Maizefarmer

Thats bad - you should be getting 99,8% plus germination - everything about this says bad conditions - clay soil, digging bar (which compacts the soil), rice hulls (no nutrition and whats leaching out?), temperature ....... etc etc...

Dig some of the seeds up - are they germinating and then not come up through the soil, or are they not even germinating?

How large is this area and exactly where in Thailand are you?

No benefit to 3 seeds - 1 seed is fine - you only plant more than one seed if you are woried about the seed quality, which is what I was thinking until you say on wet paper tests you are getting 95% germination.

Yes - saturation is a problem - unlpoughed clay soil is saturated and offers little to no nutrition.

Temperature - and there is every indication we are heading next week towards some very cold wheather, and temp is a big factor on germination which slows it down considrably and even stops it.

Rice hulls - something could be leaching out of the rice hulls(?)

Try this - take a 12 to 24 plastic plastic coke bottles and cut them in half: fill loosely with clay soil from the field/area where you were going to plant outside, plant a single seed in each bottle at just over an 1" depth - say around 3cm - 4cm. Cover half with rice hull and half with soil and place them somewhere where they are going to get as much sunlight as possible. Water? - just keep the soil moist.

We are heading now for a cold period, and thats going to slow germination down big time, but so long as you are getting day time temps of 23 - 25 degrees and above you should see germination within about a week.

If they haven't germinated within a week, dig them all up and check out the condition of the seeds.

Where are these seeds coming from and how old are they?

Yup, same same cows .... genetics come into play with cows, just like they do with humans (and goats) - theres a whole bunch of characteristics which include udder size, height, teat position ect ... are genetic characteristics which say, and give an indication of "performance" i.e. this is a good milker, or this is going to be a bad milker.

Along with the above, interestingly, the legs and feet/hoof placement and standing position are very important genetic traits and indicators for selecting dairy cows.

... and then machinary comes into play. Clusters not designed properly lead to mastitis and other infections, incorrect pulse frequency and pressure affect milk "let down" - if you don;t get it right the cow learns to make a negative association with the milking experience, stress goes up, and milk doesn;t come down - well, it doesn;t come down as well as it should. It might only be a little, say around around 0,2 - 0,5 litre per milking impact, but when you multiply that by over 200 cows 2 x per day, 30 x per month, youre suddenly looking at several tons of milk per month and figures that start to run into hundreds of 1000's of Baht.

They are little factors individualy, but collectively they add to have a significant impact.

But back to genetics: the big problem in Thailand I see made time and time again: folk go out looking for the "best" cow - on paper.

NSA - No Such Animal - it doesn;t exist. You got to get to grips with the conditions/circumstances on the farm i.e. what forage can you grow, how much an you grow for each animal (per unit area land), whats the water source, what are the costs involved in cultivation and watering - THEN, only then do you say to yourself, "right, now lets go look for a cow with the genetics to fit in with these circumstances best".

Yes yes yes............

But why do over 40,000 Americans die each year on the roads ?

Considering they are such good drivers, obey traffic laws and the roads are in good condition and well policed, the fatality rate is horrendous, what are they doing wrong ?

I don't recall the figure for Thailands annual raod deaths, but it's far worse than the States - far worse.

Anyone looking for milking clusters (what you put onto a cows udder when milking) - I've got hold of 6 x DeLaval MC31 clusters and a vacuum pump to go - I picked these up in Belgium. They are used, but serviced with new liners, tubing and seals are new - genuine DeLaval. Condition - excellent. Pump is good for 8 clusters max.

These are "top shelf" professional clusters with auto-shutoff and variable pulse - will last a lifetime, loads better quality and more reliable than any of the Eastern made options retailed in Thailand - and a heap less stressful on the cow.

Price - hoping MOD's will see this posting as an effort to help other expats - so let me just say, less than what a new set of Eastern made clusters would cost you.

Interested? - post tech questions on the forum - but to discuss purchase/pricing please do so only through PM

Yes - happy to split.

I am in Thailand but never learnt to drive in my home country.

I was thinking it would be good to be able to drive out here so we could go on some road trips etc.

Can I have lessons in Bangkok (in English)?

Am I even allowed to get a driving license? I am here on a 12 month non-imm O visa.

Am I likely to crash during a lesson in Bangkok?

