WatersEdge

Coconut husk is free or very cheap.

It would make great pig bedding.

The Rose Farm that I saw south of Mae Sot was set back perhaps a kilometer off the main highway,

on a farm road.

It was on gently sloped land, as it must be convenient for continual working.

They drove small tractors between the rows.

It seems there there is continually someone out in those fields tending spraying and harvesting.

This is where Google Earth is handy using the GPS coordinates provided.

You can see all these things almost as if you are there.

Hi nitecm,

I bought Roselle seed from the local seed shop in small tin cans.

Kajeap daeng is Roselle

Kajeap kaew is Okra

After we grew the first crop we had abundant seed of our own.

We also picked seed pods from someone else's plant.

There are two apparent varieties of Roselle in the same seed.

One has dark red bark, while the other has light brown with a green streak.

I think I favored the dark red one, but you can't tell which is which until they are a couple of months old,

when they begin to establish adult type stem bark.

Hi rice555

We planted in rows, as I recall 1 meter row space and .3 m plant spacing,

but this was maybe too close together.

It takes a while to get established, slow in the beginning,

but after it builds a root system it really grows well.

It is said to grow on little or no fertilizer, but I'd say it survives on poor conditions,

but definitely responds well to good conditions.

In places where we put a lot of fertilizer, it grew into a thick hedge

We cut the green leaves off for sale in the local market,

bundling the stems and leaves together in 1 kg bunches with a rubber band.

The Customers then pick the leaves off the stem for cooking.

The red stems make really nice red tea if cooked right along with the leaves.

The established plants regrew a full set of foliage within a month of being cut.

There is a limit to how many times you can cut all the foliage off in one month intervals.

After cutting three times, the plants lost a lot of strength.

For this reason I'd suggest trying two month cutting intervals.

Hi sudyod,

This Hibiscus family, Kenaf, Roselle, Okra, and the cousin Cotton will not tolerate waterlogged conditions.

They love plenty of water, but cannot stand in water.

As I said above, they can survive dry conditions, but thrive on good.

Interesting fact, they cannot be transplanted by pulling here to replant over there,

as they die immediately from root exposure.

I tried to replant some young Roselle seedlings that were too close together.

I pulled up perhaps 100 of them and carefully replanted immediately.

I think all but 1 or 2 died, and they were not strong.

There are a lot of roses grown in the mountains south of Mae Sot.

I know of one in particular at GPS coordinates

16.32015

98.42935

50 x 20 x 6 => 6,000 cubic meters

Loading trucks a Trackhoe / Makro requires 7-10 seconds per cubic meter.

A ten cubic meter truck is loaded in less than two minutes

Each bucket carries a little more than a cubic meter.

The depth of 6 meters is going to require time,

because you will need to bench it 3+3,

and to come out of the hole on occasion to spread what you've put topside

I'd suggest total time of 1 minute per cubic meter.

Count on the job running 100 hours.

This allows for digging, moving the Trackhoe out of the hole to spread and form,

benching, sloping.

I did a similar size fish pond job, 110 x 20 meters, not nearly as deep,

and with a field tractor rather than track hoe.

Required 90 hours at B600 per hour.

The track hoe is designed to move dirt, whereas the tractor really isn't,

so you will get much better production than I.

It's easy to see how you would move three times the material in the same time.

Consider what slope you want for sides before you start.

3 Horizontal : 1 Vertical is good for accessibility after the pond is finished.

Water is no fun if you can't get in and out.

Also have a look at other jobs the proposed operator has done in the past.

I know of a fish pond built on a hillside

which looked great until the water showed how out of level it was.

I could see it was sloped before the rain started,

and it was shocking to observe that the operator could not see it.

They even benched it on the slope...rather humorous to watch from the highway.

Hi rice555,

If in the link provided you replace the letters he with en,

the site will display in English rather than Hebrew

It's actually easier than that, just scrub everything after the company name.

www.haifa-group.com

It should be clarified a bit to say that the NPK numbers on the bag are

Weight Percent with

N

P205

K2O as the compounds weighed.

