Foreverford

Hi fruity,

Where have you sited your frog operation, I'm presuming close by the house to keep an eye on them so they don't disappear in the night, but the little buggers must make a bit of a racket at night which can't be good for you or your neighbours....

Cheers

Teletiger, I stand corrected. Will take your word for it. Grizzley! ........Slapout, these are Bullfrogs, have some here a kilo-plus apiece.

Isee, The frogs are not noisey, seldom making any noise apart from when it rains, however, personally, I find it not an unpleasent thing. We don't have close neighbours, so no problem on that score. The frogs are kept in blue net enclosures in a pool which is only a few metres from the back of my house.

It is not wise to keep young frogs in an area away from the homestead. We sold one guy a thousand youungsters, he put them in a net enclosure in a pool in his rice field, where they were all gobbled up by the Storks in a day or two:)

Well fruity toot toot. How doody doo? Just finished a 12 day marathon on the farm (more in another post)but didn't have time to stop by. Here's the Frog Report hope it helps others. We had your frogs we bought in the three pens you saw when you came by just like yours the ones you can buy pre-made. But I told the wife the only money in farming is in real estate values and convinced her to go into the condo market and we started building condos instead. Very easy process. Went and purchased 8 200 liter blue plastic food grade barrels and got out the machete and started cutting down bamboo. Made a couple of 15 meter long runner poles and lashed four of the barrels to them and floated it in the pond. This bamboo was about 4" in diameter and every couple of meters we lashed (with about 1/4 inch nylon rope) cross members (about 8 of the same 4" size bamboo) that were about the length of the barrels to keep it all rigid and evenly spaced (sort of looking like a ladder tied to the floating barrels but with the rungs on top instead of between). We then took and made 7 outriggers ( 14 big long pieces 2" to 3" diameter lashed perpendicular to the two original main runners) that extended 3 meters outside the runners and barrels on each side. At the end of these extensions we ran 1" pieces perpendicular and lashed it all together. In each corner we lashed on another barrlel (4 more barrels) for this giant condo project. Think of a catamaran, and this created 12 large rectangular sections (we also lashed another 1" piece parrallel to the runners on the 7 outriggers about a foot from the runners to complete the rectangular square to tie on the nets. Final step to the super structure was to build a walking platform by lashing together a bunch of 1 1/2" stuff to make a 15 meter by 80cm platform and rolled it onto the top of the cross members and lashed it all together. By spacing things correctly we created about six inch square openings in each of the corners of the walking part of the structure (using the runners the outriggers and the cross members) and then placed four 4" diameter, at the bottom, and cut to a point, eucalyptus poles, about 4 meters long and pounded them into the pond vertically to allow the entire thing to rise and fall as the water doesand not float around wildly. Had the wife and her sister stich up the nets and shazam it was frog condos. Almost! I decided that they needed tops on them so I showed the girls how to make the sewwing machine fly and stiched a roll of wide blue netting to the end of each net and then left a space of about 6 inches and then stiched another net on. That created a top that covered the entire one side, 6 nets. We hand stiched with heavy cord and a BIG rice bag needle the nets to the bambboo rectangles asnd bingo bango bongo condos for the masses.

The finishing touch was to stich the tops to a couple of long 1" (lashed together to make 15 meters) bamboo where the tops (tops originally stiched in the house to the outside edge of the nets) covered the nets next to the runners so you can easily raise the tops and prop them up with a couple of short sticks. It was all tight as a drum and you know that that farm is about a couple of kilometers from the house but with the top on it there is no way any birds can get in. I also designed it so you can't get on from the ground around the pond unless you have a gangway plank to place on to the walkway (to keep out the other two footed predators that are always a problem on Thai farms (and Mexico and and and). Strategically placed barbed wire below water level will greet any other thieves that are of the more persistant variety (just like net throwers in your remote fish ponds).

Anyway anyone can do this as bambbo can be purchased for next to nothing if you don't have any growing and the nets can be purchased already made as you and the wife did originally and just build the structure to the net size. It is easy to attach with nylon cord and the rice needles and a sewing machine isn't necessary at all.

I'm sure I've confused the heck out of everyone but this does allow remote frog raising without worrying about predators and allows you to get your young into a large body of water (if you have it). It is very light weight and this allows the barrels to keep it all well above (nearly a half meter) water level. My wife smuggled out about a dozen of the "eaters" i earlier bought from you before they could be munched and lucky she did as i have had a few since. Amazingly while we were building, one of the family got a very very big wild frog of the best tasting variety in Issan so we had a "bar b que off" that night with both of them cooked together with nothing but a bit of salt. Man that wild one was sweet and juicy tasting, very very delicious but then we had a "Fruity Special" and there was no comparison as the juice almost popped out of your mouth and the meat was as tender as could be and two times more flavorable. three of us did the taste off and no question these babies are far far superior to anything they have ever tasted around here.

I have to say thank you thank you thank you again as this has really pulled the family together and given them a great project that they can persue year round. Pops is complaining (only once) asking what in the heck are we going to do with all these frogs when and if this works out. I laughed and said I hope it is a really really big problem and we would manage and told them the cost of an average size one for dinner in Paris, France. Hey that gives me an idea if you take bamboo and lash it together get some small nylon rope and hook up about a dozen or so frogs to it how long would it take to get them to haul themselves to market. Heck it would float halfway to France anyway. I get back to you something a bit more detailed and longetr than this when i get it all figure out. Give the wife a big hug from me and kiss that beautiful sow of yours on the nose for me also. peace and a lotta love me

Thailand 'War room' to counter soaring dengue outbreak

The aedes aegypti mosquito is the transmission agent for

Dengue Fever. It bites humans between an hour or so after

dawn until about an hour after sunset.