Thanks.

....... you'll be just fine, fine, fine ......... the problems will start when you start driving back home the way you learn't here!!!!!!

OK, just back from Highway 1 running north out of Bangkok, commonly known as Rangsit, and I'll bet I just scratched the surface because I didn't go on any sideroads. All kinds of heavy equipment between approximately KM 32 to 52. Lots of very helpful salespeople and some even spoke English. I speak enough Thai to get by so it was OK.

I was able to buy exactly what I wanted, new bucket pins(2) and bushings(4) seals(8), and shims(8) for B2300 from the Komatsu dealer, KM 49.3. (By the way, my excavator is a Yanmar B50). They sell all new undercarriage parts, sprockets (stir), steel track chain (soe), steel grousers, or the complete track if you want, rollers (loller), idler wheels and idler springs, all kinds of pins and bushings, filters. Just about everything that wears out. I was amazed!!

A lot of the dealers were removing rubber tracks from used machines and replacing them with steel track. They then would sell the old rubber track, very hard to find in Thailand.

Also a big Yanmar tractor dealer at KM 50 who has many other used models, Kubota, Hinomoto, Iseki along with a yard full of used rotarys and tillers. Funny thing though, he didn't have any used Yanmar tractors, only new ones. Only problem was, I went there Saturday and they were closed. Since I have a Yanmar 2610 and a Hinomoto E202, used from Japan, I'll be going there again for parts during the week.

You guys that steered me to Rangsit, I am forever grateful.

BTW, on the way home I found a shortcut that avoids all Bangkok traffic if you come from the east, up Hwy 1 to the new Outer Ring Road (Hwy 9) at KM 54.

See ... told you - easy wasn't it.

Its going to cost a bit to set up irrigation for 25 rai - and if you use impact spinklers you'll have to run a fairly decent pressure (4bar at least - but idealy 6 plus) to get decent distrabution across the sprinkler radius - and that means fuel costs, unless you can set the pump up to run on 3 phase ac which is much cheaper to irrigate with than diesel.

All in all, irrigating cassava to increase the yield and raise your margin is hit and miss. I irrigate cassava every dry season, but what justifies that extra cost is the offset it would other cost me to purchase cassava as cattle feed. So, yes if you are feeding livestock, it can be justified, otherwise as said, it's going to be hit and miss, and on balance, nope I don't think it's worth it.

Yer, but I can tell you go to any NHS doc or hospital and just say nothing and they won't know any different - there is nothing on the system that id's you as having lost that status - and nor will your doc say anything, unless you tell him/her or make an issue of it.

After repatriation, according to Sandra Gregory’s book on the subject, they also get put in with other inmates with similar length sentences.

Sandra Gregory was arrested Febuary 1993 for possession of 89 grammes of heroin and 600 temazepam and was granted a Royal pardon June 18th 2001 and was released from prison after serving a small part of her sentence imposed by the Thai court, she was originally given a death sentence which was changed to a life sentence and then changed again to 25 years.

Wilcox gets 33 years for 25 grammes of a class A drug which he says was for personal use, I'd be mighty pissed of with the UK government if I was in the same predicament as Wilcox.

.... there is of course another to look at the Sandra Gregory sentence - that she got treated leniently, and that it wasn't fair on others to pardon and release her so early (?).

The court concluded that Wilcoxs' drug pocession (which was for multi drug types - not just one) was not for only for personal use but that he was dealing.

Putting aside wheather or not he was dealing and the courts conclusion - yes, I do concurr his sentence is harsh, very harsh.

Personaly I do not believe drug use should be criminalised. There is plenty plenty medical evidence today that supports drug use as been a medical problem - and all the help they ask for should be made avaliable to drug users. Quite what society hopes to gain by criminalising sick people and locking them up for the extraordinary lengths of time that Asian countries do lock folk up for - in particular first time offenders - I have never understood. I fail to see how society or the individual benefit from such harsh sentencing.

Drug dealers on the hand - I have a hard time sympathising with them or the sentences they get. Their trade profits on the misery and destruction of other human beings, and as such their removal from society can only be a good thing.

