IsaanAussie

3 minutes ago, simple1 said:

For clarification: There is not a pro rata deduction whilst living in Australia.

Thanks for the important correction, sorry if I mislead anyone. Senior's moment.....

Just now, Russell17au said:

The bank account is no problem. Just fill in the form and send to Australian Services and your pension is paid direct from Reserve Bank into your Thai bank account at a better exchange rate than any Australian commercial bank will give

 

Things might have changed. As I know it Centrelink use the Commonwealth and their rate is a few % under market. I use transferwise and save considerably. Plus it is here within a day or so. It also lets me wait for better exchange rates, usually when the baht is going down as the aussie going up against the USD. The baht trading is low and it stays flat to the buck whereas our politicians love to kick our currency around and the swings are higher. Can make up to 2 or 3% difference.

Thanks for the thought guys but I like my sleep. Besides at 68 the days of self insurance risk are numbered for me anyway. Better to do it now.

It is just a pain that I didn't take the 3 month O visa in Australia and the risk on getting the bank account setup and extending it here. Still with the current health situation I figure the health insurance clause could well be extended to other visa types soon enough. The immigration guys "holiday" is all but over.

Just now, Russell17au said:

Have you spoken to anyone about changing your visa? (immigration or an agent) If you have the money in the bank you maybe able to change visa internally. Try checking form TM86 Change of Visa

I have spoken to Immigration and was told "cannot". Have the money in the bank etc.. I was told the only change would be to a marriage visa. Again could do we have been together for 20 years but I dont wish to go down that path. 

I like the OP have an OA retirement visa which I will apply to extend soon. I had thought of doing a border hop and letting it expire, re-entering on a tourist visa and then converting that to an O. Obviously reason being extensions on an OA will only be granted with 400K inpatient/40K outpatient health insurance and only for the period of coverage. 

All that went west with COVID so I will take the insurance. The OP will need to do the same.

Have a good look at the Centrelink pages. There are two issues involved: first, satisfying the eligibility requirements for the pension which include having resided in Australia for 35 years during the period from 16 yo to applying. If the total is less then the pension amount is reduced by 1/35th per year. The second is qualifying for the pension to be portable. The 2years comes into this section. 

As has been mentioned before, our rice crop is not good. Water stressed and full of weed. Several weeks ago I decided that since it was just at flowering we would fertilise to get what harvest we could. Now with seed fill underway the provincial water authority decided to flood the irrigation/drainage ditch which runs past our land and our paddies as well. The worst possible timing. If they had done it a month to six weeks ago whilst still tillering I could have used a selective herbicide to kill the competing weeds. There is government assistance for drought effected crops planned. Obviously the water guys can say that they supplied water in their own defence, but I doubt they will mention they were several months late to doing it. I even doubt anyone will mention the timing.

Anyway, I have gone from praying for a little rain to keep things going, to hoping the sun will shine through and evaporate the water. There are storms forecast and all I need is winds to lodge most of the crop. What a season!

On 10/20/2020 at 7:19 PM, 2BOB said:

Hi dose anyone know if and were you can buy Barley straw (hay) in or around Chiand Mai. I have a large pond (lake )  that has over grown with green algi . back on ozz we use to put barley straw in to dams on the farm and the algi would die. dont whant to use chemicals. 

Any help appreciated

 

Rice straw works just as well

5 hours ago, kenk24 said:

would a chipper/mulcher [whatever it is called] take care of grass as well as branches and leaves? 

Simply put No! Two different tasks, chipping and mulching. Chipping of drier usually larger stuff like branches, and mulching as the name implies, cutting up all the wet green stuff and soft dry stuff into small pieces. Chipper needs power and strength whereas the mulcher needs to cut and clear the mush without clogging. 

Versions capable of doing both tend to be expensive, cheap ones are "remedial education aides". You will remember phrases you haven't used in ages if for no other reason than repetition after the umpteenth clog-up.

For a garden, buy a mulcher and deal with the branches over an inch separately. 

The best all rounder I have seen is a PTO powered (add 10Hp motor cost) a friend has and it cost 70K.

Just now, Hellboy75 said:

Heads up for everybody we just met with a Muslim goat & cattle exporter working with a viet they had a double trailer lorry with 50 cattle on board heading for Laos he said they had another order for 1000 cattle in 2 months time he said around New year he said they're not the only ones the price will go up after that. 

Just now, Tounge Thaied said:

So is this a confirmation of my suspicion that prices were going to go up?

I hope so and wish you well but think this through. There are two sides to any market, demand and supply. What we know (really just assume) is the Thai supply side is increasing. Unless the demand side is increasing faster, then the price will go down, not up. Has anyone studied what the demand side is doing, or what the Thai supply side is achieving?

