Joe Walshe

I don't think anyone can advise you on this important matter. Hopefully you have some friends here who could meet up with both of you and maybe give a more objective opinion.

One thing I would say though is; This forum comprises a wide range of characters and personalities.

You've got the guys who's experience of Thai women comes from bar girls and talking to other farangs about their experience of bar girls. These guys tend to be bitter, have a low opinion of all Thais and would consider all Thai women as being gold diggers. They can exchange an infinite amount of stories of farangs who have been conned and ripped off by Thai women.

You then have the other guys who have met Thai women through work, college etc. and have had good experiences. A lot of guys on this forum seem to have married as well as you can anywhere.

On a very simplistic level it is not logical or in my view possible that all Thai women are so bad. Prior to my own marriage (see photo album) I dated many Thai women. I typically met them at Universities. I had no bad experiences with any of them.

Some of us then have to consider the choices;

Stay in Europe so that we can avail of health service and possibly other social services when we get older. Thereby maybe prolonging our lives.

or

Risk moving to Thailand, hoping we have enough money to cope with possible future medical problems.

Live in grey, cold rainy countries with little or no respect for old people but maybe live longer

or

Move to Thailand, put up hammock in shade, get a few books, meet other TV members in your area etc. etc.

Over simplified for brevity.

Decisions, Decisions.!!!!!!

My money philosophy is simple: if your money problems don't keep you up at night, you have enough. If not, hopefully you have enough for a sleeping pill.

Good one.

Threads so stupid over 500 people have read it.

I also, find peoples ethnic backgrounds interesting. When I lived in Samutsogkram I found the women there very beautiful. A lot on Mon and Mon/ Chinese mix. Much different from Isaan or Chiang-mai.

Enough is never enough, when it comes to money.

I think the trick is to be satisfied with what you have. That is not to say that one should not aspire to create wealth for yourself and others around you. It is important that people continue to grow and prosper so that society as a whole benefits. But while growing to be content with what you have now and not base your hopes on a happiness in the future when you have X amount of money.

....listen guys try and tell it as it is.......if you paid for the land in your wife's name then let us all know that,,...its especially helpful to new members,....who read through and think yeh these older guys own land..then its ok......not realising that many more bought land and split with their gf.....p.s.and that includes me ...as i tend to say "we" bought or "our" house....

I don't own any land in Thailand. My wife owns land. Sometimes, when posting, I say 'my farm' instead of 'our/her farm'.

Thank you for all your posts.

I think investing in farmland in Thailand to grow crops in retirement is wise. Whether one does it small scale or large scale might depend on how you want to spend your so called retirement time.

Seems wise to me to let my wife and kids inherit developed farmland than cash or other equities.

Farm Land sells for about 10,000 to 20.000 Baht per Rai depending on location. Back in 2003 I paid 4000 Baht per Rai for 16 Rai of "Rice Land" or farmland in my Thai wifes name. Now it is worth maybe 4 or 5 times what we paid. However in my opinion you should not be paying anymore than 20,000 Baht per Rai anywhere in Thailand..

When buying this land take note of the type of title it has most of this land comes with just a possessory right and not a Chanote. This effectively means you pay Tax on it and have "squatters rights".

I love my wife dearly but I have one rule of thumb - never invest money in Thailand that you cannot afford to lose.

I would like to add further comment but fear my sensible comments would be removed.

Someone once told me "Thailand is Paradise to a few and a fools paradise to most." I think it is for this reason that I remain sane :-)

Thanks for that Maprao.

would you mind telling us what part of Thailand you purchased the land. It's just that Land near say Phuket or Chonburi would be influenced by different economic factors than say Buriram or Udon Thani.

I'm a tad confused here.

I look at http://www.x-rates.com/d/THB/EUR/graph120.html web site regularly and it seems to me that the Euro has just risen in value against the baht. The Baht/euro exchange rate is still much the same as November 2007.

It appears to me that the Baht/dollar rates are the big issue.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/docu...ive/6501077.stm

You might find the above BBC Radio 4 documentary on this subject interesting. I also, read an article about booming Agricultural commodity prices in the Financial Times some weeks back.

It seems to me that Thai farmers should eventually get a better return on their efforts - unless the middlemen mangage to take all the gain. I would also expect agricultural land to go up in value. Some winners, some losers.

Pnustedt, does that mean you make enough from growing corn to live on. Or are you supplementing your income from growing corn ie. have pension or other fixed income. How many rai of corn? Hope I'm not being too personal.

We plan on building a fireplace for the rare occasions when it's very cold at night.

Thanks Thoongfoned, some interesting points.

