Diary of a farang in Isaan

[owl sees all]

7 minutes ago, Odysseus123 said:

Oh my lord!

 

Yep...Ody starts having flashbacks..T-PTSD..you know.????

 

Best of luck with the eucalypts.My friend at Det Udom had lined his farm with them and they looked splendid.

I wouldn't want anyone (reading the thread) to think I'm bitter about hand bags. No, no, no! Me and Mrs Owl had a serious talk, when I returned, and decided to give twenty away at the yearly temple fair. For some of the ladies in the villages it's their most pricey item.

 

When I first arrived in Isaan, euka plantations were everywhere. Gradually, over the 12 years, these have been destroyed in order to plant rubber trees and to grow sugar. Cassava also; but not so much.

 

I had the idea of splitting the farms into five areas (approx' 13/14 rai each) and growing eukas. The thinking was that each year we would harvest one area. In those days a tonne of euka fetched about 1200 Bhat. And at 70 tonnes per rai, it would give (13 x 70 x 1200) a return of a million Baht or so. I was over-ruled by the all knowing Owl and we planted 2200 rubber trees; which were the future. Also, I grew 35 rai of oil palm; so can't point any fingers.

 

Eucas gradually lost value and about seven years ago were just 450 Bhat a tonne. And rubber had gone through the roof. Hence the rush to grow rubber trees and sugar and cassava. Right now euka is about 1000 Baht sugar has dropped to its knees and rubber is just 25% of what it was.

 

We also have the drought (and government policies) to consider in our area. Really, the drought has been on the go for two seasons; this coming one will be the third. Rice was abysmal last year due to lack of rain. But euka would have weathered this. Hence the rethinking.

 

So,,,, it's onwards and upwards for the eucas at the farm (but only 30 rai). Mrs Owl is already spending the money in her expansive mind. Milly,,,, wants an upgrade to 5G. Me,,,, I just want to survive and have a happy life. Not always easy in LOS.

 

 

[Odysseus123]

3 minutes ago, owl sees all said:

Me,,,, I just want to survive and have a happy life. Not always easy in LOS.

...nor in any other place either..gotta take the rough with the smooth sometimes and i think that your general approach to life (philosophy) is rather brilliant.

 

I guess the farm projects keep you young fit and generally active...a sort of expat Piers the Ploughman.✌️

[Assurancetourix]

9 minutes ago, owl sees all said:

I just want to survive and have a happy life. Not always easy in LOS.

In fact it is very easy when we put the points on the "i" from the beginning of a relationship.

and especially no account joined to the bank !!
Anyway it would be refused to the Sakon Nakhon IO during my annual extensions.
You need a personal account.
I realize that I am poor compared to you ( but I don't care ); which doesn't stop me from always thinking about what I promised you.
We only have 9 rice rai which in fact are not ours but my wife's son.
fortunately this one is sober and does not smoke.
My wife generally buys 1 or 2 national lottery tickets per fortnight and that's all.
Anyway, the monthly budget which has hardly changed for 14 years does not allow any madness.
On my account there are a little more than 10,000 baht while waiting for the 6th of April when my pension will arrive directly from France to my account at the SCB through the French Embassy in Bangkok (I do not pay therefore no transfer fees, which is not negligible even if the sum is modest: around 40,000 baht each month)
I'm like my son in law, I don't drink alcohol or smoke; almost no incidental expenses especially for 3 weeks since I did not leave home during this period of time.

I'm very happy, I live in/with a very good family ; 

I have my mother in law , a brother in law and two sisters in law in the same village ; if I want to see them, i have to visit them ...

we play cards nearly every evening ..

 

[Assurancetourix]

14 minutes ago, Odysseus123 said:

a sort of expat Piers the Ploughman.✌️

I didn't know ; thank you Odysseus

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piers_Plowman

[owl sees all]

14 minutes ago, Assurancetourix said:

In fact it is very easy when we put the points on the "i" from the beginning of a relationship.

and especially no account joined to the bank !!
Anyway it would be refused to the Sakon Nakhon IO during my annual extensions.
You need a personal account.
I realize that I am poor compared to you ( but I don't care ); which doesn't stop me from always thinking about what I promised you.
We only have 9 rice rai which in fact are not ours but my wife's son.
fortunately this one is sober and does not smoke.
My wife generally buys 1 or 2 national lottery tickets per fortnight and that's all.
Anyway, the monthly budget which has hardly changed for 14 years does not allow any madness.
On my account there are a little more than 10,000 baht while waiting for the 6th of April when my pension will arrive directly from France to my account at the SCB through the French Embassy in Bangkok (I do not pay therefore no transfer fees, which is not negligible even if the sum is modest: around 40,000 baht each month)
I'm like my son in law, I don't drink alcohol or smoke; almost no incidental expenses especially for 3 weeks since I did not leave home during this period of time.

