nycjoe

I am in Kham ta kla, about 130k northeast of Udon Thani and I want to buy 300 RI Red Layers about 7 months old, does anyone know of where I can buy them? Hopefully within 150K

When I bought in 2013. Toyota and Isuzu had the best resale value. I bought the Toyota. Great Diesel engine and has cruise. Happy with it for sure.

I know that Airlines buy their fuel in bulk for a year, the cost of fuel has dropped dramatically and should soon be reflected in the price of airfare. They are starting to get a lot of wiggle room and hopefully I will be flying to see the family soon enough.

Bangkok bank has accident insurance 5000 baht doesn't cover motorcycle accidents. I tore my toenail off and went to ram no problems

Make sure that you have a back up plan. If things go sour here. Which could happen.

I am either off to another adventure or there will be no more "I". Life will go on and what I have done while living my life I hope will leave the world a better place.

I do a lot of charity through Rotary and support a few charities. I am even Santa Claus at a school in maehongson.

I give to help children stay in school.

I will make room for a newborn.

Have you ever thought what life would be like without death. With every tree and insect still alive. Life is not possible without death.

I am 70 now and happy every day. I do not dwell on death because I am much too busy living.

It is difficult to find a following here in Chiang Mai. A friend had an organic delivery service and he had to stop recently. Not enough interest. I have to say I am a gentleman farmer. I can easily live from my pension and I am not depending on my farm to make a living. It is just my preference and my concern for the potable water in the aquifer. I had it tested and it is OK. I want to keep it that way and not buy my water from coca cola or nestle.

Veggies on steroids. Yeehaa

This is an internal Myanmar problem that has to be addressed at its source, the vile acts of 4 men, brought the underlying animosity of Asian Burmese toward the Bengali Rohingya. This is another problem that is based in British Colonialism. When the British imported the Rohingya to Burma to act as mid level managers, after they left Burma they left these people to be hated as symbols of foreign oppression. This is not the first time that the Rohingya have been an unwanted group, there are several times since the british left. I tried to find a reference to a three part essay on the rohingya but it mysteriously disappeared from my Facebook page. Scary.

From Scientific American:

Dear EarthTalk: What effects do fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides used on residential lawns or on farms have on nearby water bodies like rivers, streams—or even the ocean for those of us who live near the shore?

-- Linda Reddington, Manahawkin, NJ

With the advent of the so-called Green Revolution in the second half of the 20th century—when farmers began to use technological advances to boost yields—synthetic fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides became commonplace around the world not only on farms, but in backyard gardens and on front lawns as well.

These chemicals, many of which were developed in the lab and are petroleum-based, have allowed farmers and gardeners of every stripe to exercise greater control over the plants they want to grow by enriching the immediate environment and warding off pests. But such benefits haven’t come without environmental costs—namely the wholesale pollution of most of our streams, rivers, ponds, lakes and even coastal areas, as these synthetic chemicals run-off into the nearby waterways.

When the excess nutrients from all the fertilizer we use runs off into our waterways, they cause algae blooms sometimes big enough to make waterways impassable. When the algae die, they sink to the bottom and decompose in a process that removes oxygen from the water. Fish and other aquatic species can’t survive in these so-called “dead zones” and so they die or move on to greener underwater pastures.

A related issue is the poisoning of aquatic life. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Americans alone churn through 75 million pounds of pesticides each year to keep the bugs off their peapods and petunias. When those chemicals get into waterways, fish ingest them and become diseased. Humans who eat diseased fish can themselves become ill, completing the circle wrought by pollution.

A 2007 study of pollution in rivers around Portland, Oregon found that wild salmon there are swimming around with dozens of synthetic chemicals in their systems. Another recent study from Indiana found that a variety of corn genetically engineered to produce the insecticide Bt is having toxic effects on non-target aquatic insects, including caddis flies, a major food source for fish and frogs.