The reality of Wilcox's case is that if most cases are anything to go by, he will appear before a parole board before his tariff is up (and I don't know what part of his sentence is tarrif), and will get a favourable hearing if he has been a "model prisoner". Chances are he's going to be out before the tarrif is served in full, and almost certainly long before the full 33 years are served.

and standing by any name change to documents they sign off on if challeneged 5 - `10 years down the road (i.e. just before the crop matures - the time when you can expect any problems to arise, if they are going to arise).

If you do decide to go through with it, you might consider seperate purchase agreements for the land and the crop. I would assume that even if the land deal is challenged, you would still own the crop if the purchase agreement was seperate. That would give you partial protection and also reduce the incentive for the land deal to be challenged.

!!!!!!!???????? - hel_l Tim, what did you study, mate - law! - thats smart thinking, thats a dam_n good idea - seperate the land from the crop (at least on paper), so notwithstanding any problems later, having seperate pruchase contracts for the land and the crop (and make sure that the crop contract clearly treats it as what is known in Thailand as a "forward crop purchase", with nothing to do with the land) may at least help offset any loss on the land if there is a dispute later on, against the value of the crop.

Nice one Tim .......

Worriedgary - there is no restriction on ex-pats/foreigners buying agriculture crops - which is what a timber plantation is.

Jay

You need to go see as many sugar farmers in the area where you are intending to grow – different hybrids grow better/worse in different areas. Take a note what hybrid type others in your area are growing.

As well, some hybrids mature quicker than others.

Seedlings – cane is grown from what are called “sets”, which are segments of cane cut from harvested crop. Important you source these from a reputable supplier in your area, and ideally treated.

Its also important you prepare your soil properly and that you plant the sets at the correct depth with the correct fertiliser, correct set and row spacing, and that you follow the correct regime when it comes to fertilising later.

When you plant is dependent to some extent on the hybrid type you choice to use.

15 metric tons per rai? – yup, that’s possible – but again water, soil, hybrid type are all factors which are going to effect your yield.

How long to grow? – depends on the hybrid type – some can take as little as a year, some as long as 18 months and longer.

Take note of my comments regards harvesting/labour and transport – plan ahead for this or it could strip away all your profit and leave you with a loss.

In short: hard to give you any accurate answers till you have settled on a hybrid type to cultivate – come back with that info and I’m sure the guys with experience will be only to happy to help answer your questions.

You guys must remember something about RU - anyone can go to it, unlike Thammasat and places like Chula where folk fight for places, if you finish school and apply for RU, you'll get in, you won't be denied a place - and its cheap cheap cheap. Classes start out each year big, and get smaller each year. Alot of folk don;t pull through the couses.

Theres some dispute regards whether the accused was in pocession of only what he needed for personal consumption versus quantities consistent with dealing - immaterial of whether or not he was dealing, the courts in Thailand are not likely to grant you the benefit of the doubt - and his sentence reflected that (i.e. he had not been given the benefit of the doubt!)

Pocesession for personal use and dealing carry very different sentences in Thailand - everyone knows that. If you are a user then it is nothing but plain stupidity to be any pocessesion of a quantity that can get you prosecuted for dealing.

He's back in the Uk now, and can be very grateful for been given that oppurtunity. If past examples are anything to go by, he's not going to be inside in 2020 let alone have to serve the full 33years.

I'm not sure how the tariff part of the sentence is calculated or affected when prisoner exchanges take place - and I haven't seen anuthing yet in th media regards the tariff component of his sentance, but if his lawyer is up to the job, he should be able to find a way to get him in front of a parole board sometime over the next few years. So long as he has been a "model prisoner" I would have thought he could expect a sympathetic hearing and a good chance of getting released.

But the message is clear - dont do drugs in Thailand, and if you have a drug problem you can go to any of the Thai state drug help centres and you will be treated just as a Thai would be treated (it is free - you will not be charged) - and be accorded the same confidentuality (though of course you'll stick out and attract a lot of interst in the centre).

I have been to Thailand a few times and there is something that really bugs me.

There are so many bars filled with girls but I have always thought "where are the men?". It just doesnt add up. Are they at home waiting for their teerak to come home? Are there villages in Isaan full of men because the girls have all gone to BKK/Samui/Phuket etc?

This is something I have thought about a bit, but am not as knowledgable as some people on this board so a genuine insight would be great.