It gets a little confusion at first,

since those formulas don't exist in real life

They are just a method of describing what has developed over time in the fertilizer industry.

From there we have many actual chemical formulations,

which all are converted to the standard terminology.

For instance:

Urea 46-0-0 is chemical formula (NH2)2CO, which to manufacture is

Two Ammonia NH3 with One CO2, then a Water H20 is thrown out.

2NH3 + CO2 => (NH2)2CO + H2O

Nitrogen has atomic weight 14

Hydrogen 1

Carbon 12

Oxygen 16

So adding those constituents together to reach the Molecular weight of Urea

Two N @ 14 => 28

Four H 1 => 4

One C 12 => 12

One O 16 => 16

=============================

Molecular Weight 60

The Percentage then of N is 28/60 => 0.4666 => 46.7%

By identifying the chemical compounds mixed into any fertilizer formula,

you can derive the NPK number from it.

A couple of years ago there was a strong thread on fertilizers here on the Farm Forum.

There is an Excel fertilizer calculator that I put up at that time

which demonstrates these calculations and

enables cost comparisons of various fertilizer formulas.

Please note that in the case of Phosphorous P and Potassium K,

there is a big difference between the

P2O5 Phosphate weight and the P Elemental weight and the

K2O Potash K Elemental

In some calculations Elemental weight is used,

so you need to determine if the writer means Compound or Elemental weight.

It's meant to be confusing so that Fertilizer Salesman can hold something over you.

But it's not actually all that bad after you get into it.

Nothing like a good spreadsheet calculator to make it all clear.

A greenhouse has several advantages aside from the obvious,

to prevent freezing.

Insect & Disease control

Night time temperature control

Rainfall control

CO2 Concentration.

There is definitely a reason that greenhouses are used increasingly in Thailand.

Bell Pepper (Capsicum they are called sometimes) especially are raised in greenhouses very successively.

In order to estimate the costs,

You need to tell us the size.

In general the larger the greenhouse, the lower the unit area cost.

The greater the height, the less problem excessive daytime temperature will be.

Is is to be build on a level site, or on a sloped field.

Just reading your post,

it seems that you want to know everything,

without putting any effort out yourself to learn

There are companies that sell turnkey greenhouses

but you can probably save a lot if you exert the study time to learn what they know.

The cheapest way to cover the largest area is geodesic dome.

The larger the cheaper, up to 60 meters diameter using 6 meter long steel tube.

This dome is 30 meters high...ten 3 meter stories

For hoop style,

I'd recommend a 12 meter span using 14 meter wide roll plastic over the arch.

How high you elevate the half cylinder is up to you,

I did some designs a while back using full 6 meter high poles.

The beauty of a high clearance building, is that something else could be done below the plant deck,

such as raising animals, poultry, or fish.

Foundation and Roof are the main expense of a building,

height is comparatively cheap.

Hi AA1

Bravo for the Tukay.

I fed one a large green Katydid grasshopper.

I've seen one eat a Gecko so fast I didn't actually see it happen

I've seen two males fight each other high on the side of a building

while the female watched for the outcome of the fight.

but I've never seen a Tukay catch a mouse.

This is new and very encouraging.

I like them all the more.

My kids will be thrilled to see this picture.

Animals have Rights

Right to Run

Right to Hide

Carried to the logical conclusion,

How closely shall you invite them in?

A 9 foot Cobra will wear out his welcome

among all but the most hardy wildlife enthusiasts.

I'm comfortable with my practice that a poisonous snake in reach will die.

Non toxic posing any liability, he's just as dead.

There's nothing, man nor beast, going to present a problem uncontested.

I just don't have time for problems.

I'm sure there are many fine snakes in the world,

the ones I didn't see.

As one of our esteemed members said in a similar thread not so long ago

I run a farm

not a zoo.