-- The Nation 2009-02-09

As far as I remember reading, aedes aegypti bite at any time of day or night. It is the anopheles mosquito that bites at dawn and dusk (responsible for malaria).

There is no vaccine or preventive drug that provides protection against dengue infection. The best way to avoid dengue virus infection is to prevent mosquito bites, particularly during the day.

While most mosquitoes are more active during dusk and night time, Aedes aegypti mosquitoes are daytime biters so precautions against being bitten should also be taken during the day.

http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/pub...hp-fsdengue.htm

We had an outbreak in Mexico and i had friends die and one of best friends said she would want to die next time or kill herself before. Ha Ha ha guys this isn't a funny one I stayed completely covered and in my own home the entire time I was visiting as you get this from a mosquito that has bitten another person with Dengue. Local control and eradication (all the others have given the correct proceedures in previous responses) at the ar3eas where someone has been diagnosed is critical. be extremely careful in caring for people with it and make sure their home clinic hospital or morgue is mosquito free otherwise keep on a lot of clothes and spray. A friend had it here in Bangkok and said he spent weeks in a completely blacked out room as any light felt as if it was completely crushing him and putting him into the utmost pain. This is no joke and you see yourself or others bleeding from every orifice eyes included and you will understand. Thank budha for this site as I felt that there should always be a pinned site to deal with anyone who knows of anyone who has gotten this so people can be cautious and advised of where it is and how much. NOW the fact that there was 91,000 cases!!!!!!!!!!!!! last year and it wasn't readily made available to the media or the population in general in as criminal as having Thaksin as the PM and makes you really wonder. Is this subject pinned in the health section? (I don't read it too often if not we should start a Pin (is that the correct term?) so people can report know or suspected cases of this conastantly just like we do on the farming section for people to tell the rice prices in each area during the selling season. I've malaria a few times and i know it is a picnic compared to this and I am extremely afraqid of this and will continue to closely monitor this and thanks to all for their intelligent responses.

There is a lot of useful information here on Gross sales prices and Kgs/Rai but has anyone calculated net profits after labour, fertilizer and other costs. I'm interested to know in percentage terms what margin is profit there is on growing rice. If not calculated then estimates if 20, 30, 40 50 % etc.. profit. Thanks.

We had a little over 80 rai averaged a little over 450kg got 22 tons lost 1/4 million baht and didn't figure depreciation or about three or four of the family's labor during the year. The one plot that is going organic (though chem ferts were used by father-in-law) wasn't planted traditionally and all the levees were removed and we got 500 + per rai even though it was under 5 feet of water twice. That 18 rai made somewhere near 50- 60 thousand baht so just over a couple thousand each rai as i see it. Lot's of rain hurt but as I see it this is the way it has been for the last 6 years but finally a sister returned and kept good books so I could show them what is happening. I'd never be growing rice here (Buri Ram near Cambodia and Surin) if it weren't for the fact that it is Hom mali (world's best rice) and the fact that we will be converting them to organic (slowly but surely as Thais are very sceptical of anything new plus it can be expensive to get going) it just doesn't add up to being profitable endeavor to grow traditonal rice the traditional ways.

Does anyone no of the route from Buriram To Hua Hin and approx how long will it take to drive there?

Hiway 4 and go to Samut Songkran???? on Hiway 35 (not Ratchaburi on 4) towards Bangkok after Samut look for Highway 9 (Ring Road) and go to the left (north westerly) (not towards the airport but towards Ayuthaya) (stay on the low side when you get off the highway or you'll have to double back but you are basically going left and will be on a frontage road until you get on the highway 9 proper). Follow that until Highway 1 and Saraburi then continue to Highway 2 (I don't have my map and I'm right near Buri Ram now so I think it's 2 but just check on the map please) and continue until you reach the highway 24 interchange that will take you to Surin. I normally go to Prakon Chai and at Prakon Chai you can turn left and it's about a half hour to Buri Ram. I leave Hua Hin at 3:30 am and reach Prakon Chai in about 6 and a half hours but don't stop til saraburi to make sure I get through the Bangkok mess but really have had no problems either way in regards to traffic etc as the roads have ijproved greatly and the police stops are the only thing that cause a problem. Good luck.

Hi Again Folks!

Thanks for the advice and ideas- always welcome!

It seems that even though we've never had any experience in the art of clearing land before,

we'd already started to some of things suggested, so maybe we're on the right track.

FIRE BREAK : Yes, we'd started to clear a roughly 3 metre band around the boundary of the land.

The first problem there was to FIND the <deleted>' boundary - not an easy job when everything is

covered by tall grass, bushes'n'stuff. Actually, we started around the middle of the land and worked

our way towards the neighboring land, uncovering a marked (with large stones) walkway between ours and the neighbor's, that is "no man's land". We're now following the walkway, clearing as we go - hopefully we'll end up

with the Fire Break all the way around. Ain't sure yet, as there are areas we haven't gotten to - and

we'll just have to wait and see what's under all the high growth.