I'm very happy, I live in/with a very good family ; 

I have my mother in law , a brother in law and two sisters in law in the same village ; if I want to see them, i have to visit them ...

we play cards nearly every evening ..

 

A treasured memory AT. Very kind.

 

As for the card playing; hope it's not Bridge. Wouldn't want to be visiting you in the monkey.

[Assurancetourix]

3 minutes ago, owl sees all said:

A treasured memory AT. Vey kind.

 

As for the card playing; hope it's not Bridge. Wouldn't want to be visiting you in the monkey.

 

It is a Thai game with 52 cards; the donor begins with himself;
each player has 5 cards and there are several possible combinations; it's pretty funny;
we play with 1 baht coins;

I know to play bridge but I'm not living in Pattaya  , and tarot too;
I did a lot of competitions when I lived in France and the first prizes were very appreciable.

 

 

https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn-s-www.dna.fr%2Fimages%2F2d55eb79-f814-4e5c-a779-82526ef9c046%2FBES_06%2Fillustration-concours-de-tarot_1-1572207972.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dna.fr%2Fpour-sortir%2Floisirs%2FJeu-concours%2FJeux-de-cartes%2FAlsace%2FBas-rhin%2FEntzheim%2F2019%2F11%2F02%2FConcours-de-tarot&tbnid=DHSq4LVcdFxmlM&vet=12ahUKEwiS3OeptLzoAhXZNCsKHV7jCBIQMygCegUIARD9AQ..i&docid=_FjVKpQ0S1j3HM&w=1600&h=1144&q=jeu de tarot&hl=fr&ved=2ahUKEwiS3OeptLzoAhXZNCsKHV7jCBIQMygCegUIARD9AQ#h=1144&imgdii=o3uDWf_aK0P1uM:&vet=12ahUKEwiS3OeptLzoAhXZNCsKHV7jCBIQMygCegUIARD9AQ..i&w=1600

[Kadilo]

Great posts. Reminds me of what I am missing back in the UK. Thai Smile kindly cancelled my flight back to Bangkok from Udon the evening before so i had a hastily arranged 8 hour taxi ride through the night to make sure I got my flight back to London on Tuesday. 
 

I think if I hadn’t got that flight back to London I would of been staying for the foreseeable future which part of me wishes had happened but I still work and I’m not sure they will have been best pleased. 
 

Its like chalk and cheese here re Covid. The measures here mean it’s like being imprisoned and you are allowed out for exercise once a day. People cross the road or move to the side when they see you approaching but tbh it’s dead out there. My folks are on their late 70’s so I’m keeping out of their way and isolating myself in a different room just in case. 

 

I speak to my partner who says life is pretty normal I’m the village. They dont have any returnees as yet by put if they do they have to report to the village chief for monitoring and self isolate.........yeah right. 
 

I’m deemed as a key worker (oil and gas supply) so I have to head back offshore once my 14 day isolation period is over which is a nonsense tbh as I will then have to get on trains, the tube and an aeroplane to get there. Who is to say I won’t get something en route. It’s only a matter of time before  someone gets infected offshore and then the fun will begin. 
 

Anyway enough about me. Look forward to continuing to see what I’m missing. I would usually be back in a month but looks like many more this time due to CV. I hope the numbers stay low wherever you guys are staying    Looks like to Northern regions are relatively safe ...........at this time. Watch out for those pretties returning, usually easy to spot ????

[owl sees all]

6 minutes ago, Kadilo said:

Great posts. Reminds me of what I am missing back in the UK. Thai Smile kindly cancelled my flight back to Bangkok from Udon the evening before so i had a hastily arranged 8 hour taxi ride through the night to make sure I got my flight back to London on Tuesday. 
 

I think if I hadn’t got that flight back to London I would of been staying for the foreseeable future which part of me wishes had happened but I still work and I’m not sure they will have been best pleased. 
 

Its like chalk and cheese here re Covid. The measures here mean it’s like being imprisoned and you are allowed out for exercise once a day. People cross the road or move to the side when they see you approaching but tbh it’s dead out there. My folks are on their late 70’s so I’m keeping out of their way and isolating myself in a different room just in case. 

