Isee

I agree with the above members as well, giving your child an Australian passport will probably be one of the best things you could do for them as it provides options should they wish to use it. I have 2 kids and each one had an Australian passport within 6 months and I went through the renewal process for one last year. I basically saw it as getting them into the 'system' so that, if one day I'm no longer around, it will be far easier to get a new passport once it expires rather than applying for one first time around without me being around. The process isn't hard, but it does require a little running around to get everything to support the application including certified translations of thai documents. The best tip I can give you is to use the translation/photo services near the embassy as they know 100% what is acceptable. Also, get multiple copies of any translations for future renewal applications. I don't believe a marriage certificate is required as the eligibility is based on descent of the child. Both you and your wife should (read must) be present at the embassy and do it now before the embassy moves location. You can go online and get a copy of the application to see what you need. Get someone at the school to say they know the child and its been my experience the embassy does ring to check. 

I flew Thai Smile a few months ago from BKK to Udon in business. Don't think I will do so again. 3x3x3 seating and fairly hard seats at that. Short flight, so will go cattle class in future.

Exact same but I flew to Ubon. Won't waste my money on business class anymore as it is an absolute joke.

Have to laugh at the few posters who want to put their hand up to take over the position. Trying to do a role in a country where the system is against you at every turn...why would you want to take on the anguish? The text message was quite clear - Honorary Consul or not, you are still just a farang and don't forget it!

Wife lives near Yasothon and I enjoy the place. A key element between a good and bad experience is how the extended family view you (you and the wife play a part here). If they look at you as nothing more than a cash source, your experience is going to end up being bad at some stage. If they accept you as part of the family - totally different and enjoyable experience to the point that they will look out for you where possible. My attitude has also changed to some degree over time as I learn and become more understanding of the interdependence that the thai family network supports.

About a month ago I had the same thing with my Triton. Air conditioning started to smell. Not a dead rat but a nest with droppings etc. Took it to the dealer and got a clean out and new filter - total cost about 700-800 baht. Seems to have fixed the problem.

And the list of his policies is not bad.

Whether many will be implemented is moot,

what he suggests are mostly all quite good and logical.

Versus the typical pie in the sky baltant lies and sops to the poor.

If several get implemented we are ahead of the game.

I would suggest that if they aren't implemeted, then it becomes a moot point as to whether they are 'good' or 'pie in the sky' promises.

Hi.I have aDC68 and best day was just under 30 rai. What kind of machine do you have that is cutting

40 +

Sent from my GT-I9100T using Thaivisa Connect App

I think if you look at reply #52 you will find your answer there.

Cutting 40+ per rai would be minimum expected on a thai machine. Our best cut in one day for a machine was just this season of 44 rai for a DC70.

You might be going, how the %*(&! did you do that? Well, the answer is that it was over two paddies next to each other and there was a ton of grass there, more so than rice. Farmer ended up with 70 bags in total. We measure on area so, full of rice or no rice, they still pay per rai. This is why I'm somewhat sceptical of claimed high cutting rates - in the right conditions, you can cut well past what your average would be in normal conditions. Further, cut/day rate will also depend on how many hours you run the machine in that day.

What makes this girl special is that I truly think she'll be a good mother to my future children. I can tell that she's a good caretaker/giver. Many Thai women have cold hearts. They have no problem having children and then sending them to the parents in Isaan while they continue their lives elsewhere.

You are all over the place with your position, one minute you are proclaiming that you are bound by tradition and the next you are saying "No sinsot". You claim the family is rich - OK, what is your rich future father in law giving you and daughter, 1.2+ mil worth of land or just a couple more pigs and some extra bags of rice??

You come across as very very naive or alternatively, just making this stuff up as you go along. By the way, last time I checked, Korat was part of "Isaan". Having kids raised by grandparents is more the case of necessity then choice for most and the case of having kids raised by others is not limited to Isan. Here's an eye opener for you, unless the girl is a known celebrity in Thailand, no matter how rich the girl or her family is, the little Isan girl will be viewed by others as a bargirl when seen in your company outside of her moobaan. When you have a baby and she is in public (with or without you), they will presume that she is the nanny and might ask who the mother is if they bother to engage in conversation.

I liked bangkokburning reply about cash being laid out to buy a cow. Can remember a couple of years ago buying a cow and we just wanted to hand over the cash and go but the guy insisted on putting the mat down, having someone run down the store for a couple of bottles of drink and then having the cash laid out on the mat before he would receive the money.

Dario,

Good for you, the trick is setting yourself apart from the others. Various methods available depending on the locals. Not sure about what value you will get out of the puyai's as you mentioned and doubt it can be openly discussed. I suspect you could achieve the same by just telling them they are V-VIP when they want to cut their rice.