"Scratching" the earth aside would be nice - ain't easy with stones and boulders everywhere. Too,

the "local workers" are us two. No offense to anyone, but we'd rather do the job ourselves.

The concrete rings solution is an interesting concept (hey, never thought of that!), but maybe we'll settle

on a similar thing and build a high round ring from the many stones. One thing, though, still a bit

concerned about snakes nesting in the compost - the g/f hates them and won't work that day if

she sees one, or just thinks she sees one. Likewise for scorpions and other ugly things.

COMPOST STARTER: Yeah, heard about that one before and might just try it. EM - how much does

it cost, I wonder. Chickens? Ain't no chickens anywhere near the place - no buffaloes, no nuttin',

a few snakes, scorpions and some lightning quick "things" that you just catch a glimpse of - and

they're gone into the bush. Oh - and goddam ants everywhere! The area is very quiet.

I read somewhere that if you build a compost heap, then the worms will come by themselves, sooner

or later.

Sounds good, maybe it works, maybe it don't work - but I'll sure give it a go!

OLAUS: As in the original post, I DID put under the trees - but was advised NOT to, so burned

the lot and put the ashes under the trees. My reckoning is, once you've burned it, it can't burn

again - and the ash is food for the trees.

FOREVERFORD: Whoo! Now THAT is one l-o-n-g post! Better get your "Enter" button fixed pretty

soon (just joking!). Yup - totally agree - burning seems to be all the locals know about.

Ain't being critical - it's just a fact. Back in farangland burning ain't allowed - 'cept in certain circumstances. Most stuff is plowed back into the soil - as far as I know. :jerk:

Exactly - the rains'll come and there ain't no hurry to compost anything. The main thing is to avoid

burning as much as possible, but minimizing the risk of fire.

Good idea, digging a hole. Simple, but effective - at least if I can build the ring of stones around

the hole then there'd be more room for the material - and at the same time lessens the risk of

anybody (me?) from forgetting where the dam_n hole is and falling into it. Could maybe build

the wall reasonably high - even build a ring in each corner of the land.

(Hey - does that make me the Lord of the Rings? - ha!)

Would have to have a makeshift "door" at the bottom of the ring, to dig out the compost later on, though.

Ain't NO way I'm climbing into a stone tower that's possibly filled with snakes and things - Tolkien or

no Tolkien!

Thanks for the advice about the "wet green" material. Would've started to clear the land after the

rainy season - but got a poisoned foot, which kept me out for almost 2 months. By the time I was

walking again, the grass'n'stuff was mostly dry. Next season we'll start earlier - shouldn't be the

enormous amounts of material, anyway, as we'll visit the land regularly to do some work and to

try and keep the grass and weeds down a bit.

A truck? Nope, don't have one - besides, the track to the land is too small (and bumpy!). Only got

a motorbike, I'm afraid. Sound advice - and we do bring and take stuff whenever we can - like a few bottles of water to douse the bonfire before with before we leave the land - and take a few stones home to decorate the garden. hel_l, they're free - ha ha!

We've hauled large amounts of stones up to the entrance to the land, raising 2 long, low walls

of stones. Looks pretty, but don't serve any real purpose - apart from having the stones in one

place instead of spread all over the land. I think the walls wil be more than 10ft high by the time we've picked

up most of the stones!

Burning's a thrill? Then I'd better get off to the nearest head-doctor cos I hate burning and worry all the

time that the fire'll spread if I blink more than twice in one hour. The g/f won't let me leave the land until I'm sure the fire's out 100%, so I'll take her along to the head-doctor, as well. Shoot - I won't even have candles in the house!

Thanks for ALL the replies and I think I'm starting to get a picture of how to handle the compost,

but - hey - any further ideas or additions will always be most welcome. I KNEW you guys would come

up with some good ideas!

Sorry if there's a delay in my replies - broadband hasn't been invented yet in these parts and

a 56k modem ain't too quick.

Cheers

SB

Scoterboy you are a superstar keep on truckin' with your motor bike you sound like one of the most together guys on this forum. still my hero. Keep on keepin' on.

I wish I could find a way to do it comercialy.

Not that I think the Thai's would care much if the milk they drank (processd in food stuff or fresh) was organic or not, I think there are certainly plus points for the huge biodiversity we have in Thailand, and if not even for that - then just to get the abuse we have of chemicals in Thailand under control, or out the way!

BBC world service the other day: massive decline in organic food sales in the Uk since the so-called credit crunch - down something like 30%, and to top it off, there are now discussions about just how much different it is health wise for consumers. with the prevailing argument been that the evidance to date is showing very little additional benefit for consumers.

My milk leaves here well within all Thai health regs - what happes to it at the co-op and come processing, I often wonder because the milk you get in Foremost containers tastes nothing at all like the milk that leaves here.

I think the rampant use and abuse of agricultural chemicals in Thailand will come home to roost one day. Anything that can get it under control or stop it, has to be a good thing.