The solution, of course, is to go organic, both at home and on the farm. According to the Organic Trade Association, organic farmers and gardeners use composted manure and other natural materials, as well as crop rotation, to help improve soil fertility, rather than synthetic fertilizers that can result in an overabundance of nutrients. As a result, these practices protect ground water supplies and avoid runoff of chemicals that can cause dead zones and poisoned aquatic life.

There is now a large variety of organic fertilizer available commercially, as well as many ways to keep pests at bay without resorting to harsh synthetic chemicals. A wealth of information on growing greener can be found online: Check out OrganicGardeningGuru.com and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Alternative Farming System Information Center, for starters. Those interested in face-to-face advice should consult with a master gardener at a local nursery that specializes in organic gardening.

Actually I use cow manure, chicken manure and bat guano, If you want to use chemical fertilisers as they say on soi 6 up to you. I prefer to use more natural materials it is wholly a matter of choice, Part of my insecticide is cheap thai whiskey, so I give the bugs a bit of a thrill before they bite the dust.

But why are you so adamant about chemical fertilisers anyway?

WASTE LANDS: THE THREAT OF TOXIC FERTILIZER

Report by

Matthew Shaffer,

Toxics Policy Advocate

CALPIRG Charitable Trust

The State PIRGs

May 3, 2001

Download the Report || Executive Summary

Press Release || U.S. PIRG

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Download the complete report by clicking on the link above. This is a PDF file. The free Adobe Acrobat Reader is needed to view the file.

Executive Summary

The recycling of hazardous industrial wastes into fertilizers introduces several dozen toxic metals and chemicals into the nation's farm, lawn and garden soils, including such well-known toxic substances as lead and mercury. Many crops and plants extract these toxic metals from the soil, increasing the chance of impacts on human health as crops and plants enter the food supply chain. This report documents the highly toxic substances found by testing fertilizers, as well as the strict regulations needed to protect humans and the environment from these toxic hazards.

Between 1990 and 1995, 600 companies from 44 different states sent 270 million pounds of toxic waste to farms and fertilizer companies across the country. 1 The steel industry provided 30% of this waste. Used for its high levels of zinc, which is an essential nutrient for plant growth, steel industry wastes can include lead, arsenic, cadmium, chromium, nickel and dioxin, among other toxic substances. Although the industrial facilities that generate these toxic wastes report the amount of chemicals they transfer off-site to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency�s (U.S. EPA) Toxics Release Inventory every year, they only report the total amount of a given chemical contained in wastes transferred over the course of a year, making it difficult to determine the chemical make-up of a given waste shipment.

With little monitoring of the toxics contained in fertilizers and fertilizer labels that do not list toxic substances, our food supply and our health are at risk.

TESTED FERTILIZERS CONTAIN HARMFUL TOXIC METALS

California Public Interest Research Group (CALPIRG) Charitable Trust and Washington�s Safe Food and Fertilizer tested 29 fertilizers from 12 states 2 for 22 toxic metals. This report documents the results of these fertilizer samples, demonstrates that the problem of toxic fertilizers is widespread, and details concerns with proposed regulations for the practice.

Twenty-nine tested fertilizers contained twenty-two toxic heavy metals. These metals are linked to either ecological or human health hazards. Most noticeable is the wide array of toxic metals that exist in fertilizers.

Metal Tested

Number of Fertilizers Containing the Metal

Aluminum (Al)

29

Antimony (Sb)

29

Arsenic (As)

29

Barium (Ba)

29

Berylium (Be)

29

Boron (

29

Cadmium (Cd)

29

Chromium (Cr)

29

Cobalt (Co)

29

Copper (Cu)

29

Iron (Fe)

29

Lead (Pb)

29

Manganese (Mn)

29

Mercury (Hg)

29

Molybdenum (Mo)

29

Nickel (Ni)

29

Selenium (Se)

29

Silver (Ag)

29

Thallium (Tl)

29

Vanadium (V)

29

Uranium (U)

29

Zinc (Zn)

29

All commercial fertilizers made from recycled materials such as hazardous wastes, and produced for the general public�s use are subject to the federal Land Disposal Restrictions (LDRs). 3 Land disposal restriction standards, which are levels of concern that are limits for keeping hazardous wastes from leaching from a lined landfill, exist for thirteen of the twenty-two metals for which we tested. 4 Land disposal standards do not protect human health and the environment. While exceeding these levels of concern is not an indication that a fertilizer has violated the law, such exceedences indicate that some tested fertilizers have the potential to violate federal regulations.

