What is this and how to get rid of?

[Saraburi121]

Found this in the bathroom coming through the grout, not sure what it is or how to get rid of it.  Some sort of insect nest?  Hired someone who did a terrible job on the grout. Bathroom is two years old. Going to redo it myself. We live in a rural area but no one can tell me what it is.

[thaitom]

Termites ?

[stubuzz]

Termite tubes.

 

[bkk6060]

Termites.

They can do some serious damage if you do not get rid of them.

[Stocky]

Termite gallery.

That'll be expensive.

[tonray]

Yeah...termites...you need soil treatments immediately and thorough inspection by professionals to see of they have displaced any part of the foundation of thr house. 

[Saraburi121]

Any recommendation on a pest control company that serves Saraburi?

[recom273]

34 minutes ago, tonray said:

Yeah...termites...you need soil treatments immediately and thorough inspection by professionals to see of they have displaced any part of the foundation of thr house. 

Not too expensive - seems like every cowboy is in on it down our way.

 

You can pay 5K for one visit or 10K for a 3 year contract. 
 

[Saraburi121]

Found a place in Korat that has good reviews on google, live in very northern Saraburi so not far away.  Termites are crazy here.  When it rains we watch the bats eat them as they come out of the ground.  Be nice if they could get rid of the scorpions too, find a couple a week in the house.  

[tonray]

17 minutes ago, recom273 said:

Not too expensive - seems like every cowboy is in on it down our way.

 

You can pay 5K for one visit or 10K for a 3 year contract. 
 

We pay 4K for annual contract. Quarterly visits, inspection plus chemical treatment. If only we could get rid of the snails...millions if them, destroy most garden efforts.

[recom273]

12 minutes ago, Saraburi121 said:

Found a place in Korat that has good reviews on google, live in very northern Saraburi so not far away.  Termites are crazy here.  When it rains we watch the bats eat them as they come out of the ground.  Be nice if they could get rid of the scorpions too, find a couple a week in the house.  

Yeah, the stuff they use is pretty lethal - you won’t see any living creature for a few weeks, geckos, roaches, whatever.

 

[recom273]

Just now, tonray said:

We pay 4K for annual contract. Quarterly visits, inspection plus chemical treatment. If only we could get rid of the snails...millions if them, destroy most garden efforts.

That’s a good price. Our landlord squeaks when he walks - so he just paid for one visit and prolly got rinsed.

These clowns came around and drilled holes in the walls and floors and used a pressure washer to jet into the ground or into the walls. Then smashed holes in the ceiling and covered them with white gaffs tape, like we wouldn’t notice.

 

The house was also built with termite piping underneath, I would be looking to see what is the best way of building something into our new place with an eye to keep them at bay.

 

[Saraburi121]

7 minutes ago, tonray said:

We pay 4K for annual contract. Quarterly visits, inspection plus chemical treatment. If only we could get rid of the snails...millions if them, destroy most garden efforts.

Had the problem in our garden when we lived in Hawaii with snails.  Put out pellets to no avail.  Some of the snails carried Rat Lungworm disease so wash veggies thoroughly.  Read some snails in Thailand carry the same disease.  Fortunately we don't have very many here.  

[Saraburi121]

The company I found is called Rentokil.  No price list though.  They have branches all over Thailand and the website looked professional. 

[Saraburi121]

Man I hope this does not turn into one of those mounds I saw visiting Darwin NT Australia a few years ago.  Great visit by the way. 

[Stocky]

On 6/15/2021 at 8:23 PM, recom273 said:

Not too expensive - seems like every cowboy is in on it down our way.

 

You can pay 5K for one visit or 10K for a 3 year contract. 
 

Seems I paid over the odds then. The property we bought in Hat Yai came with termites, something we hadn't realised when we bought it. Only became apparent a few months later when galleries started appearing in two rooms on the ground floor. When they broke the wall into the services shaft they found a large termite mound.

 

We used a company called Advance Systems, and it cost me 20k to deal with the existing infestation plus a 3 year follow-up. They put in feeding stations near the galleries, with a bait called 'Requiem' (honestly) which contains a very low level of a cumulative poison. After three months feeding on this stuff the baits were left untouched, enough poison had accumulated to kill the nest. After that they drilled holes in the floor and pumped some nasty stuff down to form a ring around the property. They repeated this annually the next three years. Their monthly visits revealed no further activity, and we've had no problems since. 

 

.