Well done with the new pin. I learned to drive on an old Cletrac track layer with my father on the hose of the spray rig in the back at an hour or two before sunrise to beat the wind and we never seemed to win and I remember him covered in the spray and also remember burying him at 50 years old and they almost having to do the same with me many years earlier as my heart just decided to flare up and burn and inflame and he's dead and I'm not his heart just shrivelled up and the pacemaker they put in was useless and they say they can't reaslly say what caused it but he was a great guy but never looked good with that dam_n poison just dripping off of him. The choice is everyone's so do as you see best. The cover crop of Paw tueng looks good out here in Buri Ram and we'll be turning it under in about another week or two so no more Chems on another small part of mother earth. Choke dee

We will shortly arrive in HH for semi-retirement, we bought a house on Soi 112 in 2005. We would like to join a Golf Club that is not too exacting for begginers, preferable with driving range and reasonable fees, a club house with food and swimming facilities and maybe a gym would be ideal. Do you have any suggestions ?

Thank You

You may want to join the Hua Hin Golf Society for the first year or so. They play at different area courses twice a week at a big discount for the player. That way you could try all the courses and see which one you like best.

Golf course membership is expensive so it may be wise to do a lot of personal research before committing to one course.

If you want more information about the society you can go to Bernies Inn (which is the golf societies home bar) just off the beach road across from the Sofitel and speak with Bernie when you arrive. It's in a little alley behind all the rental cars past Billy's bar. You can also get to it using a little walking alley from the Hilton road beside the Mai Tai bar.

Good advice and Bernie is a great guy but if you are truly a beginner then get up the Pala-U road to the Mongul Driving range and book a few lessons with John Withers he is one of the best in the world and I've been around it a few times so I think I am a somewhat good judge of the teachers of the game. He has started a Thursday morning fun deal from 8:30 to noon where you pay I think 400 baht and you get a cup of coffee and all the balls you want to hit and he gives lessons and tips to all that show up and will even do videos to help you with your game. Other pros come around for the social aspect and are helpful to all. It's probably one of the greatest deals I have ever seen in the game. If you practice there you will be sure to see many world class playing pros. Probably the spot to be when the Asian Tour makes its stop in April (I believe) at Black Mountain Golf Course (just a few miles away) for a new scheduled regular event on the Tour. Palm Hills has all the facilities you want and is probably the closest and most accessable but definitely think about what hh farang said. Choke Dee

Just back from the farm and the father in Law is telling me that wet rice is being bought for about 9,000 baht which is a far cry from the figures that are being banded about on the television..

Is this figure the same everywhere?

I would appreciate some feedback from country wide...

Brother-in-law in Prachon Chai last week got 14.50!!!!!! whoopeeee

Really? My corn came up as big as rice. 9 tons for 35 rai. TIT.

Regards.

Oh that is too good teletiger I needed a good good laugh. Choke Dee in all you do.

Wow...thats the biggest paragraph I ve ever seen.

Regards.

Why ya should of seen the rice this year the stalks were as big as sweet corn and knocked out a dozen people when they tried to cut it down it was so full of seed.

My wife believes that after songkran price will go up because all the farmer had to repay the bank.

I am naive and know nothing about it.

Where can I find some charts relating to free domestic market prices

We are talking only about 10 tons jasmin rice.

May be next year 50-100 tons.

I want her to get more of a feeling for market reality, charts are the best instrument.

Any other info most welcome.

You'll see another post showing what people have been getting throughout this season in Issan this year. amazingly it appears the price has stayed good and actually appears to be going up slightly (the idiot govt stockpiled over 6 million tons of the stuff out of the 10 million or more that they had in storage then refused to sell it when everybody was paying an arm and two legs for it last year so that is a factor to consider for non Hom Mali rice. My brother in law got either 14 or 14.5 baht about a week ago in Prachon Chai and north Surin people were talking 15. I wouldn't have believed it but so it is now i believe ai don't know who told you to forget it and quit but good on you that you are looking to try to get some more production. we've got about 40 rai in Paw Teung (beans) for green manure right now and converting to organic. Obviously those prices are much higher. What kind of yields did you get per rai and what do you expect to get to reach your 100 tons? Talk of an other el nino and a lot of rain again as we went under a meter and a ahlf twice on one farm alone but still managed to get 500 per rai on that farm and lost half of another that didn't flood nearly as bad but wouldn't drain either. choke Dee

PS i don't if there are any charts and this forum is the lifeblood of the Issan rice farmers so we will all try to help you out and never tell you to quit (maybe advise a few neophytes not to try depending on their circumstances but let's hope you get 105 tons next year and it smells as sweet as the morning dew.

make a Fire break around the Land which is what I'm in the process of doing at the moment. just need to scratch the earth bare all around a couple of metres in width. shoud only take a local labourer a few days to complete. Its relatively easy work this time of year. That should satisfy the Locals . I've started putting the leaves etc.. into a couple of concrete water rings. I think I'll need to add water this time of year to get the process going. I think the real reason its burn't is because its the 'path of least resistance' . i.e THE EASY WAY ! ;-)

