bubbaba

Hello. I would like to build some raised beds using the standard hollow cement blocks available here in Thailand. I will grow any and all vegetables that I can grown in Thailand in them. If I only build two or three blocks high is it necessary to build a beam first to support the blocks? A beam with iron or simply a cement beam? Does anyone here have any experience with this. How to build. How do the beds work? Too hot? Too dry? Works good. Any and all advise welcome. Thanks John

Check this video out, Roman Rock swimming pools, dependent upon your ground water level this just might fit the bill.

Thanks for the reply. My water table here is 30 meters down, at least according to the water level in my mother in laws well next door. I checked after our last hard rain and there was no water in the pond. DRY. I need a cement or other type of liner for sure to hold water.

Sorry my friend, incorrect answer. I speak American Speak and can hardly understand the Spoken English on BBC. I read most of my news from the internet. I tell my friends from down under every day that some day I will teach them English. LOL, they do.

you have been watching the bbc too much

For those of you who have swimming pools and no longer want them for whatever reason need to consider "natural swimming pools". From the research I have done I think they are the perfect answer to keeping your pool and having clean water without the expense of chemicals. I am in the process of building such a pool now. In the past we built our koi pond and for filters we built two gravel-bog filters. I have clean clear water.

Not sure what you mean "how would I build it." I would first start with a set of drawings.

Gil

I meant to say - If you were doing this project yourself. Yes, make a plan. Then check details. But would you pour cement or use hollow block? Would you use iron? How much? Would you use tile or some type of white cement finish. What would you do at each step of the process.

For those of you who have swimming pools and no longer want them for whatever reason need to consider "natural swimming pools". From the research I have done I think they are the perfect answer to keeping your pool and having clean water without the expense of chemicals. I am in the process of building such a pool now. In the past we built our koi pond and for filters we built two gravel-bog filters. I have clean clear water.

I plan to build a small swimming or dipping pool in the center of our back garden for cooling off in the summer and for children to swim. I plan to build using cement. Size will be 12 feet wide by 16 feet long. Depth to run/sloop from 2 foot to 5 foot. How would you build it? Please give me your ideas, comments, whatever. I only have experience building small fish ponds and gravel bog gardens as filters. bubbaba

I need information on International Money Orders and/or Cashiers Checks. Any and all information is requested. At present I have all of my income sent here to Thailand thru Bangkok Bank NY. Once the money is here it is in baht. However I need to pay some obligations in the USA in dollars. How do I do that? Can I buy money orders or cashiers checks with baht to send to USA that will be paid in dollars?

How is the aquaponics going now? Slow, improved, what? Any photos? I am very interested in this subject for home use only.

drtreelove: curiously, I know it the other way round - 'knitbone'. Apparently been in use for fractures for aeons. Had some in London, good ground cover plant and an attractive tight growth pattern. When I gripped a leaf I could feel a numbing effect in the finger and thumb for some time after. Did you notice the same? [Ajuga reptans, toadflax, does the same but less so]. Definitely has a medicinal, and probably a poison value depending on how it's administered. Didn't know it was good for fertiliser.

Wagner54: thanks for the extra info. Could be smaller 'cos of soil and possibly they like it cooler(???) Will ask you for a cutting some time in the future if I may. I'm always looking for organic fertilisers, mainly because I don't want to pay inflated prices for something that works for less than a month [chemical fertilisers] when I can use dung which does as well for three years. Thought, would guess it needs to be well composted before use else it would propogate all over the place when spread as fertiliser(???)

