bubbaba

Help - Looking to rent a one or two bedroom, apt or house, in or near Ubon starting in January 2007. Must have screens on windows and must have a western style toliet. Unfurnished. Any recommendations, suggestions, information. All accepted and appreciated. Thank you, john and nui

Hello. I would like to make friends with other farang who live in or near where I will live in the future. Other members as well, when possible.

I will soon live in Ubon Ratchathani and also begin constructing a home in Khemmarat a 106 klm away. I would like to meet farang who live in or near those areas or inbetween. I also have family in the Khorat area and will be visiting there often.

You may contact me at: [email protected]

John and Nui

I would like to know if there is someone on this forum who has experience growing mushrooms here in Thailand. If there is please PM me. My mother in law has mushroom houses, but, communication is bad at best and she has no concept of anything more modern then chopping fire wood for fuel.

Hi All

I start the Intensive Thai Programme at Chula Uni after New Year (v excited but a tad nervous). Is there anybody out in TV land that either attends this Uni or studies elsewhere in Bangkok?

BTW thanks to all those who have commented on various schools and language courses on the forum as it helped make my final decision.

Disco

Is this program for beginners or advanced. Can you provide any other information? Telephone number for the school, costs, etc?

Thank you

I think this thread is great. We really need it if for no other reason then to encourage each other. PasaThaiYakMak.

I have noticed many of the post talking about pronouncation. All transliteration systems are trash including the one I use. I have been advised many times to learn to read the script first and then to learn to speak. It works. I study out the sound of the word that is written in thai and then speak it out loud to my wife. 99% of the time I get it right. Now I have to start remembering what the words mean.

Also, you don't need to be able to read much. Just have a handy list of the script and the sounds that they represent and a list of the many vowles. You will learn to read. Also make a list of exceptions as you learn them. It is so much easier to say it correctly using the script instead of some system that is really useless.

I can type fast, but, I have not tried to type in thai yet. Sounds like a real trip.......

There is a rather large mushroom farm close to where we live . The growning media for the mushroom ( mostly Shiitaki) is mainly sawdust with some sugar ,alcohol etc added. Once the harvest is complete the compost -in ca 2liter plastic bags is thrown away . They do have trouble finding spots where to dump all this stuff .

So here is my smart idea.:

This must be wonderful compost for my garden and a good soil improvement adding organic matter to the very light sandy soils we have.

Is there any experience out there with this stuff? Does anything speak against using it .? I can get vast quantities .for free and free delivery too ,they are happy to find a place to put it .

Normally in Thailand everything that is free is GOOD for many Thais -am I missing something here?

I just read the OP and I think all of the responses. I have some thoughts/questions. I also have a mother-in-law whose yard looks like Ma and Pa Kettle's place due to mushroom farming. Needless to say, she has mountains of this stuff still in plastic bags, piled everywhere.

I read one suggestion to try it different ways and see what works. I will do that on my next trip to Khorat.

I also read where you might need to add nitrogen, etc. to the soil. I agree.

After planting (legums sp BEANS) and harvesting, or planting and when half-grown, cover the field about three to six inches deep with the mushroom waste and plow it all under. Would that produce enough nitrogen and/or make a fertile field ready for a new/different crop?

What about bedding for livestock and/or ground coverning in pens (pig pens) chicken pens? On a regular schedule you could clean out the pen/ground and haul to field for use or compost it for a short time and then to the field with it.

I read once about a man who had two fields for pigs and garden. Pigs in one side and garden in the other. After harvest he moved the pigs to the garden side and planted the old pig pen. He had been doing this, switching pigs and garden back and forth, for years with good results. He almost never plowed. Only slight tilling and or hoeing. He added no fertilized. He did say that he limed once, I believe in the beginning. I was thinking - What if you covered the ground in the pig pen side with 6 to 12 inches of mushroom waste. When time came to move the pigs and plant, would this field be ready or what?

I would like to know what you experts think? I would like suggestions? I too think, as the original post, that there might be a great amount of good stuff being wasted that we could use to save money and produce more in an earth friendly manner. What do you thing about my ideas? I plan to try the one about two fields. I have always thought that someday I would try that method and now with all of the mushroom waste, I am sure that I am going to try it.

I am cleaning house (it seems to get smaller every year ) and have quite a few older Organic Gardening Magazines. If anyone is interested, PM the topic you want (they cover everything) or if you just want a random selection and I will be happy to mail it to you. I hate to throw these away as they are full of valuable information but just don't have the space to spare anymore.

How many do you have and what is your location? I am in Bangkok, Thailand.

I used to read Organic Gardening Magazine, however, for the past 12 or so years I have been outside of the U.S. It is a great magazine full of usefull information. I am trying to promote Organic Farming/Gardening here with my family and it possible with others as I go. The magazines would be great to have, if possible.

I just read thru the Kudzu posts here on TV. I cannot tell if the jury is still out or if you guys have decided that kudzu in Thailand, or anywhere, is good or bad. I have no experience with it except to read about it and dream of low cost food for livestock. I was raised in the south east United States and I have never seen the stuff. Only heard about it. Bad and good.

Does anyone here know where it grows in Thailand? Does anyone here grow it? I think a personal look-see would be good. My only concern so far in reading about kudzu is the subject of control. I would not want to create a nightmare for myself and others.

<I've merged this into the Kudzu thread...RC>

Hi. I'm new on this forum and new to Thailand. Does any one on this forum have information on raising goats in Thailand for meat, and, maybe, milk?

I have read that the Issan land is not great for pasture and farming. Would the land be able to sustain goats and what type of grass/weed would I need to plant to make it work, if possible?