Diary of a farang in Isaan

[Kadilo]

4 hours ago, owl sees all said:

 

 

I think you are probably correct GT. Skullduggery is still alive and kicking in the house.

Didn’t take them long to find the perpetrator of the cctv footage. 
 

 

 

[owl sees all]

Owl Log - 29-06-2021 - Tuesday evening.

 

I think Mrs Owl got too excited with her electric cutter, and wounded Mildred's fish bowl. I'll try and find the hole, and plug it. The water Lilly is OK though. Be good to see it filled again and full of pink cat-fish.

 

 

The schools are off again. So Wow is coming to the farm with us.

 

 

He has got to be the worst fish feeder in Isaan. It should go into the water Wow. Yes you! In the Barcelona shirt. No good hiding.

 

 

This was at the week end. Very heavy cloud for hours. No rain of course.

 

 

They are not dying. A week or so now and they are hanging in there. If they do take, they can replace the few - and fortunately it is just a few - that have gone brown bread in the euca plantation.

 

 

We have a tree that is giving lots of fruit. Don't know what the fruit is called. Milly and her mum like it. I prefer a raw carrot????.

 

 

The pipe replacement team are almost at the crossroads. The trench is awaiting.

 

 

Have to move that lamp-post guys.

 

 

Looks a mess, but it's only for a few weeks. The same team that dig the trench also put it all back together so it's not particularly fast. Six in the team; all told.

 

 

 

That's no way to treat a pick-axe.

 

 

The generator is started. That gives juice to the machine that heats the hot-plate.

 

 

 

All very technical.

 

The hotplate goes between the two pipes that are to be joined. When they have melted, the two pipes are pressed together and fusion occurs. Very high-tech stuff. Good to see, Soon be out of the third world.

 

 

Nang's shop in the village had a make-over. Far more appealing now. Soon see the Lao Khow crew congregating.

 

 

Water off in the village again. That's three rimes in the last ten days. The water bore is at 70 metres; although I don't know how deep the pump lies.

 

Ordered a branch lopper from Lazada. Just over 300 baht. Should be with me tomorrow, or next day. Also bought a curved chog-chog in Ban Dung today. Going to put a nice bamboo handle on it tomorrow.

 

The 'spider grass' in number four farm is overpowering. I was dealing with it by using the euca secateurs/pruners to cut them low down, but it's too slow and there is just too much. They are also a spiteful plant. Been ripping my legs to bits. So by the end of the week I'll be armed with a lopper, a chog-chog, my pruners, a litre of water and the camera. Pics next Owl Log.

 

Schools off for another couple of weeks. I didn't know. Mildred didn't know, and we wandered round to the road to get the bus on Monday. No-one there. A couple of people shouted out. The penny dropped. Never mind.

 

I'm not unhappy about it. Going to do 'zoom' teaching for two hours every day this coming month. Went to Mildred's school this afternoon to get her books.

 

Had food in Big C this afternoon. 160 Baht (with bottle of water). Only four tables occupied in the eating area. All the vendors are independent and are suffering; big time. As are the markets. Thursday market, just outside Ban Dung, not been on this month.

 

Massive turn-out in London on Saturday. Saw the helecopter pics. Impressive numbers. Will it make any difference? Saw one banner; Nuremberg awaits you; Johnson. Whitty, Vallence, Hancock. Not enough room on the board to put Blair.

 

George Galloway is trying to woo the voters in Batley and Spen. I think it's gonna be close. Conservatives or Worker's Party for the win. I'm sure Labour's vote is gonna collapse. Thursday the first of July for the vote. Also on that day Alex Belfield is back in court in his fight against Notts' Police and the BBC.. Good luck to the pair of them.

 

Germany watch out. We might not have Michael Owen any more, but we have Grealish (hope he starts).

 

Mildred has not helped me in the farm recently; trimming the eucas. She blames the mozzies. She has a point. I get a dozen bites every time. But just little weals. Nothing much. Soon go. I know how to deal with them now. When they are on the skin, helping themselves to a drop of red-stuff. Just scare them so they buzz off. Not good to whack them, cause the little sucking-tube is in the skin. It breaks off and leads to irritation.

 

Water still off. Still no rain. Dear me.

 

Only one thing left to say; bye y'all.

Edited June 29, 2021 by owl sees all

[FarFlungFalang]

10 hours ago, owl sees all said:

That's three rimes in the last ten days.