The topic of that day was how well we treat our pigs

with a naysayer assuming we abused our animals

having not toured any of our barns.

The wisdom that carried the day was that unhappy hogs don't gain,

and since hog farmers have vested interest in hog gain,

it was established that hog farmers provide comfortable conditions.

It could be argued that the best hog farmers

provide the most comfortable conditions.

The accuser was dismissed

with encouragement to keep pigs in any way he saw fit.

Bed them in air conditioned silk and feed them strawberries for all we care.

Turns out the guy was promoting a method I heartily agree with,

and have seen in practice with great results

which I actually envied in my friend's new barn.

It was a crosswise presentation of a great idea that stirred a bit of a hornet's nest.

A better idea doesn't mean the present methods are wrong.

So ya'll have fun herding snakes,

but they're dying left and right around here.

Banded Krait, most poisonous, with dual toxin type, aggressive only at night.

A young one at half meter long, so perhaps inexperienced in biting rubber workers

I suppose she knows all this, all farmers know their snakes extremely well from childhood

saying it in case readers didn't catch the gravity of the moment.

Could very well have been bye bye Wife

May I point to a completely new topic.

If you have abundant supply of woody material,

you may consider a downdraft gasification unit,

which first converts woody material to engine fuel,

in turn generating electricity.

Look up GEK Gasifier based in Berkeley CA.

They are a band of garage designer geeks who are going big time,

based on their years of dedication to raw hard work.

They now sell complete Gasifier Gensets,

as well as providing equipment and knowhow for the DIY guy.

Their Kubota 3 cylinder engine on a 10kW generator is especially cute.

Diesel is more fuel efficient with lower maintenance cost over the long run

compared to Gasoline.

Diesels cost more initially however and are generally larger size.

I had a Honda 5.5 hp driving a 2kW Generator

which sold new at B25,000 and which I bought for B15,000

For a little more there is a model that also serves as an arc welder.

It would have been fine for occasional use,

but would have required engine rebuild more frequently than a diesel.

Siam Kubota makes a 7.5kW generator drive by the RT-140 diesel engine.

It costs B75,000, a nice looking system on a steel frame.

As I recall it is electric start

I know the RT-140 engine is very good because I used it for water pumps.

The best news for it is that a complete rebuilt costs less than B5,000,

which would be necessary after perhaps 5,000 hours.

A rebuild would be new sleeve, piston, oil pump....you might say all the wearable moving parts.

Good as new for another 5,000 hours.

Noise will be a factor if your neighbors are grumpy.

Fiberglass insulation is a good sound deadener

Venting the radiator heat and of course the exhaust outside the building.

Since you already use battery and inverter,

consider charging your batteries on your car alternator.

I connected copper cables back to the passenger cabin,

so that I could recharge auxiliary batteries for the farm as I drove.

This works very well. You already own your car and the alternator.

The extra power requirement is insignificant on the car engine.

Car Batteries cost B3,000 each.

You might want a disconnect switch in the recharge cable,

so your car battery doesn't discharge to the house,

then your car wouldn't start.

If you did happen to wear your alternator out prematurely,

a new one costs B6,000.

It is a nuisance to move and connect batteries to and from the car,

so it might be smart to arrange connection from your car to the house,

perhaps placing the inverter in the car as well.

In this way, disconnect the AC house cable when you drive.

Neighbors would not complain of noise if you occasionally started your car near the house.

Hi theodore,

Let's start with the root purpose of the project.

Hoping to help people who don't want help.

Stay home, have a nice life, forget Thailand.

Who put you up to this fool's errand?

Who is going to pay for it?

Having said that I know more about Tilapia than most,

far less than a few on this forum => I'm no expert

but I've actually done what you propose to start.

If you wish to do business in Thailand,

it can have not one hint of charity anywhere near it.

Charity is the kiss of death for business

as those involved envision themselves recipients

rather than laborers.