If you are talking about the bar industry in the tourist areas full of girls, what you are seeing is a phenomena that is very much about the tourist market, and the girls which work in them. They are actually, despite appearences, a minoirty percentage of Thailands young female population - the vast majoirty of whom would only go to such places with a group of friends to see what it was all about, but wouldn't care otherwise to hang out in the enviroment.

Yes - there are Isaan villages with distorted male/female ratio's, and it's in no small part because the girls have a lot more going for them potentialy in the "bright lights" industry, than do the guys, but again, overall they still represent a minority group within the overall Thai female population - it just looks so much more in the bar areas because there is little else to make a comparison with.

... and to answer your question regards Thai males waiting at home for their Teeraks' - you bet, more so than many ex-pats realise. All to often they (i.e. the Thai male partners) know full well what their girlfriend is up to in the bar! Why do they tolerate it? Income - they view it (as most of the girls do) as a job and nothing more than that - which is something else a lot of visitors don't realise.

It's not that no one wants to help, its that the options are so wide and varied its difficult to find a starting point.

You are correct in noting that the soil conditions and water avaliability are important considerations, but so to are things like: do you want to make a commerical business out of whatever you decide to do (i.e do you want to be able to generate enough income to live off that size of land, and possibly also save), or is it just to put the land and time to use? Other things to consider, are what will you enjoy doing - many folk farm not because they enjoy doing so but because they see nothing else to do with the land, or there is nothing els eto do with it. What about investigating the viability of getting planning permission and then building low cost accomodation for rent or sale?

from a famring perspective, the thing that comes to mind for me is growing something like corn, or some other large area crop. What about keeping cattle?

... there are so many options and so many issues to consider its hard for anyone to say do this or do that without knowing what you would like to do and what you are hoping to get out of it in the long run. One thing I can tell you thats a dead cert - its going to be a lot of work and time to farm 55rai to earn a comfortable living from it.

North: 14degrees, 42minutes, 56,52 secs

East: 101degrees, 25minutes, 44,69 secs

.. thats the building, but forget it, I phoned the guy, he hasn't got a head gasket, and he doubt's you'll get one in Korat either.

Your options are as I see it - a trip down to Bkk, and then a drive around the tractor dealers out by the old international airport, or you make one yourself (using the old one as a template), or I send you one, or I bring one back with me on Wednesday night and stick it into the post as I drive through Korat.

If you scan and send me copies of the SPK docs I'll tell you exactly whats written on them - name, area, location blah blah, blah blah....

Yer .. heading into Pak Chong on the Mitrapahp main road from the dam and military camp end ( i.e. as if coming from Korat city - not as if coming from Bkk), just before you get to the Muslim community on the left hand side of the road (if I recall correctly the soi name is Soi Solaal) - about 100 - 200yards before this turnoff there is an ag spares parts delaership - he sells small tractor consumables - I'll message you later with a Goggle Earth Longitude and latitude position so you can see exactly where its located.

Watch out for the filter(s) - he's a big time c/f dealer (c/f = countefeit) and if the Thai language forums are anything to go by, he still mixes c/f filters amongst the genuine ones he sells. Don't confuse c/f with no-brand name - non brand name filters can work just fine, it's usualy brand name products that are inferior quality when coutnerfeited (i.e. will have a poor quality or little in the way of filter element inside the can). They're cheap enough - buy 2 and cut one open to check it has a filter element in side - or cut one open in front of him in the shop - if it's got no element inside ask for your money back.

Good hardware store? - you'll have look around but I would have thought any large hardware store in a regional town that caters for the farming community - where is your largest regional town?

Hi, i`m needing some parts for a hinomoto C172 tractor, namely oil filter, fuel filter cylinder head gasket and piston rings...

Does anyone know of a dealer/parts supplier in Korat or Surin area....regards

I have all those parts in stock - pm me with a digital pic of the tractor and the parts, along with your address and I'll get them into the post for you as soon as I get back home next week.

.... using blunt instrument trauma is sadly still very common in rural areas , and a terribly cruel way of going about things - mind you it also spoils the meat so the animal has the last laugh in a way.

Small caliber firearm (.22 rimfire or .32 revolver) - centre of the head will drop and render unconscious the largest buffulo bull (or cow) instantly - then cut its throat straight away - doesn't get all the blood out (unless you can hang the animal quickly on a tripod), but it does drain 90% plus out of the animal and make a big diff to the meat quality and how long it lasts.

