Lenny Jones

2 hours ago, Assurancetourix said:

And which more profitable crops do you recommend?

 

It is also necessary that the arable land be compatible with these other more profitable crops.
Here in  Sakon Nakhon Province the soil is mostly sand mixed with some clay.

What profitable crops can grow in sand?

You might be surprised.  In the middle East - mostly barren sandy desert, many beautiful and useful things grow with that magic ingredient - water.  Thailand is in a tropical monsoonal belt and gets plenty of water.  They just need to know how to manage that.

If only Thais stopped thinking that the Thai way is the only way and look to others to see how things could be done better - - - -

1 hour ago, drgoon said:

It's a hard road that one...  I've tried on a number of occasions. The answer I get is..  'Thai people not do'.

 

I've tried to get them to compost...  lol. They've been brainwashed by the fert company reps.

 

Then someone decides to grow coffee, only problem is they were sold Arabica which won't do bugger all in Isaan. They should have bought Robusta..   but you can't tell them.

 

 

All around me are mountains of coconut husks and shells, hundreds and hundreds of tonnes. in big piles.  I look at then, frustrated and think of the composting and soil enrichment value, particularly after being shredded and combined into the soil.  I often discuss this with my Thai wife who grew up on a farm but she simply cannot see the benefit in this.  Same as gutters on roofs and tanks to store rainwater

Hopeless - - - -

I hope the cameras can pick up the hands of the Deputy Minister for Agriculture to see if he has "love" and "hate" tattooed on the back of his fingers just below the knuckles!

That's the trademark of anybody who has spent time in an Aussie Jail.

Amazing! - All the other comments elude to exactly what I'm thinking. - - - I'll believe it when I see it happen - - - - LOS? - Actually stands for "Land of Selfish Me-me-me and stuff you"

3 hours ago, evadgib said:

Several observations from a regular user of that hill:

- Flow of traffic is stifled daily by idiots refusing to use the left lane even when the road is empty.

- Undertaking is rife, indeed I was very nearly clipped by a Black Fortuna a few days ago who simply sped off afterwards. It's so common that I no longer bother to upload the footage despite having front and rear dashcams.

- There are dangerous entrances at the bottom of the hill at both ends. Drivers make no allowance for speed/traffic flow if they wish to use them, they simply turn as if nothing is there. There are two at the top too but they're not quite so bad.

- A lorry will lose it's load there around once per week & be on it's side around once per month.

Exactly! - I see the same, I travel that road several times each week.

Local drivers have NO CLUE about using multi-lane roads - straddling the lane lines or using the right lane at slow speed.

The downward slope on both sides required a lower gear - not continuous braking the whole way.  At least most trucks coming off the ferry know how to go down hill in low gear.  Locals? - Noooo!

I did a trip to Phuket recently and - by Thai standard - the drivers there generally know what they are doing.  Local Samui drivers are worse than mentally-retarded sheep and much more dangerous.

The same stupid behaviour occurs on the roundabout just South of Nathon.  Drivers totally ignore the lane lines and drive through using both lanes, also charging in and not giving way to cars already in the roundabout.  They have NO clues about the road rules!

"The hospital had told the couple they would only release their passports once the bill had been paid in full."

Illegally obtained their passports deception.  Then illegally holding the passports as ransom.  This is a serious breach of international law.  This happened to me a couple of years ago.  I paid in full just to get my passport back.  Told the hospital what they had done and the response? - "Tough - this is Thailand"  I later reported the matter to my embassy who followed it up in international courts and the company that owned the hospital was charged and fined.

The Thai government is aware of this practice but ignores it - also claiming that tourists incur a huge financial burden on them due to unpaid hospital bills.  I've yet to see one example, they just let the illegal hospital ransom go on - -

2 hours ago, Duck J Butters said:

 

Phuket, the black hole of the south, where they film Hollywood movies and the world’s wealthiest people live and own property. Where Olympic althletes come to train and where CEOs of social media juggernauts come to meditate. Yep, black hole sounds about right.