We for the first time ever had to refer a matter to the local puyai. Another machine left a field half cut for whatever reason - something to do with soft soil I think - thai machine as usual. We added an extra 100 baht per rai to finish the cut which was agreed by both husband and wife before we sent a machine over. Come time to pay and the wife no longer wants to pay the agreed rate and wants to pay the same as everyone else. Told no at 3 different levels before sending it to the puyai. She paid the agreed rate at the end of the puyai meeting which was quite short. No special treatment by the puyai, rate was agreed and its was as simple as that because we wouldn't have cut at standard.

This is the first time we've cut in this moobaan and except for another incident of the farmer telling fibs about there being no tree stump in the paddy, its been going well. With that incident, was another first for us in leaving the paddy without finishing. I've drilled into each guy that controls a machine a number of things must be made clear before starting - one of which are questions about tree stumps. I have zero sympathy for someone who "forgets" that they have a stump in their paddy that can cause a huge amount of damage to a machine and it was only drilled in training by the guys working the machine that they spotted it before the machine reached it.

Good luck with it

Dario,

How's your first cut going, will be interesting to hear your experiences.

As way of providing an example of the point I was making above, wife had an interesting discussion with a lady we were collecting money from last night. Her son married and as usual moved over to the news wife's area. FIL gave him a Thai harvester that had been sitting out the last two cuts. Spent some baht getting it up and running agin - new belts, service etc.

Long story short, machine had money spent on it just about everyday to keep it running. Mum is helping the son out to the tune of 40,000 baht being the loss he took on the machine so he can settle the gas bill. The story is that he has returned the machine - but not sure if that means back to the FIL or he has just taken it back and parked it. The maximum he was told by the farmers was 550 baht per rai. His mother wanted to know how we could get what we charged and her son couldn't.

The above is just an example of:

1) Son had no idea what it was costing him to cut until it was too late; and

2) Son was conned about max price he could cut for.

The stupid thing is that he was the only machine in the area. The area isn't that far from us, just a couple of moobaans over. I believe that the cutting price is artificially low, there will be an eventual adjustment but that will depend on how soon these machine owners get a clue. We've had people who have said, too expensive and they will cut by hand. We've done a fair few jobs of cutting half cut paddies - but at that time, the cutting price goes up to make it worthwhile to send the machine over.

That might work in your area, but not here. If outsiders cut for 550 and we offer 600 Baht, MOST of the farmers go and cut for 550. There are enough machines from the central plains and from our own area which/who cut for 550. We have seen this happen last year. The one who "Stand your ground and say X is our cut price" was left out in the cold and made no money compared to all others. Very simple and straight forward.

If you apply the same price like the competition, you might have an edge over others, because you have fast, reliable machines and/or good drivers. Right now, many customers cue up with us to get the next available slot, even while we're cutting at night.

If you have a glut of machines coming into your area all scrambling to cut rice, then what I said won't stand because too many options for the locals. On the second and sometimes third cut of a year in our area, we are faced with machines coming from other areas to get some work and we always cut substantially more rai then the others and we have set the local price. We've had machines under cut us in the past and we tell the locals to go for it and cut with them. I can recall about 4 or 5 occasions where they have regretted that decision. The ones that cut too cheap will stop halfway and take the machine away if its too much trouble or they have a problem with the machine. They always promise to come back to finish but never do and next day the farmer is on our doorstep begging to finish cutting for them While I don't hold a grudge, sometimes our workload means we have to tell them no or they are at the rock bottom of the list which might be too long for them. The locals know full well that if we tell them we will cut, its guaranteed their rice will be cut regardless.

My attitude is to cut at the price that makes it worthwhile to take the risk of sending machines out everyday. The farmer isn't going to pay anymore if the machine goes BANG! in their rice paddy. If we are doing barely more than break even, I'll park the machines and that will be the end of it for the season and let the local mugs cut for nothing when you factor in maintenance and repairs. I know what the line in the sand is for it to be worthwhile or not, a lot of the locals have no idea what their break even costs are. We've had 3 guys this season offer us 1000 baht a rai to come out and cut their rice so I'm not a real believer that 50 baht is a deal breaker, unless of course you have a glut of machines hanging around.

One of the neighbours in our moobaan had a dog who had a tendency out of the blue to snap and bite. Quite a number of local kids had been bitten as the dog use to follow one of his grandkids around when she played with the others. Nothing was done about the dog except that he would lock the gate for a day or two before letting it roam again. The dog use to get out a kill ducks and chickens. This went on for years.

The dog was put in the bucket van and never seen again after it bit their grandchild.

I blame the thai owner in this instance for what appears on all accounts as a failure to take responsibility for his dog and failing the properly train and socialise it with other dogs. Because of those failings, the dog lost its life.

