Land Management

[manjara]

I'm turning to this forum in frustration, to see if anyone has any ideas to solve a problem I have, or can recommend the approach I'm thinking of.

Over the years, we have accumulated quite substantial amount of land in the north of Thailand around my wife's village. Some is Chanote, other is just signed from Village Head man.

In total I think it is now around 200 Rai, possibly more.

Most is Rice or Corn land, but some parts are uncleared (maybe about 35 Rai).

Our policy in the past has been to allow the family to use the land, free of charge, in return for giving a proportion of the crop to my mother-in-law (hardly an unreasonable request!)

However, now my wife is crying every night because her family keeps requesting more and more money and there doesn't seem to be much produce coming to her mother at all.

Now she just wants to sell all the land, the pickup, the motorbikes etc, give the family the money and let them sink or swim!

Obviously a simple solution on paper, but...

There is no-one to buy the land, or even the car. Everyone is poor and living month to month.

So, my idea was to manage the land on a more commercial basis and account for the crops produced and the money gained from the sale of them. It should be possible to generate some revenue from 200 Rai, even if it's only 20-30k per month!

My problem is that I don't speak enough Thai to deal with any of my brothers-in-law (there are a couple who are ok) and my wife is too emotional! 

Does anyone know of any Thai land management companies or does anyone feel like a job? (in Lampang province, on the way to Phayao!)

 

[CLW]

Your approach seems to be reasonable. Because once the land and other assets are sold the family will still demand more money. And what then?
There are many factors affecting what or how you could manage the land more efficiently and with some profit.
Has it access to a road, water, electricity etc... Is it levelled and suitable for using a tractor...
Do you have labour available in your family or village...

Did you try to rent it out to someone and use the rent income?

[IsaanAussie]

As a member since 2003 you have obviously had the chance to read many posts dealing with issues similar to your own. From what you have presented I only see one objective for you. Fund the MIL to whatever level you have expected to be done by others, (20-30K per month). Finance anything like the pickup and any other debts directly, and stop feeding the chickens! No is easier to say and involves less facial muscles than yes. The pressure on your wife will be reduced when she explains it is your money and there is no more to give them. Once the dust settles plan the future.

[manjara]

Renting it out is what I'm proposing to do now, but generally people up there don't have money to pay rent up front.

It needs management to get people working the land for a percentage of the crop, ideally you could become a middle-man for all the produce and sell to larger buyers with a greater volume.

There are a lot of ways you can manage a decent amount of land to increase yields and get a better price for the crops. The locals use limited fertilizers and agricultural techniques and they get the lowest farm-gate prices for their crops - partly due to naivety and partly due to lower quality (because of lack of techniques).

If someone had training, a laptop and an internet connection, they could definitely make a big difference.

 

Some of the land is next to a road and electricty (and the Ana Mai - health centre). That would obviously be the easiest to sell, but personally, I'd rather keep all the land, just get it earning something for the family

 

 

[IsaanAussie]

I mean you no disrespect and hope you meet your objectives. But I have to say I think you need a reality check on how things work here. Happy enough to discuss that privately if you care to take it offline. Send me a PM and I will send you a phone number to ring.

 

[kickstart]

CLW beat me to it ,I live in the central plains, I would say half our land would be rented ,so i would try and rent it out if you could get a 2-3 year rent ,with the money up frount .that would be nice.

 But, 200 rie is a lot of land , you say it is in a poor area, may be too much for one person to rent ,you may end up renting only say half ,and you end up farming the other half ,caught between a rock and a hard place .

I would say generating an income of 25 000 baht/month ,not easy as now is almost the end of the farming year ,untill May next year when the rains come ,most rice/ corn farmers would have no income untill then , also 25 000 baht/month, if you could earn that amount ,that would be ,300 000 year ,can not see it with just rice and corn ,on only average land .

Rent the land,if you can ,help MiL, let the rest sink or swim .

[thoongfoned]

buying the land is the "easy" bit, getting a crop or crops that return profit year in year out is the hard bit.

around us the main people that rent large amounts of land are the sugar cane farmers. money paid up front of 1 or 3 or more years, for us its 1,000 baht per rai per year up front, some areas more... depends.... some say 2,000 baht per year, maybe good land/returns for farmer.. around as planting has already begun. cutting of old stock will begin before new years and finish around feb.

if you are not on site all the time and expect returns from the land from family or friends that farm this and that, well you would be lucky.

if you really want to sell the pickup and motorbikes advertise them on facebook or other online classifieds here, or if you are happy to sell cheap then approach the dealers in your area, there is always cash around for cars and land if the price is right......

if you could make 1,000 baht per  rai per year every year from farming the lands that you/family have (profit) not thai profit ie forget the set up cost, running cost, harvesting costs then i would say from what i have seen and experenced that you/family would be doing ok.

might just be cheaper and less stress to just let the family do as they will and only look after your wifes mother.. the land will still be there tomorrow, that is if you have the paper work for it with you and not in the village.