Well done Scooterboy just for thinking about alternatives to burning. Jubby has got it right and it appears this will be the year that you will have the most uncontrollable types of materials to deal with. Composting is a true science as others are telling you but in reality you can kill two weeeds with one stone (or something like that). Ideally you could run all the material through a mulcher/chipper to make it into smallerpieces and then start you composting with that. the smaller the matter the quicker the results. But let's be real and lookl at what you really have and the fact that those tools most realistically aren't available. If y0ou build the fire break then you help yourself and your neighbors but don't think that is going to suffice for all of them as burning is a fixation and an ingrained method of eliminating a problem very rapidly (also destroying an assest and the enviroment). If you are planning any more possible planting in the area then try to dig some holes and you can place your organic material in there so it is below ground level and not condusive to rapid fire spread should there be one and it jumps your break. You don't have access to water so the dry materials that yoiu have won't degrade at any kind of rapid rate but that isn't really important as you ar3en't in the compost selling business and the rains will eventually come and start to help you out. In the future try to cut as much of your organic growth while it has moisture in it and then get it into a tight pile and shaded if possible to conserve the moisture if thaat is what you require to start the breakdown process. As said before any type of manure or other wet green material that you can bring in will help with the process (I hope you have a truck). I used to leave my farm and travel about 50 miles inland of the coast of the Monterey Bay to try to get some sun in the foggy summer months. I'd drive my pickup into the dry creek bed and start to load stones (anything football size to as big as I could get) into the back of it until I got onto the overload springs and I'd call it a day. When I got back to the farm I'd unload them and ended up building a rather large beautiful retaining wall to shore up there the hillside below the house (this justified the fuel I burned to get away from the farm for a day, at least for me). So what I'm getting at is that never go to the plot without bringing something in your truck that might assist you in your project. Say like bring manure and water in and then depending on the size of the stones in the plot see if you can't haul them somewhere else at the end of the day where they would be an asset to you or someone else. Otherwise you can use them on the plot as part of the firebreak or as a boundary fence or maybe in some artistic manner or just stockpile them for a later use. i used to cover every square inch of land I could on my farm in Mexico with some kind organic matter, usually discarded palm leaves (now everybody knows how they will never break down let alone in the middle of the hot dry Baja desert, the mexicans laughed at me). Unbeleieveable what the ground looked like under them after a few years as they had only broken down probasbly by 20% but there was a world of life going on under them even in those nasty conditions. that wouldn't seem to be practicasl in your case as the fire situation is what is concerning your neighbors and they wouldn't want to see even ten leaves laying on top of the ground so again in would appear that you would wantt to try to get your organic material below ground level (covering it in dirt would be great but not completely necessary). But if your ground is really stony and hard and dry you may find that difficult at this time of year but still labor is very reasonable and it would amaze you what someone may be able to accomplish if they are young and strong and have the correct tools. A good 1.5 meter pointed pry bar a pick and shovel should suffice to start to get you going down below the surface. The material that you have already cut should then be cut or broken into as small of pieces as possible and this will allow for piling with the least amount of air space which would allow the material to combust easily (not really what you want for composting as you would ideally want to be turning and moving your pile constantly getiing oxygen in and out of the pile to speed up the decomposition process). i think you should look at this year's material as a resource for next year's composting efforts when you can cut your amaterials very green with high moisture content and blend it back into the stockpiles that you have saved below ground level. If you are able to cover them with soil then you could dig it out (it won't have broken down much) and use the soil and the matter in your new blend. REMEMBER!!!! in Thailand one of the non-falang things we deal with here are COBRAS in the compost so if you get it going good and it is warm they will tend to want to use your lovely warm piles as homes in the cooler temps so be careful in that respect always anywhere you compost when you start to use or work your piles. The stones cvould be used to cover highly flammable material but then you would pretty much need to abandon both but it may be a solution. Try to get the piles as compact as possible if fire is the biggest concern and speed of decomposition is not a high priority. A monsterous log laying on the ground is not an issue in a brush fire but if you cut it into a bunch of cordwood size pieces and stacked it up to air dry it would make an explosive situation in a brush fire so use that principle as a guiding line to your process. Jubby has it 100% right that burning is done because it is the easiest and for many a slight thrill (I was a firefighter and it is an unfortunate part of human nature that fire and flames mesmorize many)

Again well done for just thinking about trying something new and i wish you the best of luck in anything you try, you are taking on a hard work difficult situation and it appears as if you are willing to take the extra step to make your place and the world just a litttle better by doing it. Your my hero.

Dear Foreverford,

If you think you are so good and respecfull to people and tring to protect them, why did you go looking for more somewhere else and try to import it. where is your principle in this??

I said I'd try to find you something to help you with starting arice farm but I'm no wiz at this forum stuff and can't seem to locate what i thought was out there in this forum. Sooooooooo I guess I'd say for a first timer to start your process by looking into green manuring and proceed from there, the concurrent and continuing process should involve as much compost as you can get into your farm. If you don't make a penny but your land is more fertile than it was the year before then you are a successful farmer (not an easy task). I hope you'll be lucky enough to be able to eventually have a small enough farm that you won't need a tractor and you'll be able to eat all you need and still be able to have enough to trade or sell to others. Choke Dee

ha ha .. that was funny .. but i like your sense of humor .. if i would have known Thaksin Shinawatra i would have not come to this forum to inquire.

Hi all

Am a recent member on this forum .. am looking to find agents / consultants to buy Farm land ( Jasmine rice , Tropical fruits & Rubber plantations )

any member can refer any agents consultants?

we are a company based in hong kong looking to invest in Agricultural sector in thailand.

we want to start with a farm of say abt 25- 30 rai.

i have gone through the forums but could not find any specefic contacts who could facilitate the buying process .. would be of great help if some one can give any contacts in that area.

thank you in advance

Ricky

Look up a man by the name of Thaksin Shinawatra he's been known to hideout in your company's area and was trying to sell off the small farmers plots to oil barons. I know he needs the money and has plenty of consultants and contacts.

