tjeffrutherford

There are three types of visa available on arrival; Business; Entry and Transit. The term "Tourist Visa" is misquoted in the news. Visa on arrival for "Tourist" is only available if it is arranged through travel agencies in advance. (http://www.myanmarvisa.com/ for more details)

Apart from valid passport, photos and fees;

Business visa requires the "letter of invitation from the sponsoring company in the event of first trip of business study" or "copies of company registration/business license/ evidence of permission to do business issued by the ministries concerned together with the application if he is working in Myanmar". Entry visa is granted for the purpose of attending meetings, workshops, events and ceremonies and requires letter of invitation by the ministries concerned. (http://http://www.mip.gov.mm/visaonarrival/ for more details and application form)

Thanks, Zanaka. My travel agent in Chiang Mai tells me the same. It's not quite as easy as all the press, including above, would have us believe. Every option requires documentation. Fortunately, there's a service here that can get me a tourist visa in two days. Cheers

So the difference between a businessman and a tourist is just 10 bucks? We don't need to show any documentation? Does any one have any details on this business? Seems a little too good to be true.

Have any of you guys tried fermenting this stuff for feed? We had good luck adding water hyacinth (and leaves from cassava and mulberry) to the banana silage for the pigs. We layered the stuff with molasses and salt in thick plastic bags in a plastic garbage can for three day and it was ready to go. We then fed it to the animals for a week or so until it was gone and another batch was ready. They say it can keep for weeks, and the protein increases ten times. It worked for the pigs, turkeys and rabbits (with some rice bran and scraps mixed in, plus a handful of maize and rice, sorghum etc when available). This year we'll see if we can get the chickens and fish to eat it to, and try to work out a system to pelletize it.

Sometimes it seems like Nation articles were written by children. The naivete is incredible. I mean that literally: the naivete is not credible. It's like some rhetorical argument, rather than an analysis of a situation. The writer is not trying to help us understand why Yingluck would ignore Daw Suu. The writer just wants to express her disapproval.

That the little sister of some shopkeeper cum tyrant is myopic about foreign affairs is hardly surprising. She was there on a business trip! Why complicate things with politics?

An interesting question is whether the reporter ignored Thaksin's former deals with the junta and their conflict of interest out of ignorance or ... out of what? Must be ignorance. History is not a strong point with Thai journalists. Time began in 2006. But to ignore the linkages between Thaksin's use of the Thai state to cut deals with dictators that benefited his own companies, and his sister/clone's visit to Burma ... that's just outright incompetent.

And another irritating thing is the Thai media's ad nauseum gibberish about how "political conflict in Burma, notably between the government and ethnic minorities, poses a lot of troubles to Thailand." If the conflict ended and people could go home, the Thai economy would tank overnight. The exploitation of Burma's land, people and resources has been a massive boon (and massive bahp) for Thai industry, commerce and consumers (if not its workers). That story is almost never told in the schools or the press, and so the public remains ignorant of it.

B)Hun Sen dosent know real war even if it hit him in the head.

Not strictly true. Hun Sen was blinded in one eye as the Khmer Rouge (to which he belonged) were taking Phnom Penh.

In other words he was literally hit in the head by a real war.

Perhaps before making your next comment you could pick up a book on regional history.

Nice rejoinder!

MADNESS , pure and simple MADNESS .

Actually, it's not madness. It's idiocy and terror and all sorts of other bad stuff, but there's twisted method to all this on both sides.

Hun Sen is a thug and a villain and his entire country knows that. So he has a lot to gain politically by poking Thailand in the eye. He doesn't care if some of his human weapons are destroyed. He has more where they came from.

Abhisit is probably not such a bad little guy, but he's an army stooge and he's doomed. The army has to show that it has capabilities beyond shooting teenagers with slingshots on the streets of Bangkok. This is a great opportunity to "defend the motherland" bla bla and liquidate some military inventory. Armies are always happy to spend education money on more bombs and bullets.

And the yellow sheep with wolves tongues bleat and bleat on Rachadmneon, far from the artillery. And the red sheep with dog mouths wait for their venal savior to return.