You can flap your gums about how

charity in the form of business is the most natural combination,

but all they see is the reflection of money off your shiny teeth,

and all they hear is what they've discussed endlessly amongst themselves,

The foreigner who brings money.

Your words are meaningless vibrations in the air to them.

Experience says that business has the practical effect which charity only wishes for,

and it provides knowledge which could be useful after you are gone.

Charity by contrast enables lazy people to train their children in the most direct path,

with the least hope of a work ethic for the future.

You should be aware that people have been travelling to these areas for a hundred years,

each in succession thinking they will help the people.

Are the people helped?

Wouldn't you think a hundred years should be long enough for all the help to take effect?

So there's something systemic at play here, don't you think?

Should you not heed my advice to stay far far away,

You need to know that the obstacles to a true business are very strong.

The people and especially local government have mental possession of your money

on the day you first show your face.

It is what they do, leech off a steady succession of well wishers.

The fact that you propose to do business is charming but it doesn't alter their perception.

You are foreign, therefore you have money, and you wish to lose it in their presence.

You will be presented with a dozen different minor projects that require a little money.

Yet you will notice that other foreigners are also presented with the same projects before and after you,

while those projects haven't been built even though earlier donors paid for them.

It's not about action, but rather the potential for action.

They take your money in the pretense of what they'd like to do some day.

There will be unexplainable obstacles to actual progress,

until you have no more time to waste.

You may encounter the rare individual who truly understands

and wants to build in himself what you would like to share.

But he will eventually be subverted

because the entire community conspires against his diligence.

It takes an exceptionally strong willed person to succeed for himself,

and that has nothing to do with your outside assistance.

A tough person does well in his native environment.

I have seen those kind in my work.

They are very friendly as they go about their own business,

but they don't ask for involvement because they already are doing it.

If you read this forum, you will see variations of this pattern a hundred different ways.

Interesting site.

Truth is once again stranger than fiction.

Even though they say it's good to use Seawater or even Salt NaCl on the coconut trees,

they link Chlorine as the active fertilizer ingredient for Coconut,

not Sodium.

Note that Seawater is 0.35% Saline, a variety of salts, but mainly NaCl

Note that 0-0-60 Fertilizer is KCl Potassium Chloride

You get the Chlorine for the Coconuts,

and yet don't poison the soil for other things.

Sodium is never your friend.

There are plants which tolerate it, Beets, Date Palm, Asparagus but nothing actually wants it.

Secondly....

Note that Calcium Chloride CaCl2 is readily available cheaper than KCl

and carries two Chlorine for the weight of one Calcium.

Calcium is a friendly plant element just as Potassium

I have not searched for CaCl2 in Thailand,

but it is so abundant and cheap worldwide,

that I can't imagine it not being available here as well.

It is the waste by product from the Solvay process making Baking Soda.

In any country having Limestone and Salt, Baking Soda and Calcium Chloride is not far behind.

You could not possibly convince me to put Sodium on farm soil.

Grew up in the Nevada high desert,

have seen enough problematic Sodium ground to last me a lifetime.

There was a thread on the organic farm forum a while back about putting "salt" on trees.

At that time I tried to clarify the difference between completely different kinds of salts.

Salt is a general term of a chemical compound formed on reaction of an acid and a base,

not to be confused with the generic term Salt i.e. Table Salt NaCl Sodium Chloride

It was stated that salt found in Isaan was good for plants.

This is true, because there is a lot of KCl in Isaan salt,

but the NaCl portion is just as harmful as the KCl is beneficial.

One TV contributor in that thread categorically refused to allow

that putting salt on any ground was a good idea.

I agreed on Sodium salts.

This topic brings the concept to light again.

It is possible to separate the different salts if they happen to occur together in nature,

as is the case in Isaan.

The trash salt in Isaan is not necessarily as worhtless as it may first appear.

If anyone has a supply that is a problem, please do tell.

A grain dryer is one of the market niches waiting to be fulfilled in Thailand.

