kikoman

Guess my info is too late but I saw molasses at Villa market in Bangkok-Nana 2 days ago ,American and there was a assortment of syrups available.

I am the cake baker in my family, but just plain frosting.

I am impressed at your cake decorating talents.

Cheers:

If you are still looking for molasses, I saw some in Villa's market in Bangkok ,Nana -2 days ago.

Cheers:

Most Mexican Restaurants prices are out of line with it cost for local food plus the overhead.

At those prices ,I will not be going there.

Cheers:

I am off to the Philippines at the end of the week for a week or so, and I started to think. Hamburgers in the Philippines are actually quite good, and the steaks are acceptable as well. What are they doing right that growers in Thailand are not? Both have similar climates.

My guess it's the cooking methods, rather than the beef.

Yes, you are right, the cooking of meat has a lot to do with the final outcome of the quality of the beef!

Cheers:

The Philippines was under the control and occupation of the Spanish from 1521-1898, The Americans invaded and occupied the Philippines from 1898 until the end of the Second World war.

Almost the same story as the history of Texas and the beef production model of the Spanish- later the American beef imports.

Cheers:

I dined there 5 years ago, after it first opened. While the portions were quite large, the Mexican foods was tasteless and expensive.

I only went there after I heard many peoples statements about the Authentic Mexican food served there, I could not eat it and left after sampling the meal, left all of it on the plate, What a great waste of money.

Refried beans are my favorite with flour tortillas, both were not cooked to the taste or even remotely resembled refried beans of my native Mexico.

When one leaves his favorite food almost untouched, It says there is a great difference in the dining preferences of what the Mexican vs non-Mexican consider quality food!

Cheers:

I live in red shirt country, that backed Thaksin programs for the poor, dear to their heart is the medical care program enacted by the Thaksin government.

Thaksin was wise in a political sense, he knew if he supported the poor, who are a majority of the Thai electorate. He would have a solid political base, and he was right in that sense.

The Democratic party is foolish not to act on the needs of Thailand's poor. The poor care not that Thaksin broke Thai political laws and his criminal actions. They cared about what he did for them, be it a deep care for the poor or a political ploy to cement his power base.

I do not discuss political views with my neighbors, I get most of my info from my wife, But Thaksin made an error in aligning himself with Cambodia, which will cost him his pink support.

Look all over the political elections worldwide and the people/poor power candidates are on the move.

Cheers:

I Never forget that ,I am but a visitor in their country. They were right "This is Thailand", If you want to get along you need to be diplomatic with your neighbors.

I have had that problem, my wife went over to ask the neighbor what could be done to alleviate the problem.

The neighbor came out and cleared all the over hanging limbs her self and gave us permission to do it in the future as we agreed with her if any of our actions offended her to talk to us and we will remedy our actions.

That was 3 years ago and no further problems in that area.

Cheers:

I live in a Thai Village, I have a chain link fence around my yard with a big rolling gate, that keeps strangers out.

It is always open to my Thai Neighbors and family, we have a large garden and neighbors and family just come in and help themselves to what food they need? My wife also goes out in to the neighborhood to get some food ,we are no growing. They only take what they need, and it is in small amounts, if we do not have that much of the item they want they leave it and go on to another neighbor that will have it.

They drop by to give us bananas,fish,frogs, vegetables,coconuts etc. as we give them some foods that we have an abundance of.

We always have people in our front Sala, that is the coolest place in the neighborhood, and has 3 hammocks which they use during the real hot days. We set up table and chairs for them to eat on , they always keep the sala neat and clean.

I have good neighbors and friends, who seldom do not want to enter my home when I invite them in for a drink-they would rather stay outside where it is cooler.

If I felt like most of the posters on this thread, I would have stayed in my home country. Where you always have to be aware of your safety.

I feel I am a lucky man to have such caring friends and neighbors

Cheers:

kikoman; Maybe you should read back from the beginning to determine that the girlfriend owns the land (not wife), work permits do not seem to be a requirement for many farang in Thailand (police volunteer, farmers, volunteer teachers etc). Your statement that a "Thai woman married to a farang has no legal right to own land" is not correct. To take offense to someone not doing as they were instructed in this case has nothing to do with centuries of tradition. Most of the advice given on the farming sector has utilized much more than 4 years experience as an observer in the village. Thai law is readily avaliable for you and any one who has a real interest to read and has even been by several TV members. best regards.

I did as you suggested, At the top of the post he refers to his girlfriend owning the land!

In his post dated 11-20 -2009 and 11-21-09 he refers to her in both posts as "My Wife", maybe you should also read back!

Work permits are required for a falang to do any type of work in Thailand. Many people do work without a permit because no one knows they are working. My Statement was if you chose the path of confrontation, someone in the village may report you!