And the rest of us keep our heads down and wonder where this all might lead.

My last girlfriend had a habit of beating her own daughter for trivial things, I had to restrain her on a regular basis. She has now left me, a better offer elsewhere, or so she thought. It didn't work out, so she tried to get back with me, well I don't accept such behaviour and have moved on. The new one has also attacked me after getting drunk, I will forgive, just the once, does it again, she is out.

This is a warning to everyone, sweet faces, pretty smile on the outside, dangerous, black hearts on the inside, we are little more than a Ferang with an ATM.

I wonder where you pick your girls...

I never have any physical fights with my Thai wife whom I have known since 1989.

I wouldn't bother wondering too long, eh. You get what you pay for, matey. And for this poor guy, it was a knife in the chest. RIP.

Mr. Purcell go back to Australia and involve yourself of politics there! Don't come back. You are not welcome here by the Thais and us foreigners. You give us a bad name.

Speak for yourself, my royalist-reactionary friend. The jury on all of this, including Purcell's experience, is still way, way out. Read about it in the history books, if you're still cognizant then. Your attitude of "leave me alone on the sidelines with my beer Chang and colostomy bag" is unwelcome. If you have ideas of how to make a positive difference in THIS world NOW -- not your imaginary world WAY back when -- then you should do something about it. No need to respond to this. Turn off your computer, matey, and winch yourself off the couch.

Purcell might be a monster and he might be an angel. How would any of us know? The Nation? The Bangkok Post? TV expert analysis? All we know is everything is changing, and we have, none of us, half a clue of where it's going. Hold onto your armchairs, boys!

And dude, don't try to speak for "the Thais." Like you KNOW about that. You can't even speak for "us"!!!

it's only a very small spill, and storm might take it in the other direction from phuket. Surely ecological damage to the coral rafs around, but not necessarily to the beaches and fishermen.

no need to panic, just authorities should prepare a plan how to contain the spill once the storm easies off. They have time to bring the equipment and the other resources from the other parts of the coast.

Yes, yes. Certainly. Hmph, hmm. Nothing to worry about, I say as I sit on my ass on the bar stool. Just a little coral, some small fish-like creatures. There's WAY too many of them to go around. Sure, the ... what was it again? ... oh, yeah, the authorities ... !! (you virgin, you like arrived in Thailand 20 minutes ago??) will surely be on the job ... yeah, after the storm "easies" off ... and they're done with their drinks and naps and collecting fines. I'm sure they'll be right on it.

"even if the spill hit the coast it might be away from phuket"

Yeah, it might just hit Krabi or Phang-gnan. And f@$% them, eh? Who cares!!??

So ... how many VFWers did you say it takes to screw in a light bulb?

I wonder if anybody out there realizes or even cares how many man hours were spent in the planning of this years 4th of July event . For 11 months retired VFW members from Post 12074 Chiang Mai, worked on their own time to get sponsors, the location, tents, tables, chairs, a band, fireworks, volunteers etc. for an event that would last 6 hours just to make Americans feel at home on this Great American Holiday. Last year the VFW Post lost some 50,000+ Baht to put this event on, and I didn't see any of them complaining because of the loss. This year let's hope we can make a few Baht.

I would have been satisfied if Dave/Dukes, a real patriotic in my books, would have served just hamburgers, hot dogs, beans and potato salad, a real traditional 4th of July lunch.

I didn't see any of the complainers out at the grounds 2 days prior to the event planning where to put up tents, setting up chairs, or tables. What I did see were some dozen plus old VFW members getting the job done and wondering where they could get more tents and chairs. I saw the Thai Army volunteers helping the 2 paid workers I hired out of my own pocket putting up tents, tables and chairs. I never once saw any of the people complaining asking if they could help. Remember, a lot of us Veterans are disabled and old.

To realthaideal, I'm retired Special Effects Hollywood and I've eaten thousands of times off of the catering trucks, and you guys do great jobs, and serve great food, BUT you know how many people you are going to serve, and 1/4 of the crew just eat off of the salad buffet and don't get their food from the truck. (Lunch is normally 30-42 min for crew from the last man through the line.) Give me your number and I'll see that you are included in the planning for next years venue. This isn't Hollywood.