Brokering grain requires a lot of money enabling you to buy wet during harvest and sell dry in December.

One useful idea for grain drying is to combine refrigeration with drying.

It gets into technical concepts and serious numbers quickly,

but to describe the basic concept....

Burning Corn Cob first to an Ammonia Absorption Refrigeration Boiler,

using the cold to chill three parts of damp grain to 1C,

while using all total heat to dry one part of grain,

you are able to bring in and keep preserved 4 times the grain served by only a dryer.

A storage chamber full of cold grain self insulates for a long time.

Just keeping the outside edges of the bulk volume cold is easy.

It also helps to pull a vacuum on a pile of grain,

removing the oxygen which would otherwise allow it to spoil.

The grain drying and handling industry in Thailand is still in infancy.

This applies to every other grain, not just yellow corn.

I can't explain why this year's granary price is lower than last year.

Could be that this year's crop is larger than last years,

so the domestic supply is larger than the grain handling network can move.

In which case, farmers should hold their damp grain in their own drying cribs until the price recovers.

Keep in mind that the price of grain in Thailand tends to run about 30% higher than the world market. In a high year with good supply, it could be that the grain traders are trying to remain competitive so as to sell it for export.

I haven't compared the numbers in a long time, so let's calculate

B6.40 / kg is equivalent to $5.43/bushel,

but your grain is 27% Moisture,

which must be standardized to 14.5%

This comes to $6.36 / bushel

Looking below, the world market price is not that much more,

and the grain handling people still have to make a living before selling your grain to the world customers.

Present world market is $7.60 / bushel

http://www.cmegroup.com/trading/agricultural/grain-and-oilseed/corn.html

This converts to B8.96/ kg

which backed off for your high moisture is B7.65

This means that the grain handling network is charging the difference

between B7.65 and B6.40 => B1.25 to dry, store, transport and sell your wet corn.

In terms of Standard Dry Grain 14.5% Moisture

They are paying you B7.50 for Still to be dried Corn to be sold at B8.96.

They are charging B1.46 for their services.

If you are selling your corn still on the cob,

not shelled on the farm,

then all these calculations must be redone for the 15% cob weight.

If this is the case, they are being overly generous, and cannot possibly export it.

Most Corn is bought as field damp cob corn during September

because shelled grain corn spoils much faster than cob corn.

Corn at 27% moisture must be forced air dried immediately after shelling,

or spread and stirred on open air concrete slab in the hot sun.

Hi thailandcalling

It seems there are two different products discussed.

Let's clearly define terms.

Sweet Corn at 27% Moisture would be very dry,

while Yellow Grain Corn would be too wet.

I suggest that kelboy and joker7 are selling

Sweet Corn at the relatively high rates

while you are selling Yellow Grain Corn freshly harvested

At this time of the year, September & October,

the price of Yellow Field Corn is low during harvest,

and when the moisture weight is high.

Farmers sell only if they need fast cash

or if they don't have their own storage crib to dry it and

wait for the price to improve in December.

The penalty for moisture is prohibitive.

B0.10 / % Moisture above 14.5%

Let's round that to 15% as the desired standard.

Your Corn is 27% moisture, so you are 12 points high,

docking your price B1.20 / kg.

If you received B6.40 on 27% Corn,

then I should expect that the price posted on the sign at the gate is B7.60?

They may post the price according to the tin rather than by the kg.

A tin is the volume of a 5 gallon cooking oil tin,

which converts to 15 kg Corn.

In that case the gate posted price would be 15 x B7.60 => B114

Not all granaries post a price on the highway,

but they do usually have a rate sheet taped to the scale house window

In addition to this they also have 4 grades of grain quality.

Number 1 is good

Number 4 is bad.

The grading isn't as significant early in the season when corn is sold freshly cut from the field still on the cob. It comes into play later when mold, weevil, and debris blended in the grain are potential problems.

Hi Gents,

Some further outside enlightenment on this topic:

Thanks kevc for opening the subject,

as I believe livestock growers will benefit

as much or more than poultry raisers.