Using comfrey for fertiliser: Pack a 5 gallon bucket with green leaves about 1/3 full. Then fill with water and cover. Stir it every day for a week to ten days. Now mix the concentrate with water and apply to plants. Mix 1 part of concentrate to approximately 10 parts water for mild. I used one part concentrate to 3-5 parts water. I have only used it outside, not on house plants in the house. The reason I said that is, when you are making the concentrate during the one week to ten day period it stinks STINKS STINKS. If you have ever cleaned a septic tank then you know what I mean. You keep it covered to prevent evaporation and I am sure partly because of the smell. That's the only downside of comfrey other then the medical cautions that if you eat/consume much it may cause cancer. Not proven but suspect. I have never eaten any. Used on wounds it is the best for healing. Ground cover is new to me but I will for sure try it. I like the dark green shade of leaves. I also raised a pig by the organic method once. Comfrey greens was the main food and the pig was nice and lean and tasted great. Other part of the pigs food was all garden scrapes and soy milk. I like trying new ways, especially organic. And, but, animal pooh is still the best all around organic fertiliser, period.

Has anyone on this forum seen or grown comfrey in Thailand? Does anyone know where to get seeds, cuttings, or plants of this herb in Thailand? Does anyone on here or their mate know the Thai name for comfrey?

Making liquid fertilizer from this herb is as good or better then using a liquid fertilizer made from fish. I first learned about it from Organic Gardening Magazine in USA, in the 70's. I have made it, used it, and it is great. Also cheap and not harmful to the soil.

I have finally got to the point with my pond where I want to stock it. Fish will be for recreational fishing and family food. My pond is small, approximately 40 meters by 25 meters, or slightly smaller. What mixture of fish work best together in a small pond? For eating I like pla top tim, pla duk, and pla chon. I really like to eat most fish but these three I know about. What kind of fish in Thailand is good for a small pond and fun to catch on cane pole or light tackle and to eat? Do they have anything here in Thailand like the small "sun perch" or "brim" in America? These small fish are usually mixed in a pond with large mouth bass. Both good eating. Please advise me what is best. Good ideas, bad ideas, etc.

We have the black Pla nin, tuptim & Pla duk, as well as Pla Suay (which grow big & look like sharks:-) These all coexist very happily together. The Nin & Tuptim breed like billio, they have also interbred between the varieties producing most attractive orange & black offspring. I am certainly no expert, but I'm fairly sure if you had Pla chon in with others, they would eat up any youngsters your tuptim will eventually produce.

What does "billio" mean. Breed like rabbits?? Is Pla Suay good to eat? Do you have any experience catching them, any of them, on a hook and line? Thank you for responding.

LOL....Yes, 'billio' is an old one, means 'like hel_l, very much etc' The Plasuay are a very 'meaty' fish, good to eat, the locals around here love them, as they are especially good for making tomyam. I have found the Suay easy to catch on a hook & line as they are a 'greedy' fish & take the bait readily, Pladuk, likewise, the Tilapia not so forthcoming, but also very 'catchable' . There is a local guy comes around to our house nearly every night after work, his 'passion' fishing with a hook & line, he spends 2-3 hours by our pool, leaving well after dark; whatever he catches he gives us, he does it soley for the enjoyment.

Hello again. Thank you for the information. I like to fish everyday like that too. Especially with a simple cane pole, hook, sinker, etc. But I eat them. Since fish is basically the only meat I eat, I eat fish almost every day. Do you live anywhere near Korat area? My wife and I would like to see other ponds if some members live near enough.

"Billio" is an old one - I should have known that - I'm an old one too 555555555. My wife say - you sooooo oollllldd. Thank you.

Stay away from Fruity's place. If you don't get rained on my giant frogs then he has over 1/4 ton hogs on the loose, get away from all that and you may fall in his pond and be set upon by shark looking types of fish. Beware of who you meet on this forum. He's breeding more of these monsterous hog beasts so you could be chased by nearly a dozen and half at a time (And that is just ONE LITTER!!!!). Fruity also has a brand new batch of giant bullfrogs that are breeding size and I'd try to get a few pairs if I were you (we did) and breed them outside the pond and then introduce them at different stages of their life cycle so that the pond will give you many forms of pleasure and sustanence. When you head back to the other world try to find some fishing line that is 2 LB test and buy a couple of very very cheap small spinning reels and the lightest finest tip rods you can find. Bait them up andf give them to your Thai wife or some young kids and their is nothing more fun than watching them get the thrill that many big time game fishing fisherman feel when headiing out into the ocean for trophies. Nothing like the thrill of that fish screaming off line against a slight drag and the tingle of it shaking the line and the rod. Truly magic. Enjoy.