This old man he played three

He played nick nack on my knee 

With a nick nack paddy wack

Give a dog a bone 

This old man came rolling home!

That's a rhyme with three.

[owl sees all]

11 minutes ago, FarFlungFalang said:

This old man he played three

He played nick nack on my knee 

With a nick nack paddy wack

Give a dog a bone 

This old man came rolling home!

That's a rhyme with three.

'R' and 'T' are next to each other on my keyboard.

 

Mrs Owl must have walked past at that very moment. Got me excited; or scared. Can't remember the exact occasion.

[FarFlungFalang]

14 minutes ago, owl sees all said:

'R' and 'T' are next to each other on my keyboard.

 

Mrs Owl must have walked past at that very moment. Got me excited; or scared. Can't remember the exact occasion.

I know mister Owl that you cannot contain your continued excitement for Mrs Owl but you really must learn to contain yourself.My keyboard has a busted "N" since I grabbed one of the cats that walked on my keyboard, of course the cats claws came out and hooked onto the "N" and detached it and now it's not formed it's previous level of attachment of functional performance and is now a hit or miss problem for me forcing a continual revision process which is a real PIA!

I also knew it was a typo but I couldn't resist the opportunity to recite one of my favourite rimes.(typo intentional).

Edited June 30, 2021 by FarFlungFalang

[CharlieH]

Do you have a "strimmer" or "brush-cutter" Mr Owl ?

 

This little fella might come in handy too.....

 

 

https://s.lazada.co.th/s.3EURW

 

 

[owl sees all]

42 minutes ago, CharlieH said:

Do you have a "strimmer" or "brush-cutter" Mr Owl ?

 

This little fella might come in handy too.....

 

 

https://s.lazada.co.th/s.3EURW

 

 

Looks great Chaz. Two batteries too.

 

I've ordered one.

[Bredbury Blue]

Had a walk around the grounds of my son's Uni yesterday while killing time waiting him. Came across this monitor lizard having a nap in the bushes a metre or so from the footpath. Hard to see him at first, well camouflaged. This is probably the closest I've been to one to take a snap. Didn't wake him/her.

 

I was googling just the other day where do they sleep? Do they have a nest or what? Turns out they make long burrows. There's a type in Oz that makes a helical burrow down several metres.

 

Look at the claws on it. Looks like a monster from a 60s Dr Who.

 

 

[JetsetBkk]

18 minutes ago, Bredbury Blue said:

Look at the claws on it.

 

Not so useful on ceramic tiles:

 

[owl sees all]

35 minutes ago, Bredbury Blue said:

Had a walk around the grounds of my son's Uni yesterday while killing time waiting him. Came across this monitor lizard having a nap in the bushes a metre or so from the footpath. Hard to see him at first, well camouflaged. This is probably the closest I've been to one to take a snap. Didn't wake him/her.

 

I was googling just the other day where do they sleep? Do they have a nest or what? Turns out they make long burrows. There's a type in Oz that makes a helical burrow down several metres.

 

Look at the claws on it. Looks like a monster from a 60s Dr Who.

 

 

 

There are quite a few over at Kham Chanod. Some big ones too.

 

We (me and Mrs Owl) gave them 10 healthy cats a while back. I've not been back there for about 18 months.

 

There are also a couple in a big cage in Ban Dung.

 

Edited June 30, 2021 by owl sees all

[HighPriority]

Spotted this guy in Bangkok in 2018, 2m+ is my guess. 

 

Edited June 30, 2021 by HighPriority
Size matters… ????

[Bredbury Blue]

7 minutes ago, HighPriority said:

Spotted this guy in Bangkok in 2018, 2m+ is my guess. 

 

 

They really do look like crocs when they swim.

 

I live right next to a khlong and fields so they're a real regular visitor to our garden. At some point every year we'll have a tiddler residing in our drains in the garden...they don't venture far from the grid then scarper back in to the grid when bothered.

[FarFlungFalang]

5 hours ago, Bredbury Blue said:

Had a walk around the grounds of my son's Uni yesterday while killing time waiting him. Came across this monitor lizard having a nap in the bushes a metre or so from the footpath. Hard to see him at first, well camouflaged. This is probably the closest I've been to one to take a snap. Didn't wake him/her.

 

I was googling just the other day where do they sleep? Do they have a nest or what? Turns out they make long burrows. There's a type in Oz that makes a helical burrow down several metres.