Even volunteers working on the Wave that hit Thailand were required by the authorities to have work permits, until overruled by higher authorities.

When I went with my girl friend to purchase her land at the land office , I was asked to sign a statement ( Which I did) that I had no interest in the land purchase before they allowed her to acquire the land! As you say the law is readily available.

In the last few months there was a statement from the government that any nominee person that purchased land with a falang involved must prove that the funds that the purchase was made with were their own funds, which included wife's and girl friends.

I stand by my opinion , As I stated I am not a legal expert on Thai law. In my 9 years in Thailand, I have read Thai law that applies to my personal situation. Best Regards !

Cheers:

I do not know much about rice farming, but living in a rice farming village for going on 4 years I have seen the amount of labor, that goes into rice farming. Here the farmers harvest two crops of rice per year and know what the cost of their operation is and how much profit they get per Rai/ crop. They do not count in labor cost because it is their way of life.

They spent most of their time in the fields, they sleep at the fields during the time, during the rainy season they have to pump the water out of the fields. They have to include labor cost for out side labor to throw rice seed in the fields at 100 baht for 1/2 day of work.

Before you get to uppity with the tillers of the land and fences and stuff, posters that have given you suggestion on what actions to take . I would look into some legal aspects that may raise their ugly head, who owns the water rights, do you have a work permit, legally a Thai women married to a falang have no legal right to own land in her married name, because , if she passes away, you as her husband may not inherit the land!

I am not a lawyer or well versed on Thai law , I observe many things that happen in my village, including a court case that involved my brother in law that owns land fronting a stream, that was cut off from the water supply because he did not own the water rights. He filed a claim in court and the person that owned the rights had to allow him access to the water, because of a grandfather clause, but the court also ruled that he must pay for the water. Now he has another expense for his crop.

Also Thais in my village buy fish hatch-ling and place them in their fields, at harvest time the rice and fish are harvested at the same time the fish are cooked and included in the harvest offering to Buddha, for the harvest the rest are dried and salted for later use.

Also do not take Thai actions as a personal affront ,It may only be their traditional way of doing things, that have worked for them for centuries.

Again, only my opinion, have no legal knowledge or background in Thai Law,

Good luck!

Cheers:

That is a possibility!

Many people expect a certain taste and tenderness they remember in beef ,back home, thus they are dissatisfied with any beef that does not come up to those standards.

I on occasion buy frozen Thai T-bone , at Makro that are not bad, very tender in some spots ,not so tender in others. But all in all to my taste are very acceptable.

Every one has their own meaning of what they consider good, I guess I do not let it bother me because I do not spend a lot of money on the steak at a high priced restaurant, mine are home cooked.

It does make a difference!

Cheers:

Many Years ago in Mexico -Sonora desert-( house with Cement roof) We placed a 55 gallon drum on the roof,we connected a garden hose inlet to the intake at the top of the drum. we also placed a swamp cooler float valve to control the amount of water in the tank. We connected a outlet pipe an the bottom of the drum and ran the pipe into the bathroom, good water pressure operated on the thermosyphon system.

We later had to connect a cold water line to the shower head to, cool the water down to take a shower in the day or early evening.

The tank also supplied water for dish and clothes washing.

I wanted to set up a like system here, using an enclosed heating box on the roof, PVC pipe connected with Ts and painted black to heat the water connected to a Black plastic drum, here I would want to put a heat control relief valve on top to control the heat build up in the Tank.

My wife likes things the way they are, It still may happen!

I only know three that are truly happy here in Thailand, Those 3 are from the same family, My brother from the Northwest, My Brother from the South and Me from Nakhon Sawan.

One brother had a bad introduction to Thailand, but I am glad to say that was 5 years ago , He since married and he moved to a rural village. I made the best decision of my life in moving to Thailand almost 9 years ago live in a rural village and couldn't be happier!

My Brother in the South passed away 2 years ago after living in Thailand 7 years and had a very good Thai wife!

I know we are/were happy with our lives here in the land of smiles.

Those were very healthy looking calves in that you tube video, I will try to make a stop at the farms if I am ever in the area.

I before the chicken scare was trying, to get my friends some Rock Cornish chickens, that grew to amazing size in a short time vs the little chicken kept by Thai families. I found that Thai farm families were more comfortable with the chicken breed they already had.

I guess that is the same with, the breed of beef they enjoy!

I am happy to see that you addressed issues brought up by your customers, with what I consider logical and valid reasons why ,the situation occurred.

I have long stopped looking for Mexican food in Thailand, As all my experience of dining at those restaurants were all very negative with very bad quality of their food. The next time I am in Bangkok, time permitting I may drop by and try some of your food.