HELP - I have been trying to google up "pla suay" with no luck. I would like to read about this fish. I would also like to see a photo of this fish. Is it part of the family of fish refered to as: Pangasiidae (shark catfishes)? How big does it get.

I have finally got to the point with my pond where I want to stock it. Fish will be for recreational fishing and family food. My pond is small, approximately 40 meters by 25 meters, or slightly smaller. What mixture of fish work best together in a small pond? For eating I like pla top tim, pla duk, and pla chon. I really like to eat most fish but these three I know about. What kind of fish in Thailand is good for a small pond and fun to catch on cane pole or light tackle and to eat? Do they have anything here in Thailand like the small "sun perch" or "brim" in America? These small fish are usually mixed in a pond with large mouth bass. Both good eating. Please advise me what is best. Good ideas, bad ideas, etc.

We have the black Pla nin, tuptim & Pla duk, as well as Pla Suay (which grow big & look like sharks:-) These all coexist very happily together. The Nin & Tuptim breed like billio, they have also interbred between the varieties producing most attractive orange & black offspring. I am certainly no expert, but I'm fairly sure if you had Pla chon in with others, they would eat up any youngsters your tuptim will eventually produce.

What does "billio" mean. Breed like rabbits?? Is Pla Suay good to eat? Do you have any experience catching them, any of them, on a hook and line? Thank you for responding.

LOL....Yes, 'billio' is an old one, means 'like hel_l, very much etc' The Plasuay are a very 'meaty' fish, good to eat, the locals around here love them, as they are especially good for making tomyam. I have found the Suay easy to catch on a hook & line as they are a 'greedy' fish & take the bait readily, Pladuk, likewise, the Tilapia not so forthcoming, but also very 'catchable' . There is a local guy comes around to our house nearly every night after work, his 'passion' fishing with a hook & line, he spends 2-3 hours by our pool, leaving well after dark; whatever he catches he gives us, he does it soley for the enjoyment.

Hello again. Thank you for the information. I like to fish everyday like that too. Especially with a simple cane pole, hook, sinker, etc. But I eat them. Since fish is basically the only meat I eat, I eat fish almost every day. Do you live anywhere near Korat area? My wife and I would like to see other ponds if some members live near enough.

"Billio" is an old one - I should have known that - I'm an old one too 555555555. My wife say - you sooooo oollllldd. Thank you.

I have finally got to the point with my pond where I want to stock it. Fish will be for recreational fishing and family food. My pond is small, approximately 40 meters by 25 meters, or slightly smaller. What mixture of fish work best together in a small pond? For eating I like pla top tim, pla duk, and pla chon. I really like to eat most fish but these three I know about. What kind of fish in Thailand is good for a small pond and fun to catch on cane pole or light tackle and to eat? Do they have anything here in Thailand like the small "sun perch" or "brim" in America? These small fish are usually mixed in a pond with large mouth bass. Both good eating. Please advise me what is best. Good ideas, bad ideas, etc.

We have the black Pla nin, tuptim & Pla duk, as well as Pla Suay (which grow big & look like sharks:-) These all coexist very happily together. The Nin & Tuptim breed like billio, they have also interbred between the varieties producing most attractive orange & black offspring. I am certainly no expert, but I'm fairly sure if you had Pla chon in with others, they would eat up any youngsters your tuptim will eventually produce.

What does "billio" mean. Breed like rabbits?? Is Pla Suay good to eat? Do you have any experience catching them, any of them, on a hook and line? Thank you for responding.