 

Look at the claws on it. Looks like a monster from a 60s Dr Who.

 

 

We call them Goannas, we used to have regular visitors of up to 1.5 meters eating the chop bones my Mother use to toss to them on the Central Coast NSW.

[GarryP]

21 hours ago, owl sees all said:

 

We have a tree that is giving lots of fruit. Don't know what the fruit is called. Milly and her mum like it. I prefer a raw carrot????.

 

 

Knew the name in Thai (kratorn (hor)) but had no idea in English so googled it. Apparently, they are called santol fruit or cotton fruit, aka wild mangosteen. Not really my thing, when it comes to fruit. However, the Thai name sticks with me because when I first came to Thailand many years ago, a young lady whose bed I sometimes shared, gave me the nickname kraton (hor). She claimed it was because my blond hair and fair skin reminded her of this fruit.  She was probably lying and there was some hidden meaning, but I was naïve and if that was all I had to put up with for a bit of fun between the sheets, it was fine by me. Luckily, when we lost touch the name disappeared. At least until Mr. Owl unintentionally reminded me of my "roots".   

[owl sees all]

2 hours ago, HighPriority said:

Spotted this guy in Bangkok in 2018, 2m+ is my guess. 

 

 

In Bangkok.

 

 

 

Also spotted this monster. Destroying buildings at will.

 

 

 

 

[Bredbury Blue]

16 minutes ago, owl sees all said:

 

In Bangkok.

 

 

 

Also spotted this monster. Destroying buildings at will.

 

 

 

 

 

After years of driving past the 3 headed elephant, about 3 years back the wife and i visited. The outside of the chang is very discoloured and not so beautiful but inside it is spectacular. Gardens are lovely too. What impressed me the most was how they constructed it and the exhibition of the working drawings. Easy to get to on the BTS (chang erawan station). Deceased owner is the man who built The Sanctuary of Truth (another spectacular building worth a visit) and Ancient Siam.

 

[owl sees all]

10 minutes ago, Bredbury Blue said:

 

After years of driving past the 3 headed elephant, about 3 years back the wife and i visited. The outside of the chang is very discoloured and not so beautiful but inside it is spectacular. Gardens are lovely too. What impressed me the most was how they constructed it and the exhibition of the working drawings. Easy to get to on the BTS (chang erawan station). Deceased owner is the man who built The Sanctuary of Truth (another spectacular building worth a visit) and Ancient Siam.

 

My pic was taken 12 years ago. So it's still there?

 

Didn't know it had three heads.

[Bredbury Blue]

14 minutes ago, owl sees all said:

My pic was taken 12 years ago. So it's still there?

 

Didn't know it had three heads.

 

Still there and has a BTS named after it.

 

 

[Mutt Daeng]

On 6/30/2021 at 8:55 AM, CharlieH said:

Do you have a "strimmer" or "brush-cutter" Mr Owl ?

 

This little fella might come in handy too.....

 

 

https://s.lazada.co.th/s.3EURW

 

 

Have you got one of these @CharlieH?

I'm slightly confused by the description of the saw. It says max cutting diameter is 60mm, but later says it takes 10 seconds to cut a 15cm diameter log. If it's limited to 60mm then it's no good for what I want, but if it CAN cut a 15cm log, then I will buy one. Also, it doesn't seem to have an oil tank/reservoir to lubricate the blade. Does this mean the blade doesn't need lubricating? Any clarification would be greatly appreciated. Presumably, the battery life is round about 30 mins?

[CharlieH]

13 minutes ago, Mutt Daeng said:

Have you got one of these @CharlieH?

I'm slightly confused by the description of the saw. It says max cutting diameter is 60mm, but later says it takes 10 seconds to cut a 15cm diameter log. If it's limited to 60mm then it's no good for what I want, but if it CAN cut a 15cm log, then I will buy one. Also, it doesn't seem to have an oil tank/reservoir to lubricate the blade. Does this mean the blade doesn't need lubricating? Any clarification would be greatly appreciated. Presumably, the battery life is round about 30 mins?

Respectfully suggest you look/search youtube as there are many to watch and will answer your questions better from a visual point.

Apparently, no you do not need to lubricate the chain.

Yes larger things can be cut but not in a single pass, its only a 4 inch bar on that model.

[owl sees all]

14 minutes ago, Mutt Daeng said:

Have you got one of these @CharlieH?

