number in the April advertisement.

No one knows how to cook pizza today.

The chef is out.

They have fried rice and french fries.

I tried...........

Closing this subject.

Hello ChiefBEM and others,

I'm not permitted to advertise, but I should be allowed a brief comment. The pizza oven is up and running very well. Fired every day except Sunday. We bake sourdough bread daily. We can't do pizza, though, until we get one more cook. It is simply impossible for the one, quite brilliant cook that we have (he worked many years in Paris) to do pizza as well as the other Thai and Western food that we have. We hired a second cook a few weeks ago after getting rid of the useless guy before him, and as soon as he's brought up to speed and if he's willing to stay with us I'll teach him how to toss a pizza. I've done a number of pizzas and Sezzo and others have tried them, and I'm confident eventually we'll have great pizza, but I'm not the type to rush things. I want to make sure everything's as close to perfect as possible. A comment was made about why my wife, Ting, can't do it. She's actually the busiest person here because she's the cashier and she speaks English fairly well, so she's got to stay out with the customers. Anyway, the beer's cold, the other food is good, and there's a nice expat community here. If this new guy stays we'll have pizza from September. My menu will soon be on my website, a work in progress, at www.wrongwayhome.com. Mr. Moderator, this is the last post I'll make about this. Any other inquiries, feel free to PM me.

Cheers!

Hey Richard,

Glad to hear that your efforts in Ubon are not going unrewarded. I look forward to meeting the new clientel when Noi and I come back over. It is strange how I miss Ubon after only spending a few days there while in Isaan this last April. Please tell Ting hello from myself and my wife. She has commented several times to others upon our return on how welcome you and Ting made us feel.

Good luck.

Mike

Called the number in the April advertisement.

No one knows how to cook pizza today.

The chef is out.

They have fried rice and french fries.

I tried...........

Closing this subject.

You would think that by now Richard would have Ting up to speed on baking bread and making Pizzas. I hope that he has Pizza when I am back in Ubon later this year.

I see you have a picture of a muppet on your picture...... I think that says it all.

Ooh, you bitch!

I second that.

Maybe he has not figured out how to post a avatar so he feels the need to criticize those that have accomplished this mighty task.

Who is this guy and why is he so ANTI Thailand/Isaan?

If any new members read this flake's posts, they may not return.

Does he ever post anything positive or constructive?

How does that old saying go? "If you do not have anything nice to say.... Keep it to yourself."

Cheers all.

There are quite a few good building companies in Ubon town itself that will send their workers up to Trakan or even have subcontractors that they use in your area. A friend of mine used a builder from Ubon to build his house in Khemarat (50 ks further north of Trackan) and the job was done very well with very good follow warranty work done. He also included about 20 extras in the original contract and it was all honoured to the letter of the law.

I will ask my friend if he has any contact details for the builder and PM them to you.

Good luck

That would be great. I understand that it is sometimes difficult to find work that is backed up with a warranty. Please let me know what you find so I can speak to them.

Thanks.

Mike

I thought that I would give you guys a shot in the dark on this one.

Does any one have any experience with a decent contractor north of Ubon in the area of Trakan?

I am not having much luck with the family locating any one and I am afraid that they are going to have some local yocal do the construction on my in-laws new house that we are paying for. I would like to get something with a little quality out of the deal so that the home can stay in the family for a few years.

I can always pay the extra fees usually associated with builders driving in from Ubon everyday (60 minutes) if it comes down to it. Any recommendations on buiilders in Ubon as well would be appreciated.

Thanks all.

Mike in Seattle

Hello all,

I have just returned from my 3 weeks in the LOS. I was pleasantly surprised by Thailand and Issan in particular. Everyone we meet on our journeys was accommodating. I enjoyed the slower pace of the country north of Ubon especially. I stopped in and saw Richard and Ting at the Wrong Way Café in Ubon a few times as well. We bought some more land in Trakan north of Ubon and arranged for some more fill for the 4 rai we already had. We did the tourist bit a little and drove up to Mukdahan to see a friend’s family. We also drove from BKK down to Laem Ngop through Pattaya, Rayong and Trat. Pattaya was an eyeful and hopping as the US Navy was in town. I have a much better appreciation for what all of you guys in country deal with on a daily basis now with regards to any Government dealings. We spent several days in Trakan and BKK attempting to get my wife’s ID changed and her passport changed. Patience is something that I will need to improve upon for future trips. I was really surprised by all the small businesses in operation. It seems that everyone is selling something. I am really looking forward to my next vacation. The food will be missed I think the most. I gained only one kilo though which really amazed me considering that I was always being given something new to try. I will post some pics after I have edited them. Thanks Richard for recommending to us the hotel behind your café for the one night; it fit our needs nicely and was very inexpensive. The hotel owner even drove us to the airport in the morning as a courtesy.