Twenty fertilizers tested higher than levels of concern. One fertilizer, The Andersons 0-0-0, 36% Zinc (from Michigan) exceeded six levels of concern. It also contained the highest levels of antimony, cadmium, chromium, nickel, silver and lead of any fertilizer we tested and the second highest levels of beryllium, selenium and mercury. In all, the twenty fertilizers exceed levels of concern for nine toxic heavy metals. The most frequently exceeded levels of concern were for cadmium, chromium and vanadium.

These results indicate that fertilizers often contain high levels of harmful toxic metals that exceed levels of concern and could violate federal law.

Labeling is inadequate. Because fertilizer labeling laws only require beneficial nutrients, like zinc or phosphate, to be listed, fertilizers are sold directly to the public and farmers without warnings or information that informs consumers about the presence and quantity of toxic metals. Also, there is no indication on fertilizer labels as to whether or not the fertilizers we tested have been further treated to meet federal land disposal standards.

Inadequate labeling requirements mean consumers do not have the necessary information to make informed decisions about products at the time that they are purchased to best protect the health of their families.

Each of these metals is suspected or known to be toxic to humans and the environment by the U.S. EPA. Nine metals, like arsenic and lead, are known or suspected to cause cancer and ten metals, like mercury, are linked to developmental effects. Three of the tested metals � lead, cadmium and mercury � are also persistent bioaccumulative toxins (PBTs). PBTs persist for long periods of time in the environment � some indefinitely � and they can accumulate in the tissues of humans and wildlife, increasing the long-term health risks at even low levels of exposure. These three metals cause cancer, birth defects, or reproductive problems. 5

TOXIC FERTILIZERS THREATEN HUMAN HEALTH

The toxic substances found in the tested fertilizers have been linked to adverse human health impacts. The metals found in these fertilizers are known or suspected carcinogens, reproductive and developmental, liver, and blood toxicants. For example, beryllium is a suspected carcinogen, chromium and arsenic are known to cause cancer and barium can cause kidney and lung damage.

Children are most susceptible to the toxic effects of most metals, especially lead, which has been the subject of intense government efforts to reduce lead exposure to children. Products like fertilizer are of great concern as children spend more time on or near the ground and are often exposed to ground level substances through hand-to-mouth behavior.

TOXIC FERTILIZERS THREATEN AGRICULTURAL SOILS, FOOD SAFETY AND WATERWAYS

As demonstrated in this report, the tested fertilizers contain toxic substances at high levels. These substances can accumulate in agricultural soils, become available for plant uptake, and run off into waterways.

AGRICULTURAL SOIL QUALITY

Farming, especially single-crop farming, requires consistent and dependable soil conditions. The introduction to farm soils of toxic substances like lead and cadmium can adversely affect growing conditions and result in increased toxic accumulation as these metals are highly persistent in soils. This can negatively affect critical growing requirements, such as soil acidity or the solubility of beneficial metals like zinc in the soils.

PLANT UPTAKE

Some crops are more likely than others to absorb non-nutrient toxic substances from soils. For example, fruits and grains can absorb lead, and lettuce, corn and wheat can absorb cadmium from soils. 6 This means that our food supply is at risk of contamination by toxic substances that could threaten human health.

WATER QUALITY

The overall health of the nation�s waterways has declined dramatically over the last quarter-century. Forty percent of our rivers, lakes, and estuaries are still too polluted for safe fishing or swimming 7 . Agricultural runoff is a common cause of waterway pollution. A 1998 U.S. EPA report found that metals are the second most common pollutants found in lakes, ponds, reservoirs, and estuaries. In fact, agriculture is the industry most responsible for lake pollution. 8 The introduction of toxic substances from fertilizers to agricultural environments will only add to their concentrations in waterways that state and federal agencies are working to make safe for fishing and swimming.