Now, it was an all you can EAT event, NOT all you can take home. I kinda enjoyed making new friends in the chow line, I just wished there was a beercart girl around to help quench my thirst.

Prices for American Beer and hard to get soda ( Dr. Pepper, Squirt, A&W Cream Soda, Mountain Dew ) were extremely low priced compared to anyplace in Thailand, I've paid 250 Baht for an MGD alone in Thailand. 300-350 Baht won't buy me 1 decent sushi plate at Fuji's, let alone all the entertainment, chance at door prizes, free food, free water, new friends and fireworks that were put on. And did any of the VFW members, or their families get in for free or receive free drinks? NO, and that includes ALL the VFW volunteers who worked the event. Amazing, they actually paid to work as volunteers. And some of you are out there complaining, you, like us, had to stand in line for an all you could eat lunch.

I sure didn't see any unhappy kids out here, just a bunch of smiling faces. Kids being kids, teens being teens. How easy we forget how little it takes to be happy.

Trash can were meant for trash, not the tables. Our VFW Commander was out at the grounds at 6 AM on Monday, a Federal holiday, policing the area. Unbelievable.

Ladies, we hear you, I'll see if we can have signs made next year to direct you to the outside western style toilets in the Stadium, that's if the even will be held in the same place.

Instead of complaining about all the things that went wrong or you disliked, offer a helping hand, we don't care what country you're from, come march in our boots.

Member VFW Post 12074

Pointing out gross incompetence and stupidity -- if not outright venality, who knows? -- isn't just people bitching. One shouldn't accept waiting in interminable lines after paying good money. It was kind of funny watching the sheep in queue, but like Mestizo, I felt it made better sense to head to the beer tent (3-minute wait, vs. an hour for food!) to try to anesthetize myself against the stupidity. Unlike Mestizo, I didn't have the tenacity to slog down a dozen or so beers and obliterate the harsh reality of the place. The missus was hard at work getting our money back -- without even needing a direct order from Mr. Grumpy!

But the thing that seems to be lacking from this thread is the question of reckoning. Who is responsible for this, and how do we know that they'll never be given such responsibility again?

Exactly! TV is always going to be mainly full of garbage, packaged around ads. That's the nature of the thing. It's parents letting little kids watch the garbage every night, sitting in front of that stupid box. You can censure the thing all you like and it'll likely just get more vapid and insidious. Just turn it off. <br><br>

<br>yeah , it's the TV's fault not those around her<br>

Are all of you commenting completely clueless? You think any of your calls for "justice" etc are ever in a million years going to happen here? "Bring Thaksin to justice!" Man, you guys live in this country for years and yet know NOTHING!

Doesn't Thailand have an FTA with China? So ... where's all the good Chinese beer in the Thai market? Don't get too excited about all of this. Laws are laws are laws. Beer Chang and Boon Rawd will rule in the end, regardless.

Hi all,

We've had a bit of experience with sunnhemp, or Crotalaria juncea (bor teuang). Have a look at this pdf.

learning_about_Crotalaria_juncea..pdf

I assume you are considering bagasse which is what is left after they squeeze the sugar out of the cane. I've never used it but my sense of it is that there aren't really and nutrients in it and all it will really provide to the soil is carbon and I have never heard of a soil deficient in carbon...carbon is easy to get as it comes with all plant matter. JApplying it as a mulch will suppress weeds and help retain moisture.

I suggest growing sunn hemp as a green manure crop. It is easy to plant, does well on poor soils, needs little water, grows quickly, suppresses weeds, is usually not bothered too much by insects, fixes alot of nitrogen, plows in easily, inhibits nematodes, and attracts bees. Green manuring is one of the best (if not THE best) way to improve soils in large fields.