By way of reference on Rice Bran and Limestone.

Have a look at US Patent 6616924 Stabilized Rice Bran Deer Feed Attractant and Browse Supplement.

It suggests blending Limestone with Rice Bran so that the Calcium to Phosphorous ratio is 2:1.

If you want me to email you the full pdf,

send me a PM with your email address

I have it downloaded ready to send.

Let's say they want a molar ratio

2 Ca for each 1 P.

Starting with 1.7% P on Rice Bran

This is 10.97 kg Limestone CaCO3 added to 100 kg Rice Bran

or 8.12 kg Slaked Lime Poon Khao Ca(OH)2

Therefore my earlier recollection of using

500 grams Poon Khao per 25 kg Rice Bran is wrong.

I must have used 2 kg or my calculation was wrong back then.

At any rate, you need to use a lot of Calcium material to bring Rice Bran up to productive balance.

I do understand now why my pigs laid down near the Limestone pile

every day and ate their fill.

Their bodies told them they needed a lot every day to obtain balance.

Please pardon the bad information I earlier provided.

Hi Ozzydom,

I ran the chemical equivalence figures on

Rice Bran vs. Calcium Hydroxide Ca(OH)2 (Poon Khao)

before I began feeding raw limestone.

I put 500 grams Ca(OH)2 for every 25 kg Rice Bran.

To put it in a simple ratio 1 weight Calcium Hydroxide for 50 weights Rice Bran.

That is probably a lot more than you would get from a mineral premix.

Mineral Premix also costs about B60/kg

I paid B2.50 / kg.

The body needs 5 Calcium atoms for every 3 Phosphorous atoms

in order to make bone.

An excess of P will deplete Ca in the body

It's OK to have excessive Calcium.

I then began to buy Limestone CaCO3 for

B0.20 / kg by the dumptruck load.

Not that B2.50/kg was breaking the bank,

but B0.20 is so cheap as to make cost negligible.

At that point I quit weighing it,

just dumping pails of limestone fines in the corral corner,

and letting the pigs eat what they liked when they liked it.

The only rule was that it was always to be available clean and nice.

I understand that we are talking about Ducks here,

and their ability to lay eggs.

I simply suggest that the birds be provided an excess of Calcium

as I've done with my hogs.

While we are already off the topic,

I also had a problem with Catfish not growing

even though I fed them tons of Rice Bran.

When I finally keyed onto the problem with pigs,

I also began dumping hundreds of kg Limestone into the water.

The surrounding clay shale soil has little or no calcium in it.

Wish I'd discovered all this earlier.

Fish are able to extract their mineral needs from the water.

Back to ducks and someone who knows something about them.

Hi kevc

Can I venture a guess even though I'm not a poultry guy,

and have never raised ducks nor eaten a duck egg?

I'll just put this up and then be still.

Are they getting enough Calcium?

I read that Chickens will not lay unless they have sufficient body reserve of Calcium to form the egg shell.

Since most of Thailand is acidic soil,

which in turn means Calcium deficient,

it seems possible that something that simple

could completely change the outcome.

I read especially Ozzydom's note about Rice Bran,

which is extremely high in Phosphorous and

therefore must be balanced out with an excess of Calcium.

I have experience with hogs on a high rice bran diet,

which developed osteoporosis and kidney stones at a young enough age

they should have been completely healthy.

When I began providing them a steady free choice supply of limestone fines,

they ate amazing amounts of it even after any initial deficiency would have been satisfied, and after I stopped feeding a large percentage of rice bran.

They just like the stuff, and showed no ill effect from too much.

They also will happily chew on concrete block fragments,

presumably for the same reason that Calcium tastes good.

I'm making a guess that providing the ducks plenty of limestone will enable them to lay.

For the 2012 growing season you have not a moment to lose.

I know a well seasoned Thai Cassava farmer

who also is a wonderful person.