 

I speak to my partner who says life is pretty normal I’m the village. They dont have any returnees as yet by put if they do they have to report to the village chief for monitoring and self isolate.........yeah right. 
 

I’m deemed as a key worker (oil and gas supply) so I have to head back offshore once my 14 day isolation period is over which is a nonsense tbh as I will then have to get on trains, the tube and an aeroplane to get there. Who is to say I won’t get something en route. It’s only a matter of time before  someone gets infected offshore and then the fun will begin. 
 

Anyway enough about me. Look forward to continuing to see what I’m missing. I would usually be back in a month but looks like many more this time due to CV. I hope the numbers stay low wherever you guys are staying    Looks like to Northern regions are relatively safe ...........at this time. Watch out for those pretties returning, usually easy to spot ????

My sister and her hubby live in Rochford. She emailed me this week to say they had been isolated for 7 days. Her children are in internet contact, and deliver the food to their doorstep (before running away). It seems to be grim in England.

 

I guess John Rogers will not be doing any vid's any time soon.

[faraday]

How much was the taxi from Udon to Bangkok?

[Kadilo]

8 minutes ago, faraday said:

How much was the taxi from Udon to Bangkok?

He charged me 8,000 baht for the return (for my partner). To be honest I would of paid more, I was up the creek without a paddle. I was more concerned that he drove 16 hours without a  sleep. Water off a ducks back it seems. 

[Kadilo]

6 minutes ago, owl sees all said:

My sister and her hubby live in Rochford. She emailed me this week to say they had been isolated for 7 days. Her children are in internet contact, and deliver the food to their doorstep (before running away). It seems to be grim in England.

 

I guess John Rogers will not be doing any vid's any time soon.

I’m just outside Basildon which is starting from a grim position and just got grimmer. I think it’s safe to say you are in the best place. 

[owl sees all]

2 minutes ago, Kadilo said:

I’m just outside Basildon which is starting from a grim position and just got grimmer. I think it’s safe to say you are in the best place. 

You could be right there Kadilo. Especially out in the sticks in Isaan.

 

We will have an abundance of mangoes in a couple of weeks. I think we could live off mangoes and fish for a while, at the farm. Rain should be with us soon, so water would not be a problem. No internet though.

 

My only real concern (apart from the virus) is a financial meltdown and my three pensions being threatened or even suspended; not even sure about the government one. I think my University and Military pensions are iffy under certain, extreme circumstances. Just can't rule out anything.

[Kadilo]

1 minute ago, owl sees all said:

You could be right there Kadilo. Especially out in the sticks in Isaan.

 

We will have an abundance of mangoes in a couple of weeks. I think we could live off mangoes and fish for a while, at the farm. Rain should be with us soon, so water would not be a problem. No internet though.

 

My only real concern (apart from the virus) is a financial meltdown and my three pensions being threatened or even suspended; not even sure about the government one. I think my University and Military pensions are iffy under certain, extreme circumstances. Just can't rule out anything.

The economic fall out from this will be catastrophic. The UK government are (rightly) throwing billions at it but it will all have to be paid for eventually. My current company pension has had 30% wiped off its value in the past month so there goes my retirement plan for a few years. 
 

I hope yours survive but as you say anything’s possible. I am sure there a quite a few retirees out there worried sick. 

[Assurancetourix]

2 hours ago, Kadilo said:

He charged me 8,000 baht for the return (for my partner). To be honest I would of paid more, I was up the creek without a paddle. I was more concerned that he drove 16 hours without a  sleep. Water off a ducks back it seems. 

He didn't take you much ; I would even have thought more;
there are 560 km by road 2;

10 baht per km;

it's 5600 baht for the outward journey and as much for the return that you generally have to pay.

[Kadilo]

13 minutes ago, Assurancetourix said:

He didn't take you much ; I would even have thought more;
there are 560 km by road 2;

10 baht per km;

it's 5600 baht for the outward journey and as much for the return that you generally have to pay.

Yes he had the meter running and was over 6,000 by the time we arrived. He was a nice lad too and considering it was so last minute he done me a massive favour. He was a friend of another guy we use who takes us from Udon up to the village in Beung Kan that’s normally 2,200 baht so I’ve no complaints. I treated him to a grilled chicken and somtam breakfast so he was happy. ????

[Odysseus123]

5 hours ago, owl sees all said:

That is one cracking pic' Ody. Puts my efforts to shame.

Well..Owl..I don't get out much these days, sometimes it is quite hard to raise my noggin off the pillow and my immune system is gone for a burton anyway.

 

But my friends take me out for drives as they know that I love the "golden valley" and so most of the photos are taken from the car.