OOOOOPSS!! I just reread your post and it sounds like the area is landscaped so you might not want to do the green manure thing as it would be more difficult and would not add too much to the aesthetics of the landscaping. If you can get rice straw to use for mulch it will be way better at improving the soil than the bagasse. If you really want to do a serious job of improving the soil then I recommend growing some legume crop (like sunn hemp) on another plot and instead of plowing it in ala green manuring instead you cut it and use it as mulch....this works really really well as it is pound for pound as good as cow manure...you could use the bagasse as a cover for the sunn hemp as the sunn hemp would provide the nitrogen needed to decompose the bagasse.....lot of work but should provide great results.

Chownah

Thanks Jandtaa, though the link you sent on Thai certification helps elaborate my problem. That site has a 2001 copywrite yet it's all still under construction. If you're a consumer, and you want to know who is watching the shop on organics, it's not a terribly reassuring experience.

My informal survey of concerned shoppers suggests that people have absolutely no confidence in organic certification in Thailand. "Who certifies it? The government?!? Ha!"

What I'd be keen to see -- and I ask here for it because I've been unable to find it anywhere and doubt it exists at all -- is a clear synopsis or something about certification in Thailand. There's stuff to read, but it's largely gibberish.

Cheers,

jeff

Hi Jeff

the new link above should help you in regard to organic standards. I won't include the other link as it is neither organic nor tropic specific although there is some very good info there. It will obviously remain clickable in your post and I suggest you add it to the general farming forum.

cheers for now J

Thanks for the lead-off with the links and readings, Jandtaa. I have a couple recommendations and a question.

Purdue University's center for new crops has good info on different crops. And UHDP's Agroforestry Options handbook has a lot of info on species and approaches suitable for Thailand, esp. the north.

http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/

uhpd.org

The question: has anyone ever read anything remotely concise yet authoritative about organic standards in Thailand? If so, please recommend.

It seems to me that my 3 rai green island in a chemical sea wouldn't be able to meet EU standards. Yet it's hard to imagine a farm in Thailand that isn't in the same, er, boat.

Thanks, Jeff

UHDP has indigoferra seeds.

Cheers

Good to see you in the forum Jeff

the ag shop in CR just before ban cheewit mai bakery looks to have recently expanded it's range (could just be the time of year ) and was selling two sizes of rice bean (the larger one was what I call red kidney bean) two sizes of black bean (I chose the smaller of both varieties) as well as soya bean, mung bean and a couple of others I couldn't identify (it was just chance that I noticed on passing and didn't have my list with me !!). they were all selling for 20 baht a kilo and 25 for the larger sized beans. Also had a good range of mushroom spore (thats for a later time) and EM and molasses.Good idea to save seed I hope to be able to do the same ! Haven't tracked down any indigoferra seed as yet considering bringing some back from the UK .

regards Jandtaa

Hi all,

Great thread on green manures, NTFs. Thanks a lot!

On the former, I've had decent luck with the Land Development Department office in Chiang Mai. I showed up out of the blue, speaking broken Thai and asking about green manures. I walked off with a free 50-kg. sack of black beans (my annual allotment for a 3 rai plot). I've done that the last two years. The first year, I broadcast it around the seedlings in my nascent forest farm at the beginning of the rains. Stuff grew like wild, suppressing weeds and, theoretically, fixing nitrogen. I'd go in ever week or so and wack it back with the scythe. The next year I broadcast it in the paddy, but we weren't able to keep out the neighbor's flood and the seedlings all died.

This year, we broadcast baw teuang (sun hemp; Crotalaria juncea) in the paddy, with mixed results. The problem wasn't with the seeds, but with our irrigation skills. We got about 40 percent cover, and we'll get it right next time. The sun hemp grows like crazy in crap soil (e.g. raised paddy soil cum concrete) and little water. We planted it as a pretty yellow boundary line, in the sunnier parts of the forest farm, and in veggie beds as a green rotation. You can wack it back for mulch or compost and it shoots up again. (You need to be careful to not let it get too fibrous.)

We got seeds from both the land development guys (they only had a couple kilos) and the royal project up north of Chiang Dao (who had about the same amount for us). We used that to produce seed (under 90 days) and got enough to plant it all over the place. We also found other sources of seed: a local ag supply shop could get it for 35 baht a kilo, but the CM Uni multi-cropping center would sell it for 15.

