Lickey

I have a good BB conection and pay 300 bht a month for True Platimum,, seems ok to me,,

5 years ago here in Namsom, during the wet season, the candle bill was more than the electric bill, but things are changing for the better, today was i rekon the start of the wet season, and the electric didnt go off, normally, the elec company flicks the switch, perhaps 15seconds, its like a warning, go get the candles!!, sure enough, 5 mins off it goes,

3 years ago, it was really bad, 2/3/4/5/ hours at a time, to overcome this problem, we hired a large ice-box, i mean, warm larger?? no thanks, so ive always got a suply of cold beer, most important,,, still have box now, at 25bht a day for ice refills, worth its weight in cold beer!!

When i first came to live here in October 5 years ago, Mrs said, it always gets hot when it rains, got me thinking?? then i found out, it rains, the power stops, the fans stop, hence yoyu get hotter,,

My prep for storms are 1 the ice box, 2 fully charged laptop battery with Usb aircard, 3, candles 4 , BBQ for hot food and my good woman, oh thankyou for power cuts!!

As others have mentioned, skimming the drum alters the circumference and of course the brake shoe contact area, somewhat drastically, so perhaps only 20% of the shoe has contact, and when all the area has contact you have a shoe that is worn at one end and new at the other, so what to do, build up the shoe anchor points, can be done,

In the UK years ago you could buy oversize shoes, to accomadate the skimmed drum, and these would work perfectly, they still make OS shoes for older models because drums were drums then,

Pedal sogginess will be felt by standard shoes and OS drums because the hydralics are trying to push against something that isnt there, ie, small drum contact. We had a tool that would bolt onto the stub axle and shave increments of the OS shoes till the skimmed drum fitted, it was a long process, and new drums are cheaper nowadays,

So if the OP left the garage with new brakepads and OS drums, i would think he had almost no brakes atall,

OP, get the garbage, sorry garage to let off the rear brake ajustment a bit first, then adust the handbrake, i would imagine they wound both up to bed the shoes in quicker, good way to tell is that if the drums are very hot or it wont roll down a slight slope, they are binding, 3 clicks on a handbrake is about right,

Thanks BG, will pass on the info,

So, in fact if he had applied for a Non O rather than a tourist visa, he would have got 3 months, although the visa might have been more expensive in Canada?

Thanks..

Along the same lines,,,

My Canadian friend arrived recently on a visa issued in Canada, they told him its good for 3 months but after 2 months he had to report to Immi to uttilize the 3rd month and pay a fee,

The acutal visa stamp does not say how long its valid for, but the Immi stamp at Sunny says 2 months, so does he have to go to Laos or could he do this at Udon Immigration?

Thanks, Lickey.

Well Jim, i would think you have posted the biggest Sob Story so far, and yes, it seems MIL is a bit do lalley, if this was a wedding gift to you mrs & kids, the land, and of course put it to best use to support you and family, and now they are saying, the trees are still yours but its their land?which of course wasnt the initial agreement,

There is a good lesson to Newbies, if you are gifted land, get it signed up in your partners name, Seems like Jim has been a victim of circumstances and loved his MIL enough to trust her, but she was turned round by family,

The more i see of posts on hear, my original OP seems pale in comparision, I didnt loose a lot of money, and BIL says i can do what i want on his 4 rai for 6 years, but im thinking, Ive got enough to do at home really, my bike XJR 1200 Yamaha needs some work, so does the back garden, and many various jobs round the house, i even have enough room on the open-air roofed top floor to start a small hydroponics opo, for personal use, and grow flowers ect for front door sales outside Salon, so if my "keep myself to myself" mentallity gets the better of me, Sod the Farm !!

Ha, Windy, will be good to see you again, gives me an excuse for an early [pm] beer, Yes, Na has been here a few times when Pan has been making a falang dish, im pretty sure Na can do Fish & Chips no problem, also some thai not so spicy dishes, im sure she is coming here sunday to learn another one,,

There is a new bar at the bus station square, Ricks, Rick is from South London and hes imported his Triumph Bonnie here, when he goes past the salon, it sounds great, brings back memories of my Triumph twins in the past, The bar is new, has a good menu and uk music,

Canadian Steve is here also, he has the swimming pool complex with a bar and resturant, another great fella and a real joy to chat with, same as Rick,

You get settled in and then we can go to these places,

Welcome back to Namsom, you should be in time to witness the first big storms and gales of the season,

Cheers, Lickey & Pan..

PS, Birthdays are what the Thais make them mate, i get a card and some flowers off Pan, perhaps a card from the staff, in fact, last birthday, i asked the housemaid when is her birthday, she had to look at her ID card to tell me, so a birthday here is not so important unless of course a falang is paying!! sorry to sound cynical, but thats how it is,,

The 0-100 time of a Mighty X almost beats the time of a Thai Driving Test,,,,

Perhaps making a Thai version of "Not the Nine O Clock News" ?