 

That's what I like about this thread as its about "seeing","being in the moment and enjoying life...the Thai are good at that.

[owl sees all]

7 minutes ago, Odysseus123 said:

Well..Owl..I don't get out much these days, sometimes it is quite hard to raise my noggin off the pillow and my immune system is gone for a burton anyway.

 

But my friends take me out for drives as they know that I love the "golden valley" and so most of the photos are taken from the car.

 

That's what I like about this thread as its about "seeing","being in the moment and enjoying life...the Thai are good at that.

I had a Vititar (have I spelt that right) digital camera some years ago. Best camera I ever had. Small and compact. It just slipped into my pocket. As I had it with me virtually every time I went out I could get those 'special' shots.

 

Dropped it in Laos and it landed right on the corner where the battery hinge was. Never used it again. Don't even know what country it's buried in. My present camera - a 20 year old Minolta Dimage - is far to bulky and by present day standards is not even a good picture taker. The best thing about it is its x40 zoom. When I cut the euka trees and get a bit of dosh I'll invest in a more compact one; like the Vititar.

[Odysseus123]

20 minutes ago, owl sees all said:

I'll invest in a more compact one; like the Vititar.

Yes..I had a rather bulky Panasonic but found that I could not use it with my stick in my left hand so I switched to a Nikkon Coolpix and if I am not sitting in the car I am generally taking pics with one hand..you might notice that there is a bit of a tilt to the left in some photos....ha..ha!

 

Vivitars are good.

The Mun river at dusk.Taken from the bridge at Ubon.

 

[thaibeachlovers]

On 3/28/2020 at 1:09 AM, owl sees all said:

Continuing with M's lessons. Two weeks now and everything seems to be going very well, although we had quite words yesterday over a section of the lesson that she didn't understand, and we wasted half-an-hour 'cause I thought she was following, and she wasn't. I asked her how many times at school, a kiddie would put up his/her hand and say, "Please Miss, could you cover that again, I didn't grasp it." She said "never." Have to tread carefully, the teaching here is so different. 

Sounds like the teaching I had. Mind you we didn't like school and did everything we could to get out of it. Teachers that disliked children and caned too much, and subjects like Latin. No wonder I learned nothing at school, and had to learn everything afterwards.

[thaibeachlovers]

10 hours ago, Odysseus123 said:

.you might notice that there is a bit of a tilt to the left in some photos....ha..ha!

It you are using Windows 10 it has a facility to edit photos including correcting tilt.

 

I do appreciate the photos on this thread. I'm quite envious of anyone that can make it work living in rural Thailand.

[thaibeachlovers]

11 hours ago, owl sees all said:

I had a Vititar (have I spelt that right) digital camera some years ago. Best camera I ever had. Small and compact. It just slipped into my pocket. As I had it with me virtually every time I went out I could get those 'special' shots.

 

Dropped it in Laos and it landed right on the corner where the battery hinge was. Never used it again. Don't even know what country it's buried in. My present camera - a 20 year old Minolta Dimage - is far to bulky and by present day standards is not even a good picture taker. The best thing about it is its x40 zoom. When I cut the euka trees and get a bit of dosh I'll invest in a more compact one; like the Vititar.

Reminds me of the half frame camera I had in the 80s. Super compact and brilliant for those spur of the moment shots. My partner of the time left it in a taxi in Sydney. I was not well pleased. I have a small Sony happy snappy now which produces excellent photos for it's size. I filled up the card, and I'm slowly deleting all the Thai photos on it to take new. Seems that I'm slowly losing my connection to LOS as I do ( and yes, I have saved them to my computer ).

 

I've a box full of old film cameras, most that died for some reason. I never thought I'd convert to digital, but several thousand digital photos later I wouldn't go back. All those photo albums take up so much space. Only thing that worries me is that all my digital photos might just "vanish" into pixel heaven one day, so have invested much in backups, but hoping that technology will not render them as dead as film too.

 

With film, I might have taken one or two pics but with digital I'll take dozens. I've had to upgrade my storage from 500 Gb to 2 Tb. Good luck to any customs official that tries to check my photos, as has happened in the past.

[Odysseus123]

12 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

It you are using Windows 10 it has a facility to edit photos including correcting tilt.

 

I do appreciate the photos on this thread. I'm quite envious of anyone that can make it work living in rural Thailand.

Yeah TBL-but can I correct old photos on Windows 7?

Windows 10 is better but i only started using that this year.

 

[Odysseus123]

Hey Owl..I've been thinking about eucalypts..how's this genuine Aussie one?