Another 250 rai in your behalf is well within his capacity,

and you'd have an expert on hand from day one.

Are you willing to locate in Mae Sot, Tak province on Burma border,

or do you already have a location in mind?

I'm a lifelong farmer as well, who farmed in Thailand for quite a while, so let me say there is no way you will bring all the pieces together for 2012 growing season,

unless you have someone alongside who makes it all happen.

I can wax endlessly eloquent on the natural situation of Thailand farming.

It is naturally speaking a paradise.

Good soil, good water, 365 day growing season, good infrastructure, reasonable availability of farm materials

It is the people factor that make it near impossible.

Thailand is NOT a good place to farm,

as mentioned above in this thread, take your money somewhere else.

I'll be happy to expand on details off screen,

from both sides, how naturally wonderful and how people treacherous

If you insist on farming, then enlist the wisdom of those who already have made expensive mistakes, or who have catalogued the experience from other people's mistakes.

Hi joker7

B100 / 30 => B3.30 / km MT

For small loads on short haul, that's good.

1 less Zero does make a difference

Ten meters head on 50 meter distance is easy pumping.

Is there a reason you aren't pumping directly to your drip?

Are you thinking to pump it twice,

First to the tank

then to the drip

Or is the drip on gravity from the tank?

If by gravity you will have stronger drip flow low on the hill,

while weak drip flow high on the hill.

This can be compensated for by running the high lines longer,

assuming that your drip lines run along the contour rather than down the slope.

I think a drip line would like to have around 10 meters line pressure,

which is a real good argument for pumping directly.

Send me a PM with your email address,

and I'll send the Excel spreadsheet which calculates

power requirement

friction loss

payback time on the next larger size pipe so as to reduce friction loss

It's posted on this forum earlier, I just haven't looked up the link this morning.

Drip outlet pressure regulators provide consistent flow at each outlet,

while the pressure at various locations on the elevation differ.

They are an extra expense initially, but the predictability they provide is in my mind well worthwhile.

Drip systems are prone to debris clogging, so you will need a good filter.

A clogged outlet doesn't cry for help, it just doesn't deliver water

Since you are pumping from a dam, therefore fed by a stream, there will be problematic debris

Hi soundman,

This is what we needed,

directly from an operator.

All my information was from memory of freight quotations received in the past.

Thanks.

Hi joker7

Yes, That's what I'm saying, the figures are correct.

It seems cheap, but still relatively expensive to even larger scale transport.

If you want to doubt your senses,

look at the CSX Railroad ad

They move a ton of freight 423 miles on one gallon of fuel.

For a short haul, you do have load & unload time,

but in that extra time the truck isn't burning fuel.

Thailand truckers typically don't consider parked time very expensive.

If someone is offering to haul your Sweet Corn 30 km for B1,000 / MT

You could do better.

B1000 / 30 => B33 / km MT

I could put a ton on my pickup truck,

drive slowly and and spend one hour on the road

I'd burn 5.5 liters of diesel => B200?

It might take me half an hour to load then unload, so I'm two hours per load

I like to figure equivalent fuel cost as vehicle cost,

so let's deduct another B200 for the wear and tear on my truck

I can turn 4 loads in an 8 hour day, so I have B2,400 in my pocket at day's end.

In addition to paying off my new truck

If I want to do a 16 hour day, B4,800

A pickup truck is the worst case.

If I buy a decent 6 wheel, then I can haul maybe 5 tons per load.

If I have a bigger truck, then my time becomes a smaller part of the expense.

Right now Cassava chips are coming from Kamphaeng Phet to Mae Sot,

and the shipper is paying B350 / ton on maybe a 200 km haul.

Not exactly sure the distance...but if 200 is near correct, that's B1.75 / km MT

The shipper is complaining at the high expense

It could be that the trucks can't get a full 30 ton load on as chips are not dense.

The 80 km over Tak mountain highway is a bear.

200 km is a relatively short haul.