The small farmers he duped into mortgaging their farms to his "Easy Buy", "1 2 go broke" and multitude of other corrupt political machinations don't think it's very funny but their farms are out their to be sold so they can give the shady loan brokers 90% of what they get from you. Otherwise you'll just buy from the guy who foreclosed on them and you'll end up paying twice as much. Ha ha ha another family farm into the corporate web ha ha ha.

Dear Foreverford,

If you think you are so good and respecfull to people and tring to protect them, why did you go looking for more somewhere else and try to import it. where is your principle in this??

Dear Riceman09 I appreciate your last post wishing me a long life. I don't understand your question here but it is all a matter of timing and I got into the middle of the clock. Mandela was in prison and Wangari Mathai was thrown in at a later time and people felt it was enough and things needed to change. Their crimes were that they spoke up for the common man. You can read the books or turn the page. They are free, they have their Nobels as they surely deserve and are still trying hard to create enduring changes. Many people's lives are better than they were back in the late 80's and the early 90's when they became free.

But It's 2010 and the principles that allow the common man to reap any, or some kind of benefit from what has occurred to mother earth don't even come close to even being fractionally porportionate to the entire human race. So corrupt corporate greed and the similar politicians who support them have people starving and dying for lack of common medicines. I thought I could return and start the exchange of at least information and hopefully physical farm practices that would benefit the small scale farmer. I'm still a bit in shock because i felt that running away and fast would probably keep more people alive than staying there. You say "why did you go looking for more somewhere else and try to import it." All I can say is I'm a hope fiend and I won't give up hope but this trip to Mama Africa I was a complete and 100% failure. We won some battles before and I hope we win some more in the future so I'll stay in the business of importing hope but I guess like the farming business some times there are good harvests and some times there are even none.

I'll send you another reply that might help you get into farming here in Thailand. It's a bit generic but hopefully helpful to first time farmers. Choke Dee

nobody cares, foreverford, go away. Back to kenya, preferably

I know of two hundred women a day, that's yesterday and again today, and tomorrow again who have buried their babies in mother earth, who care. I don't care if you don't care. Turn the page because you can not and never will tell me where to go.

Hi all

Am a recent member on this forum .. am looking to find agents / consultants to buy Farm land ( Jasmine rice , Tropical fruits & Rubber plantations )

any member can refer any agents consultants?

we are a company based in hong kong looking to invest in Agricultural sector in thailand.

we want to start with a farm of say abt 25- 30 rai.

i have gone through the forums but could not find any specefic contacts who could facilitate the buying process .. would be of great help if some one can give any contacts in that area.

thank you in advance

Ricky

Look up a man by the name of Thaksin Shinawatra he's been known to hideout in your company's area and was trying to sell off the small farmers plots to oil barons. I know he needs the money and has plenty of consultants and contacts.

Dear Foreverford

I think you're crazy (or a complete troll).

Your silly rant has no target at this poor guy who just wants to invest some money. How do you know he wouldn't be the world's best 'gentleman' farmer with a social conscience?

Are you a fool or a tool?

To the OP- sorry I can't help you practically but at least this is another post in which you don't have to read that spiteful toss.

Good luck and share the joy.

Well Slip you are rigfht I'm crazy I just got back from kenya hoping to try to get some grassroots farming projects going and after running for my life nearly 15 years ago the few who knew I was returning said I was crazy to do it. The govt (politicians along with big corporate business) destroyed the people's ability to exist by farming and the ones that tried to help and stand up for them were imprisoned (it ain't no party believe me you act like a troll wheen you sleep on urine inundated floors in a pile of 30 or more just to survive and stay warm). So I guess that makes me your troll if that answers that question for you. 10 million people are now starving in Kenya (not Sudan but the great developed country of kenya) 200 babies die everyday every day! because the doctors don't have TB vaccines to give to them (die from TB not starvation). What's tougher to do die of TB or not be able to open your mouth and speak up so others won't continue the visious cycle? It's worse now than when the govt wanted me dead for trying to stand up for the small farmer 20 years ago and i can't deal with it and that is why I'm going off like this. i tried to explain it a bit more clinically in another reply but the computer ate 30 minutes of my typing so I'm burnt out and still crying inside and I'm sure it's easy to just "turn the page" on this and move on to something else. But I was willing to be a vocal "tool" before and was again willing to try it again, many called me a "fool" to even try. But I had to run away again to maybe and hopefully fight another day; it's just that I'm getting too old and all my friends that i was hoping would be able to get me connected and get something going are gone missing or dead or have bullet holes in them. It is worse in a world that I thought might be at least a little bit better but don't worry about it, I just take a bit of offense in people speculating (investing??) on small farm property, or any farm property for that matter.