Apparently, paddy farmers in Mae Sariang (Mae Hong Son) grow sunhemp as a rotation between dry-season garlic/onions and wet-season rice. They plow it in after a month or so, and don't need to use synthetic fertilizers. Apparently.

--

Jaandta, I'd be interested to hear about your experiences with indigoferra. UHDP grew that on a plot to shade out imperata grass and improve the soil. Seems to have worked. No cogon grass, anyway. And I stumbled upon a UHDP partner in Chiang Dao (Palaung people) who grew a little grove of it in the middle of sloping corn fields. It was brilliant! After four years the soil was rich and loamy and full of organic matter. The soil next door in the corn field was a yellow rocky mess. You can't eat or sell indigoferra, but as a mozaic rotation for upland farmers -- improved-fallowing of knackered land for a few years -- it would seem to have promise.

The Palaung up there have been relay cropping lab lab beans with maize -- with an upland rice rotation thrown in every few years -- on the same sloping fields for 25 years. The yields are decreasing a bit, but they still produce.

Thanks for the great contributions to these really important topics.

Cheers,

Jeff

Hi folks

Recently started collecting seed pods from local legume or NFT's as well as some of the shorter term nitrogen fixers so here's a start (excuse any bad Thai spelling and transliteration as the missus isn't here to check !! also some species have a couple of names )

SENNA SIAMEA - KHI LEK BAN - ขี้เล็กบาน

LEUCAENA LEUCOCEPHALIA - KRATHIN - กระถิน

SESBANIA - KAE BAN - แคบ้าน

GLIRICIDIA - KAE FARANG - แคฟรั่ง

here's some of the shorter term legumes ;

PIDGEON PEA - ถั่วมะแฮะ

LAB-LAB BEAN - ถั่วแปบ/ถั่วแปะยี้

COW PEA - ถั่วพุ่ม

RICE BEAN - ถั่วแป

WHITE HOARY PEA - ครามปา

FLEMINGIA - มะฮะขี้นก

INDIGOFERA - ครามใหญ

cheers Jandtaa

Hi all,

I'd just like to thank Jandtaa for getting this rolling, and to voice my (Thaivisa virgin) support for the sub-forum proposal. I did a lot of reading on the Thai Visa forum before joining up, and it's been really helpful. (You pop up in a lot of my google searches.) Our natural farming project is up and going in Chiang Mai, and I'd be keen to be more involved.

Cheers,

jeff

Hi all,

I'm doing some (action) research on taro growing in Thailand. I've got about three rai just north of Chiang Mai, some paddy, some orchard/gardens. And I'm writing an article for Echo Asia about taro growing. So far this is what I know and have tried:

I've grown two kinds of taro, one an "upland" variety grown by some hilltribes and one the lowland variety grown on dry beds in paddy fields (not in flooded fields like Hawaii). The former grows very vigorously and is okay in shade. Big, pretty leaves; tasty corms. The other did so-so, but definitely not (unfertilized) in the former rice seedbeds. These are called by the locals "pheuak"; เผือก.

There's another variety called "toon"; ตูน. The stalks are eaten in curries (gaeng toon) and as a vegetable with nam prik. Pretty good stuff. It seems to like a bit of shade and well-drained soil.

The other is "born"; บอน. It comes up naturally along the paddy dykes and handles waterlogging.

Does anyone know if these are all Colocasia esculenta? Any ideas about common English names for these?

And any tips on growing taro in northern Thailand? I'd like to try growing in the flooded paddy like they do in the Pacific, but the locals say their variety does poorly that way.

Thanks!

Hi fellow forest gardener,

The Upland Holistic Development Project has been experimenting and promoting a form of complex agroforestry in northern Thailand for more than ten years. They have a very good list of appropriate species, some of which should work in Ubon.

We've been trying some of this out north of Chiang Mai for a couple of years, with some success. We plant things that might bear harvest in 40 years (Asian redwood, etc.), things that yield in a year (cassava, taro, papaya), and everything in between.

You'll have to google these things, because I'm "not allowed to post a url" for some reason.

UHDP

Fair Earth Co. (look at the farm page)

Good luck!