I have finally got to the point with my pond where I want to stock it. Fish will be for recreational fishing and family food. My pond is small, approximately 40 meters by 25 meters, or slightly smaller. What mixture of fish work best together in a small pond? For eating I like pla top tim, pla duk, and pla chon. I really like to eat most fish but these three I know about. What kind of fish in Thailand is good for a small pond and fun to catch on cane pole or light tackle and to eat? Do they have anything here in Thailand like the small "sun perch" or "brim" in America? These small fish are usually mixed in a pond with large mouth bass. Both good eating. Please advise me what is best. Good ideas, bad ideas, etc.

I am familiar with the Issan area of Thailand. My first wife had a land near Korat and my present wife have a land in Khon Kaen. In both areas, farmers harvest rice only once a year. They barely make enough money to eat. When there is no rain...the harvest is very bad. They work only a few months of the year.

I went to the local government office once and they told me there are huge amount of fresh water underground (20 to 100 meters). It is apparently everywhere: just like an underground sea! So i asked the officials why don't the farmers drill deep wells to irrigate their land and, this way, they could make two or three harvest a year or even grows fruits, vegetables etc.

They reply to me that this was very much possible to do so but that the farmers were too poor to make this kind of investment. I told them that, despite being poor, they do have pick-up trucks, color TVs, etc so why not make this investment that would double or even triple their revenue? I got no answer to that. At this office, they even had the trucks equipped with drills etc.

So, in light of that....is there someone who have an answer as why almost no one in Issan try to use this way of improving their lives? Is it ignorance? Laziness? Poverty? A lack of imagination? A reluctance to change old ways of living? They cannot live like this. This year, I made this harvest on our land. For 16.3 Rai of land, I got only 36,000 baht! And that is gross revenue. After paying all the expenses, I was left with a meager 16,000 baht!! This is one year revenue!

If i even go to live on our land over there, i would certainly not grow rice. I would drill i good size well and irrigate my land and grow something i can make a good profit of! I would appreciate comments because i am curious to know if "my way" would actually work over there! Thanks to all. Alexboy

Very interesting, the part about avaliability of water. I did not know that. I live near Korat and plan to have a well put in to supply water for my pond and garden areas. If your information on water is correct, I should hit water at about 35 meters. My mother in law has a dug well that deep and it still has water in it. But the hole, well, you could get burried alive.

Your reasons for most Thai's not having a well or doing any thing about their sorry situations are probably correct. Hard headed and ignorant is the way I find most. Refuse to change even when they know it is for their own good. And, I might add, they seem to be very happy this way. It is their country, their life, and it is up to them, but, I hate to see people live so poor when simple things could improve their lives and they refuse. My wife is also a hard headed Thai and plans to set an example for them to follow. I hope it works.

I do hope others post their experiences and opinions here. It could be helpfull in helping others.

I think, as most of you already know, that some day immigration will become more strict or some new guy will want to make points and enforce all of the rules. What do you do then? Every rule that you do not follow only gives them an excuse. I fail to see a problem with just following the rules, dumb ones or not. Just my two cents.

First off, I am not a teacher. My wife is. I read much about the problems of teaching english to Thai students. I hear how bad the teachers and or their methods are here in Thailand. My wife is doing research on the problems of students, teachers, methods, etc. She ask me tonight, what do the farang teachers here think? What do they recommend should be done to help the students learn better? To be more motivated, etc. She ask me many other questions. Since I don't know, I am posting here asking for any and all information, recommendations, opinions, suggestions, etc.

I am 70 years old and I complain about nothing. There is nothing to complain about. I have a beautiful home, am maried to a beautiful woman,Thai, have plenty enought money.

I am here by choice, not chance.

I love Thailand.

I love my wife. Even if she is 1/2 my age plus only 1.

I love Jesus.

And No, I am not old. And Yes, IMO the OP is nothing but a troll.

If you are near Korat you may visit mushroom houses on my mother in laws farm and many other places here in the same village. Just PM me.

While this is not my pond, it is the kind of pond I want to build on my place when I get round to it.

That location, where ever it is, looks like the proper place for me to live and build a small log cabin. Just my lady and I and the dog. That's it - a beautiful pond and countryside.