There is another angle that hasnt been covered yet, weve had the family stories, drunks,money grabbers, machinery wreckers ect, i suppose fortunatley i havent had that, just been mis-informed or lost in translation, call it what you will,

When the banana plantation was producing really good, we would be selling a pick-up load every 10 days or so, 5bht a hand, one day the buyer said, will give you 3 bht a hand or i go another place, mrs told me, i said, let her go, some hands had 17 bananas on, 3bht??? bugger off!! so then we were selling outside salon, 25bht down to 10bht a hand, 35 hands gone in under 2 days, now the original buyer did buy some for 3bht a hand, but had to do a round trip of 180ks to do it,, and pick the bananas as well, gone for 12 or so hours, but they made money on the selling,, really??????

Another case was with the tamarind trees, Mrs got a gang in, picked 2 times in a month gave her 10,000bht, the next year, we did it ourselves, with a bit of schoolboy labour, sold outside the salon and made clear, 31,000bht,

Yes, i understand that the tamarind picker boss has to pay his gang of 20 or so, buy them food and drink for the day, but in the first case with the bananas, 180ks to save 2 bht a hand???? now there is Thai logic for you, it dont matter what they spend as long as some comes back, unbeliveable!!

Wish he would,, Mrs might quieten down a bit !!!

So Watersedge, 100bht a day, that must exclude you buying them a miday meal and taking a big cooler of icey water for them, which would bring things up to 135bht a day, but you didnt mention any of this, so thats it? 100bht a day? suprised you have any labour atall.

This is what we pay, and it includes free food and icey water,

General labour, fruit picking,planting ect 150bht

Post hole digging and fencing, 200bht

Spraying, 300bht [danger money]

Strimming, grass cutting, 300bht, they suply there own fuel.

I dont know what tractor drivers are paid, Perhaps Soundman could tell us?

Also if you have all this cheap labour, get in touch with JamesCollister, hes crying out for labour, you can find a post or 2 of his in the Sob Stories,

OP, there is another way, 2 in fact, put some food under an up-turned basket with a small stake and a pull string, when the chickens are inside, trap them, then get FIL or BIL to catch them and clip one wing, then they cant fly, it doesnt hurt the chickens, so no worries, the next is to throw all your kitchen scraps over your fence, peelings, old fruit,mouldy bread, anything that will feed them, they will in a few days learn that they will be fed outside your garden, and should stay away, it has worked for us,

Cheers, Lickey.

If the tractor driver is not the owner, you might be suprised how much more he could do for a few bottles of beer and a packet of cigs..

I have plodded through some frustrating periods in my long life but undoubtably the most frustrating is the ongoing saga of my drunken, thieving,drug addicted Son in Law .

I/we have tried everything (bar the final solution and that has been contemplated)including having him locked up for substance abuse,tried punching sense into him on numerous occasions all to no avail.

I have been threatened with a machete,had a muzzleloader pointed at me , he has threatened to burn the house down while we sleep.

His worst periods are when he mixes Lao Khao and glue sniffing.

More recently has been a reasonably serene period around here as T/W paid him to go to Bangkok and get a job (again)but he was recently seriously (not serious enough )injured when somebody stuck a knife in his guts,so now that he is on the mend we are expecting him to turn up on the doorstep any time.

My solution now as I cannot live here with him and his antics is to maintain an apartment in Cambodia (he comes I goes),Since I set this up I feel much better .

The farang in these situations is limited in the actions available to them as "blood is thicker than water".

T/W is self sufficient with our fish farm so its up to her and the family to sort it out, at my ripe old age and my dodgy ticker I have no intentions of allowing the situation to put me in an early grave.

Dom, you have made a wise choice mate, others might say dont let the family see you have been beaten, you havent, youve just had enough, just to let others know, Dom is over 70 years old and has had by-pass surgery, Dom, remember SAPs goodbye evening in Udon, you told me youve only ever been knocked on your back twice, and both were Thai woman, and whenever i see your posts or a PM, i think, ahh, the Tasmainian Devel is still kicking,,Youve been a real gem for me on the farming forum, great useful advice and always in a friendly mode,,

Enjoy your twilight years in Cambodia, youve done what you can for the tw family, and now its your turn to do what you want, and Pan says sawadeeka and chok dee,

Cheers, Lickey..