Why are so many farangs so desperate to stay and live in Thailand ? I see so many western people willing to do anthing to stay here, but why do they want to stay so much. Thailand is no where near good as it once was . Yes beaches are nice but go about 1 min walking inland from the beach and most of the raods are very messy with quite alot of rubbish all over the place! Ok the Local thai people can be friendly for tourists... but live here and you soon find out that farangs are treated as second class people by Thais. ( anyone one who says other wise even hasnt lived here along time or is just kidding themselfs) Alot of Thai people are racist some more than others, and many Thai people just dont like farangs full stop. So why do some people want to stay so bad ? I only stay here becuase,

for 1 - I make quite good money from being based here throw I dont work in Thailand and wouldn't like to. But for - 2 and most important i have a child here.

Apart from the second point i would not be here. Can anyone tell me really why so many farangs are so desperate to stay here ? I am thinking most of them are becuase of they have a thai lady. I dont understand about that so much to... i have had before hence i have a child. But i cpuld never get my head around the money situation about supporting her family and giving money. Thats why i ended that. We are still good friend, but i only support my child and no one else. So if anyone can tell me also about why i see so many farang guys supporting a thai wife ( her mum and dad ) her children ( from her ex thai husbend ) Are these guys for real or do they really work a charity i dont no about ! ?

Anyway send some message and lets find out about these things

You've made some broad sweeping statements - those about Thai's not liking ex-pats and been racist is no more true then it can be said about ex-pats who don't like Thai's or who are racist towards them (?).

Your statement regards not been able to get your head around the money and support situation is your experience(s) - not that everyone has financial problems with their parents-in-law i.e. I have never had to give money to my wife or her family.

Actualy, far from been accurate statments that can be generalised about Thailand and it's people, they are statements about your experience. Yes, there are lots of guys who feel like you, but for everyone one who has these experiences, there is an ex-pat who can cite positive experience in inter-acting and living with Thai's iin Thailand.

Looking through the various hydroponic postings it seems to me that you guys are all doing fancy / complicated systems. I wonder is there anyone else out there doing it on the cheap!

I am using two systems - simple floating beds(Pak Bong and Lettuce) and sand/ rice hull mix beds (tomatoe, bean, cucumber etc)

No complicated feed systems, just a hose and watering can. Finding lots of problems and slowly overcoming them - e.g. I use rain water so no impurities. EXCEPT that I store it in those big concrete jars and have not discovered that they mess up the pH so have to get nitric acid to rectify the problem.

I'm looking to find anyone else out there having suffered and overcome suck surprises.

You got the idea alright - other than for having to buy the liquid fertiliser and artificial lighting of the right freq and the ballists (if you decide to go down that route), the hardware parts if one takes the trouble to study them, are little more complicated than what one can source from a decent hardware store, and then put together to run as big a hydroponics system as they want - at a fraction of the cost of what it costs to purchase commerically made systems.

Hydropincs offers huge potential in Thailand.

The last price I heard of for Euca was 200 Baht per ton. The price collapsed at the beginning of the year, but may have moved up since.

This would equate to 1450 tons. 72.5 tons per Rai.

Please consider transport and labour (cutting, loading, etc) costs.

Regards.

Ok thanks all.

sorry i think i hav'nt posted very clearly.

The owner has money problems. the ownership papaers are in his name, not rented. the fields papers are supacore? my wife speaks like this but i dont know if thats how you spell it?

He want to sell all 20 fields, plus his trees for the said price.

his fields are 40 meter square, and hes planted trees 2 meter by 3 meter apart, i think about 260 trees one rai?

Im very grateful for any advise, im new to farming and sometimes its very hard to understand my wife and her family as things they say seem to change by the hour, or minute!!!

thanks again!!

Oh yer .... "SUPACORE..." - well, well, that explains it.

She means SOR POR KOR - and that worriedgary is the RED FLAG I was refering to

SOR POR KOR land is subject to a load of restrictions, not least of which are restrictions on buying and selling.

SPK titled land was specifically legislatated for to give poor farmers access to land and to protect them. As recently as 2006 Thaksin tried to enact legislation which gave SPK holders the right to CHANOTE titleship (unrestricted use and ownership) as part of his efforts to get appeal to the rural poor.