That sounds like a theoretical rate as opposed to the actual cutting rate in field conditions that some would blindly accept rather than question. Remember, time is lost in your first and second circuit of the paddy, unloading, moving to next customer etc. The other thing is that a "day" of cutting can be anywhere from around 7am to midnight. I heard from a worker from one thai boss who would run his machines frequently into the night and as late as 2am if he had rice to cut.

1 x 80 rai or even 2 x 40 rai paddies, yeah it probably is possible but I would have to see it.

Has anyone heard of a rice Harvester producer from Nakhon Pathom with the name of To Charoen? Apparently the fastest machine on the market making 80 rais a day. Can't find anything on the Internet.

Its a common (and frequent) mistake made by people who have no idea what their per rai costs and are worried of others getting work from them. Its common to hear them short changing their workers when they realise how little profit they have made at the end of the season.

Stand your ground and say X is our cut price. We have been more then prepared to park the machines if people think we are too expensive and to date we have always had full seasons where we couldn't cut for everyone. Once the others find out (won't be long) how much you are cutting at and realise people are paying it, they will up their price. The other way the locals trick farmers is to say a low price and when they get to the land find whatever reason to up the price...some rice lies down, long way to bring machine, ground soft, expensive to repair machine etc etc. Other way is they just agree on a fixed rate rather than a per rai rate and some don't realise they are paying more per rai.

The only thing you can do to set yourself apart is to do the right thing by the farmers and make sure your machine does a good job cutting. Just remember like everywhere, there will be some that can't be pleased so its a balance from your perspective.

Edit: Just realised I said basically the same thing in an earlier post...

Instead of going up the price declined, this is due to the too many machines now on the market each wanting to have a piece of the cake. Here it's 550 Baht per rai.

Reminds me of an incident where the workers put cardboard to block the airvents inside the truck cab because it was too cold when driving. Couldn't work out they could:

(a) open the windows;

( adjust the temperature with the red and blue dial.

Farang jumps in the truck and wonders why the aircon isn't working properly to discover....TiT

Why is there plastic blocking the tap, because the spray was getting the worker wet.

No one would tell me that they didn't know how to set the machine, I am a farang and must be stupid, and they are Thai and can not admit they don't know everything.

We are lucky in our area in Yasothon we have a minimum of 2 if not 3 crops a year simply because of water access. The downside of that is land is hard to come by and when it does it gets snapped up quickly. Not all of Issan is a dry barren place, but in saying that, the next moobaan over can only grow once a year.

I would agree with all that has been said above BUT might make a slight difference if we knew which part of the of the North you come from. Most of us here are from Isaan and can only grow one crop of rice a year. If you are in the North but outside Isaan maybe you may be able to grow 2 or even 3 crops a year which could make your idea of mechanisation more interesting.

Short and sweet answer is a big NO

Combine 950,0000 baht

Trailer 60,000 baht

Tractor about 6 to 700,000 baht

There would have to be a shortage of machinery in your area to give you confidence of keeping the machines working all the time. The easy credit with Kubota that's been going on for a while now means everyone is buying a tractor or combine and if they haven't as soon as you come in someone will think its easy money and compete with you.

You can't dip your toes in with what you are thinking, and you will always be buying this or that - mostly gas and parts. Your thoughts of sitting next to a pond fishing and eating mango suggests to me you want a bit of a laid back life, so stay away from machinery. Also you said the land is family land, they won't pay what it costs to have the machines, only part of what it costs for someone else to come in.

Rates differ from place to place but for example:

Rotary about 300 a rai

Harvester around 600 a rai

Hope the above helps and enjoy your fishing. Let someone else work the rice land.

My girlfriends parents told me to buy.....!!??

I have no problem showing appreciation.

How will you feel if they sell it. Just curious. ?

I will give the parents each a 1-baht necklace with specific instructions to never sell them. In addition, I'll require them to wear the necklace every time I visit as a form of respect. My disappointment will be displayed if my rules ever get violated. Furthermore, they will be out of my life. This also goes for my gf/future wife. I've already told them I'm not giving any money. I take care of the "needs." They are on their own with the "wants."

Whatever "gain" you are trying to achieve by giving them the gold will be lost by your conditions of never selling which will be seen as totally unreasonable. Why go there, seems like a waste of time and effort.

If you are trying to set the ground rules, you are off to a bad start already without even realising it.

Thanks for the replies and opinions. I think its a try on by a dodgy two bit law firm and will recommend to her to ignore future correspondence unless its confirmed court documents.

Wife has received a couple of letters from a thai law firm demanding payment for a loan which she entered into with her then employer back in 2004. The loan amount was for 15K baht and was evidenced in writing. This loan was “purchased” from the employer by what I think is this law firm. Putting aside discussion as to why it wasn’t paid, they claim they have the loan agreement but when asked to provide a copy, they have refused to send a copy out (after first saying yes if she sends a copy of her ID and a letter requesting a copy) but now say they can't but she can come look at it in BKK (which isn’t an option at present). Amount they want is 23,050 baht but haven’t set out how they have calculated that amount.