Here's our pond at the back of our house.....just for our enjoyment and leisurely fishing for my husband. There is an inlet and outlet that can be opened or closed allowing water to come in from the canal and drain back out to the canal, a dock and stone steps down to the water. My husband has talapia, catfish, pla salit (sp?) and a few others. We have the short coconuts planted around the pond, plus bai toey, kha, ginger, pak boong etc. We did have a problem with algae bloom at first, but covered the whole pond with water iris and in about a week it was all gone. Now we just keep some towards the canal end as kind of a filtration system.

There was a pond on the land when we bought it, but it was way too deep so we had it redug when we had our land leveled.

It's probably about 1 1/2 meters to 2 meters deep.

Beachbunny

Beachbunny, you and your husband have the best looking pond I have seen yet. For the last year and even more so for the last six months I have been planing a pond. I really like the way yours looks. Is there any other photos posted anywhere on this form? or A place where I may see more details of the pond, such as flickr, etc?

How far is it from the level ground surface to the water surface? Is your pond lined or just soil?

My wife, thai, looked at the photos and said - build our pond like that one. Sorry if I am a pest, but, your pond is just great.

thank you.

Bubbaba ,what soil type do you have to work with that you say wont hold water and are there any clay based soils in your area

Ozzy

I don't know. The top soil, approx. 15 inches is brown. Looks like all silt. Very dry and dusty. Maybe some sand in there. Below that is what I call clay. Reddish orange color and hard as a rock when dry. Not to bad to dig in after a rain and a short draining period. Last October it rained every day very hard for 30 plus days. The pond hole filled up about 2 feet of water during that time. Ten days to 2 weeks later the water was gone. When it rains hard for one day here it only takes about one hour and the water is gone. I plan to stir some soil into a glass of water and let it sit for an hour or so. I plan to do this with both of the above soils. That will give me a rough idea of what type of soil I have. I plan to do this tomorrow. Then I will let you know what I come up with. I live 13 kilometers outside of Korat. Visitors welcome. Help welcome.

Hi Chownah. Thanks. Your response is about what I expected. I don't know much about cement, but, I had never heard of cement that does not crack. Yes, He will be talking with my uncle(thai) who is a builder and maybe the one who will build my pool. My Thai wife will be in on that conversation so we will pick him good. It would be nice to get correct information but from him I am not sure.

What abut building without iron and his saying iron will rust away when used in Thailand? More nonesense?

While searching for information today, I got into a conversation with an American who has lived here over 20 years. I want to put what I heard/learned today on here so I can get the opinion, comments, whatever from others on this forum. When I see, talk with this man again, I will get more information and post it here.. He is to talk with my Thai family member who may build my pond.

Flexable concret?? Large cement pond built with no re-bar?? I ask him why so many falang build ponds here that failed.

He said because we stick to our ways of building back home and not the Thai way. He also said that the cement mix and cement here is different then our countries. The cement here will give/flex and not break or crack because of the type of cement and the way they mix it here.

To build my pond he said to excavate to size. Then to lay down a plastic layer like the one that the Thai road builders use here for the highways. On top of this to lay loose concret blocks. They could be mortered if I wanted but not necessary. Over this he said to pour cement, a 1, 2, 3, Thai mix with "any seeping" waterproofing mixed in. The pond will not leak and should last for 30 to 50 years with no problems.

He said that iron re-bar and screen wire that is sometimes used would rust over time and the pond shell would fail. In the US the cement covers and protects the iron so that it does not rust, but, here water will get to it in a pond.

For sure I don't know.

This is a pacu

Thanks for the photo. I did some reading on this one since it is the first time I have ever seen it. I plan to have a few in my pond if I ever get to that stage of life. How much do they cost here in Thailand? How long to pan size?

There is a salt water fish called "snook" in the US and south. The Mexicans call it "robolo". Have you or anyone ever heard of it in the waters off off Thailand. A great fighter when hooked and delicious in the frying pan.

Thank you for all of the other information. I am still planning.