He was not successfull, and if anything his efforts attracted the sort of attention those who trade "under-the-table" with SPK titles can least afford. Yes - titleship does change hands, yes village heads do sign-off on name changes - but legally, you are paying something that legally you or your girlfriend will never legally own - and that explains the price.

Has your grilfriend or anyone else in the family made any effort to explain to you any of the above .....?

If you want to go ahead I suggest you do the following: go see a local lawyer (go alone - you don't want to take anyone with you who can twist his arm for a fee) and get an indpendent opinion from him regards getting an SPK title changed to relfect another name. Been a local lawyer he will know who the local officials are and how amicable they are to manipulating paperwork, and standing by any name change to documents they sign off on if challeneged 5 - `10 years down the road (i.e. just before the crop matures - the time when you can expect any problems to arise, if they are going to arise).

My personal opinion - you want to avoid this one like the plague - the risks outweigh any benefits exponentialy ..... anyway, if it was such a good deal, why aren't any Thai's interested? I would think that been SPK land has a lot to do with it!

There are bar owners, farang tourist police, embassy workers/officials, and farang married into influential/beauocratic Thai families... should us normal farang be aware of these other farang and try not to upset them, if not to reap the rewards of our actions? I have heard that many bar owners have quite a few police numbers in their cell phone.

Yer - and do you know why they have all those phone numbers? - its a "you rub my back, I'll rub your back" kind of relationship, and the cops are very good at playing the game with ex-pats involved in licesenced premises. No such thing as a free lunch for bar owners - just for the cop whose phone number the bar owner has. They're the guys who profit in the long run from those relationships. That's the truth to those phone numbers in most cases.

INFLUENCE - just what is mean't by influence?

In nearly every single case I have heard of ex-pats referring to the "influence" they have through "so and so", or the "influence" they have access to, it is almost always presented exponentialy larger than it is in reality, and it is in any event "influence" that is very limited in scope and capability.

Secondly, it's "influence" in most cases that has come about through pay-off's and bribing. These kinds of "influence" are very much dependent on the amount of money avaliable to keep the relationship oiled. When the money dries up, or when the other side can counter-offer, the "true colours" of the relationship and the "influence" come to the fore ...... and most times it is shown to be what it is i.e. very conditional influence.

Influence through cops? - anyone can buy a cop (or other official) - it's a matter of finding the right cop or right official for whatever you want done and then the right amount of money - I can do that, you can do that, loads of folk can do that - the influence goes with the money.

Is that the kind of influence reffered to?

I'll tell you something about influence: out of all the ex-pats I know, there is only one I know who has the potential to be genuinely influential , and by that I mean he can pick the phone up and have his drivers license returned to him if it was taken from him a a road block, without having to pay anyone anything, he can arrange for something to be brought through the green channel at the airport and be garunteed he won't be stopped or checked, when it should go through the red channel (but he's also the sought of guy who would never abuse that infuence to smuggle drugs), and he wouldn;t have to pay anyone for that courtesy, he could make a phone call to get a visa extended for a friend (but he would never use that influence to get an overstayer through the system without the fine been paid) an dit wouldn;t cost him anything, he could arrange for planning permission to be granted quickly where it would otherwise take a year or more to get through the system, and no-one would have to be paid .... I can think of a 1001 things he could do, and all of them unrelated to each other and not involving money having to be paid.

But I write the word potential (first line - preceeding paragraph) in italics, because there are some characteristics to this influence which are very different form the kind of "influence" I suspect you reffered to in opening post RogerSterling1.

Firstly, the very last thing he, or the Thai authority figures he has access to like to do, is act or conduct themselves in a manner that leaves them in a position of needing to exercise that influence. Secondly, he is very discreet about it (doesn't discuss it with folk or make an issue about it), and thirdly (and proabably most importantly), he doesn't abuse it, or the relationship of trust that gives him access to that influence.

With respect to the kind of influence I think you were referring to RogerSterling1 - well, you only have to read Andrew Drummonds observations on his web site to discover how many farang's thought they had influence, only to find after having paid for it, that the relationship they thought they had with their "influential person" wasn't worth the paper the money they paid was printed on - let alone the value of the money...... it' can be a 2 edged sword: abuse it, and you quickly loose any respect in the relationship - thats when it comes back to bite you.