They claim they have now sent everything to the Court but are still happy to discuss a payout which has been offered at 20K baht.

Not knowing how things work in the thai legal system, my questions are:

Something about this tells me they are trying it on because I cannot understand the attitude of refusing to provide a copy of the loan agreement if they are 100% legit. They will have to produce it to the court, so what is the secret? I’m guessing either no copy of the loan agreement or maybe some time limit has passed where they can’t enforce through the courts (Statute of Limitations equivalent?). While she might pay something for this to simply go away, 20K is a bit much for a try on. I suggested she offer 10K but they seem set on 20K. If they have bought this debt (which I presume can be done), I would guess they did so for around 5 - 7.5K baht so 10K seems a reasonable compromise.

Anyone dealt with this sort of situation before?

He could use the gym more often at the joint, but i think he is loaded to buy himself out maybe?

You obviously don't know much about the guy. He won't be buying his way out of it without help from others.

For all those suspecting another bar has had something to do with raid, why rule out people who have an association with the bar itself.

We have received already lots of bookings for the coming season, which is still about 7 months away. I guess for the farmers here to know that we're coming with a brand new machine is very attractive for them.

Yes, they like to use the new machines for a number of practical reasons. There was a rumor going around we were getting another machine and a few people came around wanting to book the new machine.

Price will to some degree be dictated by three factors, the number of machines in the area, the price they are cutting at and what you will cut at. We are currently cutting at 600 and 700 for rice lying down (both up 100 from last season). The first season you will be guided by the average price being charged as you won't know exactly your per rai expenses. My tip to you is don't necessarily believe what farmers are telling you what other machines are cutting per rai. Most thai operators will either state a per rai price and then change it for any number of reasons to do with the land or they will want to see the land and give a price. Don't try to get in a price war or meeting rates which are too low. A lot of thais don't allow maintenance costs in their prices and will jack up their prices after a major breakdown to recover the money.

I've seen the odd farmer say our per rai rate is too expensive and then agree with another machine at a fixed fee which worked out more on a per rai basis (and then I've heard a machine last season cutting the odd land at 320 a rai on a fixed price = crazy). Loyal customers are few and far in thailand, work on the concept that if they use you again, its because you are at the time a better proposition than other operators and NOT because you did them some favour on the last cut you did for them. We tried at the start to have a flat rate (for rice standing up and lying down) to introduce loyalty and it was a waste of time and money. We now just concentrate on doing a clean cut and looking after those who do book our machine in advance. We've lost about 80 rai this season because we wee too busy.

For the next season (7 months) will be be going 650 and 750. We spent too many previous seasons matching other machines cutting rate costing us a lot of profit. Don't let (as we did) fear concern you that no one will use you because you are priced higher. We put the price up this season and everyone followed it. I expect the same in 7 months.

Its simple - tell her you need to sell the current pigs etc to help you fund the purchase of something more expensive (you would be best to know what she will go for). New and more expenses pigs, cows - whatever, so long as she thinks she'll be getting it. Work out roughly what you can sell for now so you get your figures right to work out to be double the price.

As you haven't revealed that you know anything, she won't be suspicious. Even if things are frayed now - you can still sell it by saying you want to start things anew and this is the best opportunity with new livestock that will make even more money (introduce a farang connection if need be so they can't check - supplier of pork to Western hotels who only use a special breed of pig etc but pay double price). She'll happily agree as she will think she is going to end up with more $$ and will be more keen then you to see them going out the front gate. Once you get the $$, you can come up with any number of excuses concerning the delay of whatever it was you were going to purchase and choose your time to exit. The house etc are gone and not worth fighting for at 250K - no reason for her to get everything though. The key is to keep things cool and calculated.

Why do you want Pekins if you want to keep them for egg production? If you want purely egg production, then Campbells are they way to go but they also eat a lot. Muscovys are probably the best all purpose breed you can get and ideal for egg production, brooding and eating when your flock gets too large - all in one duck. Moscovys are also a leaner bird compared to other breeds. I was looking for Pekins years ago as an ideal eating bird, but had problems trying to locate them (have found them now locally). The MIL has Pekins and we keep Muscovies. If you are trying to source ducks, tell the locals you want them for dinner that night - some of them can be a bit funny if they know you want to keep them to breed with etc. If they won't sell you any, its likely they are short in supply which is the case with us now as we sold off about 20 birds and now replenishing. If thats the case, just go to the next moobaan and the next etc and you'll find someone. We are in Issan so can't help you sourcing the Pekins. Just make sure you are paying live weight and not farang prices per duck. If its just a case that you like the look of Pekins over other ducks - then fair enough.