Yeah Rice09 I am a frustrated man (10 million people and 200 babies a day) and I've worked on that frustratiopn for 15 years and found a situation that I hoped would offer an opportunity to end some of that and help some very very good people, I risked my life again (some think) to try to end that frustration and i failed completely and had to run away again. So if you want to speculate you'll need to find someone else to help on that in this forum; if you want to farm I've written and researched a bunch to try to help anyone who might want to try small scale farming of rice in Issan in a sustainable manner it's in the forum and i will add more to it as the results of the projects and methods we are using progress and fail or succeed. I'm sure that getting back into the dirt will help change my spirit but now I'm physically sick from my journey (they are telling me i should be checked for the new resistant strain of TB that has just started to pop up, if you get it soon enough you don't die from it so I guess that should be my next project but there is still welding that needs to be done and the roads and levees that blew out from the floods last years are only temporary and have to be completely redone. Slip is right that there is a lot of joy from farming and i hope that you will find what you need and enjoy the real beauty in being able to create life. that is what farming is, every year the earth should be more fertile and more alive than the year before, that's sustainable agriculture and that is what every farmer will hopefully be able to acheive or at least try to attain. There's no frustration in seeing your entire orchards burn up due to freezing frosts, or the hydraulic hoses blowing out and soaking you just before sunset , I've been there that's part of the life of a farmer you just deal with it, but 200 babies a day just guts me and I don't know if I've got 15 more years in me.

First of all, I would like to thank everyone for the fantastic feedback and information about this topic.

Right now I'm not in hurry to invest a large sum of money as it's something that I would like to do gradually. I see this as a form of investment in the long run as right now I work in Maldives. My intention is to buy small plots on a regular basis, possibly attached to one another and when the time is right I will act on it. As far as the rice quality is concern, I would like to farm a type of rice for export and the type os soil that I'm looking for should reflect this( what's the average price per rai).In this matter, do I need a special licence to export?

I have to say that since I've joined this site I'm learning a lot and thank to you all for this.

Are you real or are you now going to be selling shares in Nigerian Banks? You are actually saying you want to try and make a tidy little profit on the misfortunes of the small farmers of Thailand? A lot of people in good faith have given you their precious time so you can play a little game of buy the dirt cheap Thai rice farms and speculate(?), dream(?) or who knows what you haVE PLANNED (a little investment?). we had grown men in our village crying on their hands and knees as they lost their entire crop due to adverse flooding this year. This isn't a kids game and it isn't a game by any means or way. If you got money spend it on something else other than a farm in Thailand. Do you know the laws of this country???? There have been plenty of fellows that have asked advice here in regards to farmiong rice and have been given much more help than you have received as they are trying to break even or even try to eek out a profit to get their extended Thai families out of the spiraling debt that modern farming and banking has created for the Thai family farmer. You didn't mention anything about your Thai family and I'm sure when your 60 you'll think about coming here and finding a 18 year old farmgirl to play on your faRM WITH YOU BUT the heck with my ugly mood. Try to find the guy that lost his entire crop last year maybe you can get his place with the help of some shady characteres and then pray for floods and droughts and maybe when your ready to do whatevefr in the heck you think you can do then maybe you can buy all his relatives and neighbors places and while you are at it start getting into the middle man trade that's a;lways good for a few bucks and gigggles. I'm an ugly man as i saw too too much this last week when I went to Africa as the bombs still fall all over the world 200 babies a day die in KENYA (yeah a place you might consider rather well developed) just because the doctors don't have the medicine to give them their TB vaccinations. Today 2009 and we aren't talking about Sudan and all you hear on the news this is the prosporous heart and center of Africa. 200 babies a day and you want to play games with our faRMland here as you live in the Maldives. You asked for advice well here it is. Find a Ford Tractor break it in half and put a clutch in it and then write us all back and tells us how much farm land you want to buy and how long does it take to walk out of your farm and get a hydraulic hose in the pouring rain so you can get it going again and out before it spends the entire season there. Be careful using your pocket knife for a screw driver, snap ring remover or all purpose tool because there's plenty of folks that have slipped in the rain with their hands full of grease and crop to get in and I missed taking my right eye out by an inch or two, my grandfather wans't as lucky he slipped and took out his right eye. Still I think if he were alive today he'd see it my way and give you the same advice, well actually he was much smarter than me, he'd tell you to forget it. This is the real world buddy and if you enjoy seeing grown men on their knees crying while you want to play then to each his own. Be a bit careful when you break the first bolt on your tractor so you don't skin a knuckle. Yeah right I know you are going to work all the ground with your self trained water buffalo while you are in the Maldives sitting on the beach. I'm getting uglier by the second and I can't stop. You want to grow ricwe come by and visit my wife's grandmaother she can't get her head above her kneecap when she walks. How does it feel .......................... forget and forget buying everybody's family's small farm plots; once they're gone the money will follow with it and then they have no money or land. Benito Juarez is rolling over in his grave as the Ejidos (small farms of the Agrarian Reform) of the Revolution are now almost more thqan half owned by the drug cartels, Carlos Slim's telephone monopoly and major corporations as the laws were changed in Mexico about a little over a decade ago and the family farms that the blood of that revolution won back from the Spanish and allocated to the peasants are again gone and the spiral continues. It isn't hopeless here as there are plenty of people who are now trying to educate (Thai visa has really been instrumental as i see it) and change and break the ugly cycle that has made the jasmine rice growing areas of Thailand one of the poorest in the world. Leave what you don't know, save your money for some other game and by the time your ready to play hopefully things will have changed enough here that all the small plot farmers will now be making small profits and /or subsisting on thier small but cherished piece of earth. You're getting the right advice from the wrong guy at a a very wrong time. take what you are given and learn from it and maybe now you'll see farming from a little different perspective just like my grandfather did. Bob Marley said "A hungry man is an angry man" well my belly is full but I'm still an angry man and your wishes to invest in our small family farms makes me angrier.