Underlying all of this is the lack of financial planning most Thai farmers do. The ease of committing to large debt levels on a "new" venture with no subject knowledge, just reliance on a great success story told to them by someone they don't know but drives past with a truck full of cows and who offers to "help" them. 

Where do you find cattle buyers? Seems it depends on how good a story you can spin to someone that has a chanote with a bit of credit left against it. 

My BIL is a great example. Short story acquired 8 beasts on a chanote based loan and has 10K baht left. He is about 2 months short of the planned selling date for a few of them. Concentrate and gut beer etc.. is running out, but today he spent 8K of the total on a fodder chopper. Several others have these machines and would cut his fodder for 20 baht a day. Bbbbrrrrrr...... 

4 hours ago, Grumpy John said:

Maybe I  could get you to come across at that right time to lend a hand.  Free room and boards while your here!

It is all possible. Check out the thread rod, with a couple of nuts and washers they gotta be cheaper than a pair of turnbuckles. I would also look into using concrete posts. Anyway good luck with it all.

Hey ya ol' grumpy J. An aussie that doesnt know how to put together a strainer post assembly? I don't believe it.... Threaded bar from the top of the end of the trellis to ground level behind that. Turnbuckles and wire will just stretch as much as the crop bearing wires. Since you have a V form trellis, try going wider behind that to stabilise things, yes that means two threaded rods.

1 hour ago, douglasspade said:

and carrying from a proper Zebu/Brahman bull then 30K - 35K sounds fairly reasonable to me.

She is carrying from an Angus bull I believe.

Thanks for the confirmation KS. I don't know how old the cow is, seems the BIL doesn't either when I asked some time ago. Despite my cattle knowledge being five eight's of the square root of stuff all, I am starting to think I might be in the lead. 

So far my only involvement is letting him use my pig sty to house the herd and the land around it to grow fodder. Whilst nothing said yet, I bet he wants the new one but doesn't have the money. Time to wait for more information. 

On 7/19/2020 at 9:23 PM, kickstart said:

IA 

I thought I posted this afternoon ,my com is having a bad hairy day, the best cattle to buy would be like what your BIL had ,a Thai Native ,or a Thai Native X Brahman buy a heifer and put it to a Angus bull, the calf should do well ,your local DLD should have some semen.

 

Well KS seems like you were right, here is the outcome of BIL's Thai cow mated with Charolais that I mentioned a day or two back. There is also another similar cow up for sale here. A bit heavier and 7 months pregnant to an Angus bull. I am told the seller wants 40K for her.

First birth of the BIL's cattle. A bull calf from a Thai (God knows what) cow joined with a Chariolet bull. All good so far.

Look at what needed to happen. 43 tonne of hay had to be trucked a few hundred Kilometres at worst. A few hours of a guy/guys driving truck/trucks, wouldn't need to stop for a <deleted> and be completely isolated in his cab. Delivery made to a property remote from everywhere. NO RISK. If DictatorDan etc had some sexually motived need to feel in control than track the truck with GPS via the drivers phone and zap him if the truck stopped. 

Where this went wrong was some plebe in government who is paid 6 figures but knows "F'all" about farming or the cost of taking a slash dreamed up the "required" method of feeding 1500 sheep. The reason these f'wits are employed is a mystery to me.

Our first fertiliser was spread today. No I didn't change my mind but decided the less than 3,000 baht of 18-4-5 was already spent and the ear bashing I was starting to get was not worth bearing. I am sure most will have heard similar "logical" arguments. It has rained, the rice is growing, we already have the fertiliser so if you want to eat next year spread the ferts. No mention of the weeds or their seeds and yields levels. No mention of getting someone to harvest this mess or that cost. Appeals to my "good heart" as the guy that spread it alone and by hand really needed the money. Haven't given up but am starting to appreciate retirement. LOL, I love this place!

The old farang saying, if you want to make a small fortune farming in Isaan, start with a large one. Well I figure the reality or Thai equivalent is, if you never want to loose an agrument, do not participate either verbally or financially.

18 hours ago, douglasspade said:

Here in lower Isaan - Krasang, we plant as early as June, 1st fertilizer in September, 2nd fertilizer in October and Harvest in December.

I saw some guys going out with 1st fertilizer this morning. The typhoon did flood some paddies but it is marginal. It is late in the season to expect enough rain to sustain a flooded paddy

Much the same schedule here in Sisaket. My first fertiliser stills sits in its bags. Last year I reduced the amount of fertiliser due to moisture stress. This year didn't bother, the weeds win on our main block. Other sections belonging to the family are about to get a second fertiliser. We will see what the total yield is, hopefully enough to feed us all. 

Around here the only reasonable crops have been established using bore water but still are nowhere up to normal. Next year I think will depend on how much water I can pump into the ponds before we start. If not rice then look at something else, perhaps fodder.