As I live out in the middle of Rural Thailand, all my beef purchases are from a truck that drives through the village selling beef. I have greatly changed my meat preference since coming to Thailand, from the rural port of Puerto Penasco Sonora.

I make my own food at home with ,an Horno and underground pit made to accommodate "Cabeza de Res".

I wish you great success in your Restaurant Taco's and Salsa.

You need to sit her down and explain to her, her drinking is effecting your marriage. Either she stop drinking or you will leave.

You realize that a non Thai cannot buy land in Thailand .if you have a condo you are on better ground, their is no way that you will be able to get the land, period. you can recoup half of the value of the house and personal possessions. Get a lawyer and try to have the property put in the babies name and appoint a Thai guardian to over see the property.

If she does not stop drinking, she does not love you as much as you love her. You will take a financial loss, but get out ASAP.

Good Luck!

Chok Chai beef is supposedly the best in Thailand, so I have heard.

They have their own restaurant chain as well.

Anyone know more about them?

I googled ChokChai farms, They have Chokchai Farm Thailand Forum, Try that!

Quite a few post on steak quality, 25 on one thread.

My favorite is I have a total of 7 tables at my home outside and inside, but when the family gets together ,they put mats on the floor

and eat there! my wife said that is more comfortable with Thais. I go with the flow!

I will not be going there the prices are outrages, Mexican restaurants are not running charities, if those prices reflect reasonable prices ,

by all means go there. I tried to pull up the menu on the website and it won't show.

One thing is a must in running a business is to deliver what your advertisement offers, if you customers can not depend on your word,

Your business will suffer. That is sad ,I heard some good things about you.

You should address this question in person via the forum, anyone can make a mistake, but refusal to addressed directly and positively will

reflect poorly on you.

cheers:

The grass here and the grass abroad isn't the same species.

All these boneheads trying to start mex restaurants have all been newbie chefs without a clue how to cook....How hard can it be to pick up a cookbook.

Not everyone with a little bit of extra cash, can open/ or better said operate a Mexican restaurant ,I agreed with you that one needs to

know how to properly cook the food they attempt to market.Even if you have the best ingredients available but do not have a clue

how to cook it, you will fail.

Someone laughed at a post I wrote to find some stable Thai women and teach them how to make corn tortillas, and slow cook all your

taco meats. Only serve taquitos with hand made corn tortillas and a few sides, beans,rice all kinds of salsas, as is done in Taquitos

Lupitas, in Nogales Sonora Mexico. She always have large crowds in her place and rakes in the pesos.

You do not have to serve every type of Mexican Food but, maintain good quality staff ,Train them properly and pay them more to keep

them with you. Serve good reasonably priced food!

The problem I see with Thia beef that we buy in our upscale supper markets in Thailand is not the beef but the butchers ability to properly prepare the cuts. He take the meaning of butchering to a new level. That same level of butchering can be found in the local village. Thais in general are not great eaters of beef as Westerners are. If you thank beef from Thailand is bad try the beef from Saudi Arabia and they have the worlds largest dairy heard. If properly cooked any piece of leather can be eaten.

You are right Thais , are not great beef eater, two members of my family of 4 will not eat beef.

Thai butchers that sell to Thai customers, will remove all the bone from the meat, as they buy meat not bone, that is another similarity with Mexican butchers.who also remove all the bone if preparing meat for local consumption.

Markets need to retrain butchers in falang markets how to properly make beef cuts.

If you want to cry a bit:

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2008/12...rooms-pano.html

See what you mean ,just wiped a tear from my eye.

The difference between you and I are quite large, as "I Never forget that I am but a visitor to their country" and I respect their Religion and Customs!

same here caf, i totally agree with you.

In the Forum rules it clearly states it is a violation of said rules to change my post in any way to attempt to prove a point. This was done in the post you agreed with.

If you read my post, It states Thais call me Loung Dan (uncle Dan) and in his post he changed the name to Lung Dan.

He referred to my understanding of the inference that my mil calling me Lung.

In a PM he said that mil meant mother-in-law, why did he not use the term mother in law. he also admitted that he use his understanding of Thai and applied that to my post.

I also was called Loung Dan years before I met my wife and mother in law.

All of his assumption were wrong!

Why are you all treated as walking ATMs and my Thai (Rice Farmer) friends after a long days work helping me pour a concrete drive way felt insulted when I offered to pay them. After work I brought drinks and fed them for their neighborly help.

In my village I am the only resident Falang, I treat all Thais the same as visitors to my home from the Village Headman to the town drunk.

He attempted to reroute my Opinion ,that I treat all Thais as equals.

My family that have visited me, have stated what a lucky man ,I am to have such caring Friends and neighbors.

I am a lucky man!