"Regarding the toxicity of termite controls, I was under the impression that these were among the most residual of all chemicals, although this maybe just for those sprayed on soil."

Some of the pesticides that were used in the past for termite control, and probably still being used in many places, are very toxic and long lasting in the environment. Fortunately the research and trend in many places, including Thailand it seems, is toward "less toxic" or "least toxic" control measures. The chemicals that I mentioned, that I have recently seen being used here in Chiang Mai, do have a very long residual effect, I was told 5 years in the case of Fipronil. The pest control outfit that I watched working the other day and questioned about materials etc, was using Fenobucarb and was on a 3 year application schedule. But that residual time frame does not necessarily mean that exposure is available to people and pets, it is bound up in the soil and wood.

Some new generation pesticides that have been developed to be less toxic to mammals, are proving to be extremely harmful to birds and honey bees. Each chemical has it's own specific actions, limitations, and toxicity to the target pest and to non-target species, capacity to leach into the ground water, etc. It's a challenge to stay informed, but it pays to read up on what you use. Knowing how to find and read labels and material safety data sheets (MSDS) is helpful.

Well done Doc, MSDS's are the start of any attempt of deciding or using of Chems. I was certified by the State of California to apply but never was involved with termite work. Everybody please use goggles along with your breathing protection, absorbtion of chems thru the eyes is SERIOUS and highly neglected. We all know about the LDL thought (lethal dose limits to kill rats-mammals) and it is only one of many factors; obviousdly there were idiots who could drink DDT and say it wouldn't hurt them and in fact they would be worse off getting into a small amount of nicotene (probably much more than 100,000 % more deadly) but the problem with DDT was that it thinned the shells of nesting birtds that fed off the reidual animal life uptake of the poison. the kicker was that it's half life is near a million years. Soooo in a million years there will be half the residual (80 million tons ??) amount of the DDT that has covered this earth asnd it is still as potent a problem when it is re-exposed into the enviroment. there was a big scare in the Salinas Valley in California as they detected extrememly high levels of use of banned DDT in the late 70's and attributed it to the smuggling of the product from Mexico where it is still used. Fortunately, or not, it was just erosion due to an extremely wet winter and poor farming practices that allowed all the topsoil and the huge amounts of Ddt that had accumulated to register so high in the river's water. Probably wouldn't bother you to eat that trout but the raptors could be affected. Chems are very complex and good maitenace is a key to termites. they like wood so try to keep your home extremely sanitary around and under. Borax and chilies and peppers can keep many things away from your living space. I know the use of Beagles to identify specific locations can minimize the use of toxic chems and all wood houses have some advantages to electronic control. Be safe around any chem and don't forget to have your goggles on at all times ESPECIALLY when opening containers and bags.

They are indeed hard to justify cost wise as standalone water supplies - unless it really is the only option (i.e. diesel and ac not available).

Basically the reality I face. But just wanted to elimimate the grease under the nails but it looks like a cement and steel structure for the deisel pump (removable???) to fill the ponds and continue the irrigation scheme. Of course by then it'll be batten the hatches and we'll be trying to drain the place. The solar can be nice for a domesticsystem where there's no electricitryand you have a nice tall tank in the air. thanks for the help

Hi

I think I can safely say you won't get a condo in that range. You will however find some good basic 2br townhouses (ie. terrace houses or whatever the Canadian equivalent is). You will have to organise the internet yourself. If you are willing to go a few kms inland then you will get a brand new or near-new place, closer to the beach older and with more basic furniture.

Look at the recent thread on hua hin estate agents for the two agents I dealt with. Obviously it will be a help if you have a Thai speaker helping you.

Don't rush - each day of searching will locate something better and cheaper and closer to the beach.

Happy hunting

Shouldn't be a problem ifyou want to startin March there will be tons of stuff avaialbe. I'm not a realtorbut will try to help ya if yu want PM me.

Ask her to make an infusion from the leaves, it works wonders, make it like strong tea.

I forgot to add: DO NOT DRINK THE INFUSION!

Gunga et al, my experience the trees where such thatif you saw one and travelled over and under its shade the temperature was nearly 10 degrees cooler Faren. Aazingly pleasant. What's the oil for and the use of the infusion. thnks

Looking to be able to find a lower presssure high volume pump but could adaptable with any good performing types. Thanks

Bill went to the local golf course and found few cars in the lot and knew he could get in a quick round. He teamed up with Bobthe only other guy that was there and off they went with the course wide open. On the eigth hole they ran into a slow playing twosome of women. No problem he said we'll pass them after the 9th. To their dismay they beat them out to the 10th and were playing very very slow and didn't offer to let them play through. Bob said enough is enough and angrily went to tell them they were playing through. A minute later he came back all hang dogged and his partner said what is the matter. He said I've got a big problem one of the women is my wife and the other is my girlfriend. After a couple more holes Bill said I know how to get by these two no good women and marched forward to signal Bob to play through when he got there. Unfortunately he didn't signal him up and started the long walk back to join Bob. Bob asked what's going on? All Bill said was, "Same problem".