Mike

(Back in Chilly (Mosquito Free) Seattle )

Guys

Please: not to many tecnical questions, I moved to Thailand to have an easy life.

Because of my short memory, I have spoken with our block production manager (my wife), and can therefore correct I few "facts". I think the bag of cement is 40 kg.

The mix we used, was 5 parts soil/sand and 2 parts cement. from 1 bag of cement we made 60 blocks. If you use more clay-like soil, the mix can be 6 to 1, you make more blocks(70?), use less cement, and they will be more heat resistant.(keep the sun out)

Each block is supposed to carry a minimum weight of 70 kg.

We used steel bars to support the concrete, and we sealed all gaps both inside and outside before painting. The size of our blocks is 25 cm long, 12cm wide, 10 cm high.

Trond

Trond,

Sorry about that. I am still on American time and deal in details more than I would like or should for that matter. Thanks for all the information. I see that a few of you are meeting at RIchard's new place in Ubon on Friday. I will not be in Ubon until Saturday looks like so I will not have the chance to knock a few back with you and the others. I will probably be stationed squarely in front of an AirCon unit for a few days anyway until I force myself to out into the sweltering weather. It is only 14c here for a high temp so it is going to be change for sure. Being a fat man is a negative in the tropics I am betting

Thanks again for all the information.

Mike

Mac - my wife's sister ordered the presses for us. I'll talk to my wife, get more information, and let you know!

Mike - I think the cost of cement is baht 110/bag

Sand is easy to get, but you probably have to filter it before use.

When the workers (we used 2 people/1 press) gets skilled, you should be able to make 250/300 per press/day.

We did not use any pigment to colour the block, and the finished result was grey.

Some use red soil, to get pigment, but this seems to make the blocks more fragile.

We have painted the blocks to make them water resistant. You can also add colour powder in the early mixing process - but then you might get small colour differences when finished.

Trond

Trond - That makes sense for the sand I guess since it is a local resource. Do you recall how many bricks usually were produced for each bag of cement used and how much the cement bags weighed? Pigment for cement is quite common in construction here in the states now so it should be something easy to figure out with regards to something consistent throughout all the batches if you can remove enough of the human factor

I also wonder about the structural life of these concrete bricks versus fired clay bricks and the cost difference of course. I am not an engineer so please correct me if I make any incorrect assumtions here, but Concrete is more porous than clay fired bricks so the life of the finished product is usually not the same. Painting them and/or sealing them with a good marine grade flexible epoxy primer will prolong their life though and give you the chance to change the color of your home from time to time. I have sealed smooth concrete floors in huge Salt Water tanks on ships in Alaska and had great success in prolonging the functional life between standard maintenance refinishings.

I would also think that steel bars interlaced through the bricks would lessen damage in the event of an Earthquake opposed to the channels being filled with only concrete.

I am really intrigued by the idea of making the building blocks onsite. It is one way to control the quality of the finished product possibly.

Have a good day all, I am off to get some sleep as it is 2:30 am here.

Cheers and thanks again for all the answers.

Mike

Hello guys

Before we started building our house, we bought 2 steel presses (baht 44000) from Nakhon Nayok, (near BKK) and made the interlocking blocks ourselfs. We got a promotion/instruction vcd, and some first aid from my wife's sister who started this as a community project in her village.

The mix is 50/50 fine sand/soil and sement, and after pressing, leave and water every day for 2 weeks, then ready 2 use. So far we've build our main house, 4 bungalows, restaurant kitchen and toilets with these blocks. They are very strong, easy to make/use, and excellent in keeping the buildings cool! I will try to add some pictures, but my mobile connection is very bad 2day.

Trond

So Trond, What are the usual costs for cement in the Ubon area and is high quality sand readily available?

How many bricks can one of these presses turn out in normal work day (8 hours)?

I assume that a pigment is used to achieve the desired color of the bricks; is this inexpensive as well?

How many men are required to operate the press?

Thank for any additional information.

Mike

It is a declining market I'm afraid to say - the tractor started taking over about 15 years ago and the villagers sold the oxen! My father-in-law at the time went from 6 to none in 6 months and the family have never bought another one.

There is a fortune to be made if you have the time and space to buy and breed oxen to sell to the villagers when the crash comes and oil prices put the tractors out of business. You will have to wait 5 years before recovering any venture capital though.

thanks thaibites. how about growing yang pa la(rubber) I have 10 Rai near campia city and need to start something soon.

Nicelee808,

My wife and I have a newly planted rubber farm about 50 ks north of Trakan Phuetphon. There has been a fair bit of stuff posted in the Issan forum about rubber farms. Just do a search at the bottom of this page for it.

If you want some more info just PM me and although Im no expert I will try and answer a few queries if you have some.