\

[Assurancetourix]

2 hours ago, Odysseus123 said:

Yeah TBL-but can I correct old photos on Windows 7?

Windows 10 is better but i only started using that this year.

 

 

Hey Odysseus123 ,

You can correct all your photos with this free software :

I use it since many years ; it's the first one on the list

 

FastStone Image Viewer 7.5 

 

 

"

FastStone Image Viewer 7.5 Freeware (Last Update: 2020-03-10)
An image browser, converter and editor that supports all major graphic formats including BMP, JPEG, JPEG 2000, GIF, PNG, PCX, TIFF, WMF, ICO, TGA and camera raw files. It has a nice array of features such as image viewing, management, comparison, red-eye removal, emailing, resizing, cropping, color adjustments, musical slideshow and much more. "

 

https://www.faststone.org/

[Assurancetourix]

2 hours ago, Odysseus123 said:

Hey Owl..I've been thinking about eucalypts..how's this genuine Aussie one?

\

A huge one; we find sometimes some trees like this one ( huge also ) from time to time at the edge of a red dirt road in the middle of nowhere.
The one you show us in the photo is a regrowth; it is not the original eucalyptus that was cut long ago; when it grows back, it's always with several trunks at ground level

[owl sees all]

3 hours ago, Odysseus123 said:

Hey Owl..I've been thinking about eucalypts..how's this genuine Aussie one?

\

Fantastic!

 

Wouldn't mind a few thousand like that on the farm,

[Assurancetourix]

10 minutes ago, owl sees all said:

Wouldn't mind a few thousand like that on the farm,

I guess it's to sell them.
A Frenchman 10 km from home tried the same thing about fifteen years ago; he planted hundreds of eucalyptus trees on the 400 or 500 rai that his company possessed while thinking of selling them to Double A;
except that the purchase price has constantly dropped;
he finally sold his trees to a guy who broods them and then goes to Bangkok to be burned in thermal power plants.
He's been trying to do what Thai people haven't done for fifteen years.
but he would have to do it behind walls 20 meters high with guards and dogs 24/24.
He still hasn't understood ....
It's his business, his money ...
While he could spend a quiet retirement, go fishing on his boat in Samui ...

[owl sees all]

2 hours ago, Assurancetourix said:

A huge one; we find sometimes some trees like this one ( huge also ) from time to time at the edge of a red dirt road in the middle of nowhere.
The one you show us in the photo is a regrowth; it is not the original eucalyptus that was cut long ago; when it grows back, it's always with several trunks at ground level

The euca regrowth is one of the reasons why I'm going down that road.

 

Normally, I'd avoid cutting down trees for nothing, but these euca trees are so prolific. Can see the difference in growth in just a couple of days.

 

I reckon a euca farm has to be carefully managed. I've watch many vids on YouTube about euca plantations and the ones that seem to do well have a master plan that the managers stick to. I saw one vid' where they cut down every other tree (not sure why), They were the perfect size for the Thai construction industry, But then I thought that the sun would not get to the new growths. I'm on a learning curve with these trees.

 

And to catch your point AT, in your next post, about the price dropping, I have seen a 1200 Baht high and a 450 Baht low; so you are dead right. Fortunately, I don't have to cut at the wrong time; so to speak. Maybe years! Trees might be as big as the one in Ody's pic.

[Odysseus123]

5 hours ago, Assurancetourix said:

 

Hey Odysseus123 ,

You can correct all your photos with this free software :

I use it since many years ; it's the first one on the list

 

FastStone Image Viewer 7.5 

 

 

"

FastStone Image Viewer 7.5 Freeware (Last Update: 2020-03-10)
An image browser, converter and editor that supports all major graphic formats including BMP, JPEG, JPEG 2000, GIF, PNG, PCX, TIFF, WMF, ICO, TGA and camera raw files. It has a nice array of features such as image viewing, management, comparison, red-eye removal, emailing, resizing, cropping, color adjustments, musical slideshow and much more. "

 

https://www.faststone.org/

Asterix*

 

Many thanks!

I have a friend coming over in the next couple of weeks to "tweak" my computer and optimize the little runt-so I will get him to install this...it would be great to correct the tilt.

 

The reason that I have the tilt is that the right leg prosthesis is deliberately built a fraction higher to correct problems with my hip.I do smile when I see photos where I have obviously failed to take this into account.

 

.. off to market...

 

[sotonowl]

Wow, that's took some getting through, great thread though, gutted about the ducklings.Stay safe guys and gals.