I'm slightly confused by the description of the saw. It says max cutting diameter is 60mm, but later says it takes 10 seconds to cut a 15cm diameter log. If it's limited to 60mm then it's no good for what I want, but if it CAN cut a 15cm log, then I will buy one. Also, it doesn't seem to have an oil tank/reservoir to lubricate the blade. Does this mean the blade doesn't need lubricating? Any clarification would be greatly appreciated. Presumably, the battery life is round about 30 mins?

 

There are lots of this type of electric cutter on the market. They range from 800 baht to 4000 baht. The one that CharlieH pointed to seems to be very good value for money.

 

I've ordered one from Lazada and it should be with me this week. I'll give it a good workout on the plantation and report back.

 

As they say; watch this space.

 

[Mutt Daeng]

1 hour ago, CharlieH said:

Respectfully suggest you look/search youtube as there are many to watch and will answer your questions better from a visual point.

Apparently, no you do not need to lubricate the chain.

Yes larger things can be cut but not in a single pass, its only a 4 inch bar on that model.

I'm quite happy to do "due diligence" on YouTube etc, but the reason I asked you is that I would much rather have advice from someone knowledgeable who already has the item. Thanks for the lube/cut info.

[Mutt Daeng]

1 hour ago, owl sees all said:

 

There are lots of this type of electric cutter on the market. They range from 800 baht to 4000 baht. The one that CharlieH pointed to seems to be very good value for money.

 

I've ordered one from Lazada and it should be with me this week. I'll give it a good workout on the plantation and report back.

 

As they say; watch this space.

 

In the UK, I had a cheap mains electric chainsaw (from B&Q) which did the job, but the lubricating oil used to leak. When I came to live here I bought a chinese manufactured 2 stroke petrol chainsaw from a local H/W shop, which was more hassle than it was worth, so I eventually gave it away.

I've been looking around for a while on Lazada. The problem with Lazada (IMHO) is that the item descriptions can be inaccurate, mistranslated or even lies. I have also read about fake reviews done by some sellers to boost their ratings.

Also reviews of incomplete/wrong items being sent are quite common.

IMHO, there is an element of luck when shopping on Lazada.

All that aside, I look forward to your report. Thanks.

[JetsetBkk]

For  a time I thought monitors lived up trees because that's where I first saw one - at the top of Monkey Hill in Phuket Town:

 

 

[Golden Triangle]

Don't know what the weather is doing in you guys neck of the woods but down here on the Darkside of Pattaya it hissed it down at 05.30hrs this morning, woke me up, albeit not for long  ????lasted over an hour I think.

Edited July 2, 2021 by Golden Triangle

[GarryP]

17 hours ago, JetsetBkk said:

For  a time I thought monitors lived up trees because that's where I first saw one - at the top of Monkey Hill in Phuket Town:

 

 

 

Thee are water monitors, tree monitors and government monitors in Thailand. 

[HighPriority]

Geez !!

Charlies gone ballistic with the spring cleaning !!

[owl sees all]

3 hours ago, Golden Triangle said:

Don't know what the weather is doing in you guys neck of the woods but down here on the Darkside of Pattaya it hissed it down at 05.30hrs this morning, woke me up, albeit not for long  ????lasted over an hour I think.

 

The weather up here is an absolute disgrace. It's supposed to be the wet season. I've a good mind to report it to Thai Trading Standards.

 

Have to bear in mind that the little hill between Pattaya and Jomtiem (where the metal letters are) is a mountain to us. To find a hill as high as that I'd have to travel 80 Km.

 

No rain to speak of for over three weeks.

[chickenslegs]

On 7/2/2021 at 8:11 PM, owl sees all said:

The weather up here is an absolute disgrace. It's supposed to be the wet season. I've a good mind to report it to Thai Trading Standards.

You need one of those giant phalluses (or is it Phalli?)

https://aseannow.com/topic/1220343-it-actually-worked-chachoengsao-locals-report-rainfall-after-phallus-erected-in-road/

[owl sees all]

7 hours ago, chickenslegs said:

You need one of those giant phalluses (or is it Phalli?)

https://aseannow.com/topic/1220343-it-actually-worked-chachoengsao-locals-report-rainfall-after-phallus-erected-in-road/

 

Well we need something. Perhaps if the farmers prayed to the rain-god more. Or drunk 10% more Lao Khow. Or get one of those meat and two veg things.  like in the pic.

 

Wasn't this year supposed to be an incredibly wet one? I'm sure some government department said that.