Cheeers,

Carl

Hey Carl,

My wife is from Trakan Phuetphon as well. I have asked her about yang pa la(rubber) farms as a possible passive income for retirement. I was told that Isaan is not that great for the trees. She told me that the south was better suited. I would think that theft, storms and floods would make the NE more appealing. Do they just not produce as much compared to the plantings in the south?

From what I have read so far here are the generally accepted stats on farms.

7 years to grow a producing tree.

7 months of production yearly.

15-20 year useful life.

1/2 kilo a day average production per tree.

current about 70bht a kilo

Are these close to what you are aware of?

What is this Palm Oil that I hearing about?

Do the trees produce sooner?

Longer life?

Daily Production?

I saw that it was around 20 bht a gallon currently.

I am going to be renting out my home here when I retire and hopefully have a few other rental properties so any farming will just be supplemental or to get the family to be productive

Thanks.

Mike

I will say it again (I'm a pedantic old fool anyway!), if you are on the pics and need to hide for some reason just mail me and I will delete the pic from the site and from my camera.

I will be coming to Thailand and specifically Ubon in April for the first time. My wife says that there are not many Farangs there so I will be an attraction. I am glad to see that there are a few in the area and semi-connected thanks to this forum. The BBQ get together looked fantastic. We will be building in the area as well so I will have to be part of the get togethers at some point. Let me know if there is anything that anyone is dying for from the states that is not available in the LOS. (I should have a little luggage space left after my wife allocates her space.)

~Mike

Mike

Hi Mike and welcome to Ubon,,

well just for your info,, there is around 550 Foreigner in and out (Surronding areas)from Ubon area,,and we had only few of us in the BBQ,, trying to get something else to be done as well...

-Marco-

550!!! Wow, that is great. I will not feel like such a spectacle then. My wife is from Trakan Phutphon (Spelling??) so we will be spending our time there for the most part I am guessing.

It amazes me how much the Isaan pictures that are posted here resemble my most traveled destination, the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. If the store signs were in Spanish as opposed to Thai as well as a few more cars it would be identical.

My wife has told me that I need to get my fat butt used to the hot month of April and practice squatting though. Any other suggestions for a less painful acclimation? LOL

After reading the forums I am starting to see her point. Off to the steam room I go……

Thanks for the PM Marco; I joined the Ubon group as well.

~Mike

Lampard,,,,,i think Yorkie,,,did not want you to attend....LOL

any time mate,, head to your HD (Honda) and speed up to Ubon....

Mike, welcome to "Steam room",, actually is not that hot,, or maybe i just have use to it,,,

also Mike im heading to Acapulco,Zhihuantanejo and few other places in April with my ship,,, then off i go to ice age and Alaska,, it's darn cold there firts couple of months.....

but now it's similar activities than Thaibites this afternooon,, Brother "Chang, visiting here as well...

-Marco-

Marco,

Z'nejo and Alaska? Two of my favorite places and exactly opposite. My sister in law is from Acapulco so I have been there as well and I spent 8 years in Alaska fishing the Bering. Are you employed on a cruise ship (What line?) or going for pleasure? My roommate is on the Princess Sapphire right now in PV, Mexico drinking and gambling like the fool that he is. April is a little brisk in Alaska, but not too bad. I guess if you are acclimated to the LOS you will be FROZEN though. My wife is still freezing in Seattle after over 4 years here. I introduced her to the wonders of hottubbing yesterday evening on our back patio and she is hooked I think since it warmed her all the way through. She was very shy at first of course and has avoided it since I installed it 3 months ago. I doubt that I will find many hottubs in Thailand since that is basically room temperature sometimes Time for me to head home as my work for the day is over. Enjoy the sunshine all.

~Mike

Mike

yeah we going to PV as well, and yes been working in the ships last 22yrs,, NCL N.Star, and we are going together with Saphir during Alaska seasson,, startting from Seattle......

It's bit chilly in AL but inside the ship it's ok,,,,there is too much ICE in the Skagway and Glasier Bay...

-Marco-

Marco,

The Alaska cruises are during the early summer, correct? Let me know when you are going to be in Seattle. I work downtown so I am only a few minutes from the Cruise Ship Port. Maybe you will get some shore leave and we can get some "Thai" food. Are you an engineer or something? 22yrs is a long time at sea even part time. I have noticed that there are a lot of Thais on Princess and Carnival, does the same hold for NCL? Does your wife work on board as well?

Mike

I will say it again (I'm a pedantic old fool anyway!), if you are on the pics and need to hide for some reason just mail me and I will delete the pic from the site and from my camera.

I will be coming to Thailand and specifically Ubon in April for the first time. My wife says that there are not many Farangs there so I will be an attraction. I am glad to see that there are a few in the area and semi-connected thanks to this forum. The BBQ get together looked fantastic. We will be building in the area as well so I will have to be part of the get togethers at some point. Let me know if there is anything that anyone is dying for from the states that is not available in the LOS. (I should have a little luggage space left after my wife allocates her space.)