I suppose putting it simply land will ultimately always go up in price with inflation anyway anywhere in the World. As I am not mcurrently in Thailand I was curiouse to know if agricultural land had rapidly increased in value due to crop and rice prices going up.

I guess if Agricultural food prices continue to rise, partly because of demand for bio diesel crops, then farming should become a more viable activity. This in turm should increase cost of good farm land.

Still like to know if prices have gone up in past few years or are starting to go up now.

Issangeorge,

I did read your post on another thread and found it interesting. I agree that Worldwide Agricultural Commodity prices are on the rise (see Financial Times about 2 weeks ago). Also, from what you say there is wisdom in buying good priced land now as a long term investment. In our case we probably have purchased more than enough agricultural land in different areas of Isaan. We bought as owners were in ahurry to sell and prices were lower than adjoining lands.

Our investment now needs to be in developing the land. Not much point in continuing to buy land and then just leaving it to revert to scrub.

What I am actually curiouse to know is has agricultural land gone up in price in Isaan over the past 5 to 10 years significantly.

Thanks for that.

Have discussed option of acquiring a Mia Noi from your side of the family with my wife. She muttered something in Laos about Thailand having expertise in Penis re-attachment for a reason.

The Chicken farming business sounds great but might appeal more to younger people settling in Thailand rather than older retiree's who may not want to put together a package like what you mentioned above.

Still curiouse to know what part of Thailand you are in.

Curious to know if agricultural land prices are increasing in Isarn. In particular around Loei, Chaiyaphum and Chumphae.

Moderator; wasn't sure if this should be in Real estate section.

Monkeypants,

Congratulations on your Chicken venture. As has previously been mentioned 'You will get alot of questions once you mention your nett profit'. I, and i'm sure many others, would like to know ;

1. What, in your opinion, would be a viable size shed and number of Chickens to start with?

2. What would be approx. initial investment - shed, chickens, feed etc. ?

3. How close to Chicken company (Saha, Cp) should an operation be to make it viable?

Any other info. for those of us thinking of setting up. Our farms are in Loei, Chumphae and Chaiyaphum.

Thanks, and nice to hear someone's making a living farming without working themselves to death.

My wife was determined to get one of these life policies about ten years ago. I explained to her after glancing at the document that with inflation the lump sum would appear pretty small when policy cashed in. She was determined to go ahead, claiming it was worth it if one of us dies. Subsequently we have had a policy for each of our two kids, my mother in law and myself. After ten years she can now see that it was not a good idea. Still I decided it was wiser to acquiesce at the time.

Many villagers seem to supplement their income selling Insurance/assurance policies.

Will send you my bank account details. Will be glad to 'mind' your money for you for awhile.

I lived in Thailand for about 8 years. I worked as a training mgr. in a hotel with 2,00 staff. I was married at the time (Thai Hotel mgr.) and found the educated, intelligent Thai ladies comfortable with me. As friendships developed many of them told me how they despaired of most Thai men and were keen on foreigners. I also met many wonderful Thai women at the local university.

I am sure if your motives are pure you could easily meet a Thai lady at a university or in a non touristy place. Once you have met your relationship can develop over the internet and by phone.

Good luck

Appreciate the photos.

Love to see some more, from you or indeed others

This topic is very interesting to me. Would it be viable to install a wind powered pump I wonder. This seems to be the preffered option in parts of the States and Aus.

Barley...Alfalfa.... climate in Thailand is not really suitable for it - yields are to low to make it an economicaly feasible standalone large scale crop. Cheaper to import it - and as far as wiskey and the cosmetic industry go - they manufacture localy using alternatives

Welcome back Maizefarmer. You weren't abducted by Aliens then.

You've certainly been busy on the forum since you got your satelite.

back to Topic. I did not realise another topic would end up covering the same subject. I have just read interesting views from 'Changing farming practices.

I believe farmers will fare much better in the future. While those working in manufactruing, and having to buy food, are in for a hard time.

very interesting, Chris york. We may see a Chinese Forum Web site up and running to cater for the hoards of Chineese immirating to Thailand

It seems to me from reading the farming forum, The Financial Times and from Television that farmers, Worldwide, are getting good prices for most agricultural products including rice, casava, corn even eucalyptus and rubber.

Part of the rise in demand is due to a more affluent Chineese population eating more meat (which is grain fed).

The supply of agricultural products may be reduced as farmers worlwide are opting to grow more bio fuel crops.

If this is indeed the case and if this trend continues it seems the future could be good for Thai and Farang farmers.

I know this forum has members who are both professional farmers and those who have other incomes and farm as a hobby. These hobby farmers may now be tempted to make farming more of a priority and invest more time, energy and resources to it.

I'd be interested to hear if others share my optimism for the future of Thai farming.