 

Your statement about Phuket is simply false, just as this article is complete and utter nonsense. Do you live in Phuket? Well I do and:

 

a) tourism is much higher than it was at this time last year. At least it is in Northern Phuket where they are targeting the wealthy family crowd. I was in Patong last weekend as well and it was busy as usual, same old same old 

 

b) Phuket is far from the blackhole that you describe. When you refer to Phuket as a blackhole, are you referring to Patong specifically or the entire island? Have you been anywhere else in Phuket besides Patong? 

 

Granted, i’m only 30 years old but I have Phuket properties in Laguna Beach, Naithon Beach and I just bought a place in Kamala this month. I also own properties in Maui and Hawaii, USA. I prefer my properties in Phuket. I prefer living in Phuket to both Maui and Hawaii. 

 

I don’t find Phuket overbuilt at all unless you are referring specifically to Patong. There is a massive amount of land available on the island, especially on the Eastern side. You can find empty beaches and large plots of land in the East for good value. I picked up a beachfront 19 rai plot for 4 million baht recently.

 

Traffic Jams? Again, are you referring to Patong or to all of Phuket? As a person that lives in Phuket, I cannot relate to this. I regularly drive from Naithon to Kamala and Patong and I don’t find there to be much traffic at all. Frankly, the roads are usually empty.  I’ve never witnessed a single traffic accident in the years I’ve lived here in Phuket.

 

Dirty water? Wait what? What are you talking about? Please visit other beaches besides Patong Beach. Phuket has the most beautiful beaches in the world with extremely beautiful warm water and ocean life. I go swimming every morning down at Layan Beach. Crystal clear, warm, no trash. I also recommend Banana ( secret beach that you have to hike to ), Naithon Beach, and Nai Yang Beach ( great beach for running, you can run along the beach to the airport and watch the airplanes take off, I do this often ). Please check out other parts of the island. Phuket is absolutely beautiful. I recommend booking a weekend at the Amanpuri Resort and reevaluating your position on Phuket.  Pullman in Naithon is also nice.

 

Phuket has become expensive but it is not at all what you describe. It is certainly not a black hole. Famous Hollywood celebrities regularly visit and stay in NothWest Phuket. Leonardo DiCaprio was hear just recently. Beyoncé lives here a few months a year and has 10 homes inside the Amanuri Resort ( built by Russian billionaire Vlad Doronan who is also here regularly and just had 20 Maseratis imported to the island ).

 

Not to mention the latest Fast & Furious franchise is being filmed here right now. All the crew are here. Over 1 billion baht will be generated over the month of July for the Southern Thailand economy from filming this movie. Once that movie hits the theaters, it will be viewed by hundreds of millions of people around the world and will further solidify Phuket as a high status tourist destination for the rich and famous. Property values will skyrocket just as they did after the filming of The Beach with DiCaprio.

 

Phuket is so far from a black hole it’s ridiculous and obvious you don’t live here. The best professional athletes and Olympians from all over the world come and train in Phuket. Please check out Thanyapura Health & Sports Center which was built by German billionaire Klause Hebben. They have yoga instructors that trained with the Daili Lama for crying out loud. Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook was literally here on the DL this year for a meditation retreat at Thanyapura. https://www.bangkok101.com/the-rise-of-thanyapura/

 

Phuket also has excellent produce and very fast WiFi. The power goes out often but that would be my only complaint about Phuket.

 

Phuket, the black hole of the south, where they film Hollywood movies and the world’s wealthiest people live and own property. Where Olympic althletes come to train and where CEOs of social media juggernauts come to meditate. Yep, black hole sounds about right.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Phuket has the most beautiful beaches in the world with - - -"

You HAVE to be joking! - Have you been reading those tourist magazines that get paid to publish that rot.  In THE VERY SAME WEEK Phuket beaches were declared the "Best in the world" local news headlined the outpouring of the black mess of raw sewage and industrial untreated waste onto "the best beach in the world"

Go to Australia mate and head off around its coastline.  Go and look at THOUSANDS of pristine beached - many without a single human foot print they are so unspoiled.

Look at the pic.  one of THOUSANDS - -