MISGUIDED POLICIES AND TOXIC LOOPHOLES

Labeling is inadequate. Fertilizer labeling laws do not require listing toxic metals like lead, cadmium and chromium that are not essential to plant and crop growth. Without listing all the ingredients present in fertilizers, consumers cannot make decisions that will protect their soils, crops and plants, or their health.

Existing standards for toxic metals in fertilizers are inadequate for protecting our soils, crops, plants, water, air and health. All commercial fertilizers made from recycled materials, such as hazardous wastes, and produced for the general public�s use are subject to the federal Land Disposal Restrictions. 9 10 The U.S. EPA�s federal Land Disposal Restrictions, which are applied to zinc fertilizers 11 that contain toxic waste, are intended to ensure that toxic substances are properly treated before the waste is disposed of in heavily regulated, lined landfills. Land Disposal Restriction standards are technology-based standards, which means that they are designed to predict the ability of a hazardous waste to leach from these landfills.

These standards are not risk- or health-based standards. Using these standards for fertilizers can result in unacceptable health risks because of unanticipated uptake by plants, migration of toxic substances to groundwater more easily than would occur from a lined landfill, generation of airborne dusts, or exposure to humans, including children and farmworkers. Land Disposal Restrictions are inadequate for regulating the application of hazardous wastes, via fertilizers, to farms, lawns and gardens or for use as animal feed.

As hazardous wastes continue to burden regulatory agencies, municipalities, and the industries that generate them, regulators are under increasing pressure to find ways to treat, handle, and dispose of wastes. U.S. EPA encourages the reuse and recycling of industrial wastes, including hazardous wastes, as a way of handling increasing waste quantities, when such wastes can be used as substitutes for virgin, raw materials. 12

Unfortunately, the recycling of hazardous wastes into fertilizer products does not always include the process of treatment or cleaning of hazardous waste, but rather dilution of the waste. Dilution involves adding substances to a waste to reduce the concentration of toxic substances that are present in the waste. Dilution does not reduce the toxicity of the hazardous constituents. 13 Federal law specifically prohibits dilution as a form of treatment. 14

RECOMMENDATIONS

No uniform law for regulating the toxicity or labeling of the nation�s fertilizers exists. Rather, myriad hazardous waste laws and regulatory bodies are responsible for various aspects of the practice of recycling industrial waste into fertilizers, often with little enforcement or oversight. As a result, the fertilizers we use on our farms and gardens contain high levels of toxic metals that are also not listed on the label. We encourage state and federal agencies to:

1) Ban the use of hazardous wastes for manufacturing fertilizers. The presence and quantity of toxic substances in fertilizers vary widely but occur at high levels. These substances are not essential to crop and plant growth and can negatively affect soil and food quality and human health. Current regulatory strategies have been inadequate for protecting farmers and growers, home-use consumers and specialty users from the accumulation of toxic substances from fertilizers in our farms, lawns and gardens.

2) Adopt expanded right-to-know provisions for all hazardous wastes going into fertilizer. Consumers should be made aware of the presence and quantity of all ingredients in fertilizers at the point-of-purchase on the product label. Such information is necessary to allow consumers to make informed choices about protecting soil, crop and plant quality and their own health.

3) Stop exempting hazardous wastes being made into fertilizers from important treatment, storage and disposal tracking requirements. The generation, treatment, storage, transport, disposal and receipt of hazardous wastes is tracked, or manifested by authorized state agencies. As soon as the waste becomes a recycled product, like a fertilizer, the tracking requirements end. The tracking of industrial wastes from �cradle to grave� and maintaining stringent handling requirements are significant components to ensuring protection of public and environmental health. Any exemptions in these areas put the public at risk.

1 "Factory Farming: Toxic Waste and Fertilizer in the United States, 1990-1995," Environmental Working Group, 1998.