~Mike

Mike

Hi Mike and welcome to Ubon,,

well just for your info,, there is around 550 Foreigner in and out (Surronding areas)from Ubon area,,and we had only few of us in the BBQ,, trying to get something else to be done as well...

-Marco-

550!!! Wow, that is great. I will not feel like such a spectacle then. My wife is from Trakan Phutphon (Spelling??) so we will be spending our time there for the most part I am guessing.

It amazes me how much the Isaan pictures that are posted here resemble my most traveled destination, the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. If the store signs were in Spanish as opposed to Thai as well as a few more cars it would be identical.

My wife has told me that I need to get my fat butt used to the hot month of April and practice squatting though. Any other suggestions for a less painful acclimation? LOL

After reading the forums I am starting to see her point. Off to the steam room I go……

Thanks for the PM Marco; I joined the Ubon group as well.

~Mike

Lampard,,,,,i think Yorkie,,,did not want you to attend....LOL

any time mate,, head to your HD (Honda) and speed up to Ubon....

Mike, welcome to "Steam room",, actually is not that hot,, or maybe i just have use to it,,,

also Mike im heading to Acapulco,Zhihuantanejo and few other places in April with my ship,,, then off i go to ice age and Alaska,, it's darn cold there firts couple of months.....

but now it's similar activities than Thaibites this afternooon,, Brother "Chang, visiting here as well...

-Marco-

Marco,

Z'nejo and Alaska? Two of my favorite places and exactly opposite. My sister in law is from Acapulco so I have been there as well and I spent 8 years in Alaska fishing the Bering. Are you employed on a cruise ship (What line?) or going for pleasure? My roommate is on the Princess Sapphire right now in PV, Mexico drinking and gambling like the fool that he is. April is a little brisk in Alaska, but not too bad. I guess if you are acclimated to the LOS you will be FROZEN though. My wife is still freezing in Seattle after over 4 years here. I introduced her to the wonders of hottubbing yesterday evening on our back patio and she is hooked I think since it warmed her all the way through. She was very shy at first of course and has avoided it since I installed it 3 months ago. I doubt that I will find many hottubs in Thailand since that is basically room temperature sometimes Time for me to head home as my work for the day is over. Enjoy the sunshine all.

~Mike

I will say it again (I'm a pedantic old fool anyway!), if you are on the pics and need to hide for some reason just mail me and I will delete the pic from the site and from my camera.

I will be coming to Thailand and specifically Ubon in April for the first time. My wife says that there are not many Farangs there so I will be an attraction. I am glad to see that there are a few in the area and semi-connected thanks to this forum. The BBQ get together looked fantastic. We will be building in the area as well so I will have to be part of the get togethers at some point. Let me know if there is anything that anyone is dying for from the states that is not available in the LOS. (I should have a little luggage space left after my wife allocates her space.)

~Mike

Mike

Hi Mike and welcome to Ubon,,

well just for your info,, there is around 550 Foreigner in and out (Surronding areas)from Ubon area,,and we had only few of us in the BBQ,, trying to get something else to be done as well...

-Marco-

550!!! Wow, that is great. I will not feel like such a spectacle then. My wife is from Trakan Phutphon (Spelling??) so we will be spending our time there for the most part I am guessing.

It amazes me how much the Isaan pictures that are posted here resemble my most traveled destination, the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. If the store signs were in Spanish as opposed to Thai as well as a few more cars it would be identical.

My wife has told me that I need to get my fat butt used to the hot month of April and practice squatting though. Any other suggestions for a less painful acclimation? LOL

After reading the forums I am starting to see her point. Off to the steam room I go……

Thanks for the PM Marco; I joined the Ubon group as well.

~Mike

I will say it again (I'm a pedantic old fool anyway!), if you are on the pics and need to hide for some reason just mail me and I will delete the pic from the site and from my camera.

I will be coming to Thailand and specifically Ubon in April for the first time. My wife says that there are not many Farangs there so I will be an attraction. I am glad to see that there are a few in the area and semi-connected thanks to this forum. The BBQ get together looked fantastic. We will be building in the area as well so I will have to be part of the get togethers at some point. Let me know if there is anything that anyone is dying for from the states that is not available in the LOS. (I should have a little luggage space left after my wife allocates her space.)

~Mike

Mike

I havn't actually witnessed it, but have heard many tales of older thais that squat on a western style toilet.

I have been entertained many many times by witnessing the aftermath of my Thai and Vietnamese co-workers in Alaska falling off the western style toilets after attempting to squat on them. If you think it is hard to squat on the Thai style, try it when wearing rubber boots covered in fish slime on a wet toilet seat while in 20 feet seas.

I never seemed to have a camera ready though