I would care about BRITONS but not Britains,,

Selftopath, it seems with 37 replys that only a small % have been in anyway helpful, if indeed you are in rented accomadation, i can see you reluctance to build a wall, but a 2mtr high netting fence wouldnt be expensive, with local bamboo poles ect. plus a total coverage of the salad gardens to keep predators out, you might even leave a small gap [covered] to allow chickens in, the rotted crap is very good for soil fertility, plus they might lay a few eggs for you,,

As for locals pissing in your garden, I have to ask if your wife/gf is of a strong constitution? some nights haveing a beer outside our salon, the odd thai drunk sits down, and sleeps, if he starts to ask for beer or a cig, Mrs tells him to go, if he insists, she says she will call police, if that doesnt work, out comes the 1 mtr bamboo pole and she will use it if he doesnt leave,

What im trying to tell you is that its your thai better half that has to make the stand, not you, yes, ok, advise her on your likes and dislikes, and she will listen to you because she wants you happy,

Ive found that in Issan the best way is to introvert, be happy with your own thoughts, dont think to much of the good old days down the pub with mates ect, have your internet and ubc, a little land to grow veg, a good thai family, a strong mrs, and try to stay out of family problems, let the thais sort that out themselves, your input will not be welcomed, [unless its money of course]

Good Luck and welcome to Issan, Cheers, Lickey.

WSB from Assen starts at 16 40 till 1800, 2nd race is 20 10 till 21 30, on Gold sport channel 107, on Sunday 17th April, yes, about 1500bht a month, if thats what you want to pay?

Get a dreambox, has everything, 300bht a month.

Was flicking through the channels this afternoon and saw the end of the F1 race, last 15 laps or so, and somebody tried to overtake, surely thats against the rules? and it seems that the driver who was trying hit his opponents car, and at the end, this fella lost a place because he made to many manuvers to block the pass,, this strikes me as rather sad to how motor racing has become,,

Never mind, WSB from Assen is back on Sunday 17th April, and the brits do well there,,

1 tin of corned beef, 1 tin baked beans, diced onion, diced tomato, fried for 10 mins, Eastern England, corned beef hash...

Im not really sure if Thais do know how to help themselves, it seems to me that somebody in the village says, Cassava will do well next year, big money!! same with Sugar cane, so they pull out there Lamyai/Tamarind/banana orchards and plant this wonderful money maker, even convert rice paddies to sugar cane or maize, From the top of our house i can see swarthes of trees cut down on the hillsides, they plant cassava early hoping it will take root before the rain starts, when the wet season starts here, it really does rain for a day or so, and most of the crop is in a mudslide at the bottom of the hill,

Those that do manage to go full term with the crop have a new pick-up outside the house? [read big bus shelter] for about 3 months and then its snatched back, Subsistence farming is getting out of hand now, They can grow enough rice, some to sell and the rest for the years food, Most of us know that money burns a hole in a thais pocket and it must be spent!! you cant eat cassava or sugar cane..so alternative foods have to be found and paid for.

Im pretty sure that most of bio-fuel crops and rubber is exported, making good money for the goverment, and a pittance for the farmer, I sometimes wonder if the goverment could regulate bio-fuel rubber production by the size of farm, for instance, 200rai, only 40% for Bio and/or rubber, the rest should be edible veg or fruit, to be sold at the local market, that way, it will ensure the family have a regular income,

Those who do Pig Cattle Fish Chicken farming are making a good contribution to the available foods,

Just for those who are "farming from afar" if youve read all the posts, then you will know most of us have been here in Thai 5 years+, and are having problems, even though we try to keep an eye on things,,

PS, thanks for your post Jim..

No 4wd in the world will beat Land Rovers comfort and off road abilty, i admit, other manufactors have tried, but in comparrision, against the Land Rover, they are made of cheese..

If you are gonna buy a tractor and lend it to the family, fuel consumption is the least of your worries.

a young Aussie fella came to our salon in 07, he wanted to buy some farm land, mrs knew of some land for sale and we viewed in the afternoon, i asked him, where does your GF live? he said about 15ks outside Namsom, so why do you want to buy here and not in GF village, he replied, i need a convienent distance from the family, so yes Mixed, spot on,

Personally, i paid [with a contribution from the mrs] for the Salon and our retirement home, the 40 rai farm was a gift for me, a hobby, i knew it would never make money, but as i explained, got it cleaned up, irrigation ect, got a bit of beer money, [smithson, Thai labour wasted two booster pumps, because of their inabillity to turn of one when using the bore pump]

This sort of stuff seems to be quite normal here, I even fixed a rose on the end of the water hose so that it would seem like a never ending watering can, and still they moaned it wasnt enough, reason was that at the top of the farm, i put a tap, half-opened and hidden so they could not dead-head the bore pump which would have cost 20k to replace..

I really hope some newbies are reading these posts, and i must add, that JIm, the rubber guru, is now having to live on handouts from his T W family, is this true Jim??