2 In addition to California, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, and Washington states, the tested fertilizers (See Appendix are available in many other states. This is especially true for home and garden fertilizers like Scotts.

3 40 CFR 266.20, 40 CFR 268.40 (i)

4 Zinc fertilizers are subject to less stringent Phase III Land Disposal Restrictions, which do not include beryllium and vanadium. Zinc fertilizers made from electric arc furnace dust (K061) are not subject to standards. 40 CFR Part 268, [FRL-6153-2], RIN 2050-AE05, EPA, 1998.

5 "Visualizing Zero: Eliminating Persistent Pollution in Washington State." Washington Toxics Coalition, 2000.

6 Wilson, D., "Fear in the Fields," The Seattle Times, July 3, 1997, citing Agency for Toxic Substances Disease Registry, EPA.

7 www.pirg.org /enviro/index.htm

8 National Water Quality Inventory: 1998 Report to Congress (EPA841-R-00-001)

9 40 CFR 266.20 and 40 CFR 268.40 (i)

10 The exception is K061 (the waste code for electric arc furnace dust produced by steel mills) which are not sunject to regulation.

11 Non-zinc fertilizers are subject to Universal Treatment Standards, 40 CFR 268.48

12 http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/hazwaste/recycle/fertiliz/index.htm

13 Environmental Protection Agency, EPA530-F-99-043, December 1999.

14 40 CCR �268.3,: "Dilution prohibited as a substitute for treatment." In addition, 40 CFR 268.2 (k) states, "Any deliberate mixing of prohibited hazardous waste with soil that changes its treatment classification (i.e., from waste to contaminated soil) is not allowed under the dilution prohibition in section 268.3"

Download the Report || Executive Summary

I use organic fertilizer after researching the effect of chemical fertilizer on the groundwater. Chemical fertilizers contain carcinogenic chemicals.

From what I understand, they will be housing all of immigration across the road from promenada where the burmese people are now processed.

It is rumoured that they finally have funds to build a new immigration building by the airport.

Can own property up to 200 wah and own house. 10 year visa, same as malaysia my second home.

This happened to me when I first got to Thailand, went to a Seafood restaurant at the Asok intersection and didn't know my baht. That is life, sometimes you eat the bear and sometimes the bear eats you. it's the law of compensation. Life is like that, I would rather laugh it off and move on than carry a resentment.

We use organic on our land not so much to make more money, than to protect the groundwater. I like organic myself, there is a big movement to be organic at the agricultural universities. You are not going to get poor Thais to pay more for organic. Not while making $10 a day or less.

Having said that. Many Thai farmers are planting veggies in a way that they don't need fertilizer. Marigolds near cabbage ie. Give them credit many are smart and crafty.

If think that we should let the 40 women that he raped and their families decide what happens to him.

They are all made with parts from different places now. One car may have almost the same doors as another. They all look pretty much the same. Not much to fight over anymore. Not like the 55 thunderbird or 57 Chevy. They are all ( deleted)

Rent $400 for 120 sq meters

Electric $100 ac on in three rooms hot season. Other times $30.

Cable phone fiber optic Internet $110

Gym $400 year

Water $3 tap $20 drinking

Thai meal $2

Western meal $3-10

The women take all the rest if you let them.

Looks like he had wounds to his head. I love the way some arm chair detectives rush to judgement, makes thaivisa what it is, along with the candy crush popup adds. and adding stupid ads to my posts, maybe the greed has got them but looks like thaivisa is going down the tubes. time for a new news source.

There is an app air4thai that gives a reading from air monitors around town and around Thailand. Well off to the pulmonologist.

Sadly there have been many people wailing in the emergency rooms when their children are seriously injured but it is not easy to buy a car when raising a family on 300 baht a day. This is life as it is.

It really is a subjective question. I love Thailand, I like the restaurants and shopping in chiang mai, and also have a small farm in Issan, i commute back and forth. There is something for everyone here. Trouble is we Farang bring ourselves where ever we go and that can muck it up.