 

Edited June 17, 2021 by Stocky

[recom273]

33 minutes ago, Stocky said:

Seems I paid over the odds then. The property we bought in Hat Yai came with termites, something we hadn't realised when we bought it. Only became apparent a few months later when galleries started appearing in two rooms on the ground floor. When they broke the wall into the services shaft they found a large termite mound.

 

We used a company called Advance Systems, and it cost me 20k to deal with the existing infestation plus a 3 year follow-up. They put in feeding stations near the galleries, with a bait called 'Requiem' (honestly) which contains a very low level of a cumulative poison. After three months feeding on this stuff the baits were left untouched, enough poison had accumulated to kill the nest. After that they drilled holes in the floor and pumped some nasty stuff down to form a ring around the property. They repeated this annually the next three years. Their monthly visits revealed no further activity, and we've had no problems since. 

 

.

 

 

Not too sure tbh ..

 

Like I say, every cowboy is in on it in Hat Yai, the guys that came to names were John, butch and Sundance.

 

They came with nothing but a long drill bit (blunt), a big C pressure washer with some kind of disposable end cap, and a big blue barrel. One guy, just told the other what to do, one guy relayed this to the young guy who did all the work.

 

We called him before and asked if we should move stuff in advance, no problem, they would do it - expecting some kind of professional service like rent-to-kill. we didn't. They didn't move any furniture they just drilled holes where they had access and filled with plaster filler.

 

Looking back it could have been a disaster - after they drilled the hole and pushed the pressure washer into the hole, the young pulled the trigger and turned blue with the pressure he was putting to stop the lance from bucking out of the hole and covering the room.

 

Then they came to the ceiling - no screwdriver to remove the recessed lights - so they found one of mine (that was the last I ever saw of it) and they started to pull out dining chairs to stand upon until I yelled and gave them a set of treads.

 

Next they went around the place smashing holes in the ceiling and spraying into the void, then one guy cut up white gaffa tape and covered the holes, like I wouldn't notice ???

 

I went upstairs and the guy was already standing on the banister, hanging from the edge of a skylight in the stair well. One slip and there would have been 2 broken legs at the bottom of the stairs. When the guy had finished spraying, the guy swung backwards and the other guy pulled him his feet to the banister while the plasterboard ceiling was taking all his weight. HSE would have had a field day.

 

From watching a YouTube DIY video, the poison is quite readily and cheaply available, but highly carcinogenic  (I bought some by mistake to treat aphids) When they left they poured the remains of the barrel over my rock garden and drove off. 

 

Honestly, It was the biggest circus act that I have ever seen in Thailand .. the landlord organized it, there wasn't a lot I could have done apart from slung them out. Luckily there was no damage to my kit.

 

You can find no end of contractors stickers on lamp posts around the city. 

 

The only other work I can compare it to is the drains unblocked, one guy has a dyno-rod and comes with his wife and daughter and offers a real professional service for 1500B per blockage. They put down dust sheets, the guy is totally equipped for every blockage, we thought we were getting the same kind of service with the termites. I should leave you his number before we move if you ever need him.

 

 

[chalawaan]

So are these houses built of wood out in the provinces, or do these termites eat brickwork and mortar?

[NCC1701A]

On 6/15/2021 at 7:21 PM, Saraburi121 said:

not sure what it is or how to get rid of it.

my first trip to Thailand. 

 

termites love cardboard. 

[holy cow cm]

Over the years and even occasionally now we get some inside the house. So when it rains or trickles and even on a non rainy day when dark comes we look at the light posts outside to see if they are out. If they are we turn off all the bright lights in the house and pull every drape shut. they will only be around for an hour or couple of hours and then disappear to somewhere. But in any case it is almost impossible to always keep them out of the house. If we do get them in the house then I zap them with the electric racket and quickly kill and pick them up before they crawl into eat your house away.

[holy cow cm]

15 minutes ago, chalawaan said:

So are these houses built of wood out in the provinces, or do these termites eat brickwork and mortar?

Hard hard wood they don't touch, but they nest in any door mold jam or crevice in your house and eat your furniture. They love particle board things.

[chalawaan]

Just now, holy cow cm said:

Hard hard wood they don't touch, but they nest in any door mold jam or crevice in your house and eat your furniture. They love particle board things.

Thanks, I'm seeing tiny ants upstairs now, so having those wooden door jambs, bannisters,etc, it might be best to pre-emptively get some poison arranged, I'm thinking from the earlier posts, this could be a job worth DIY. 

 

I did a lot of manual stuff earlier myself (except electrical) but I am slowing down now, though I think I could manage a pressure gun with some good PPE.

[holy cow cm]

11 minutes ago, chalawaan said:

Thanks, I'm seeing tiny ants upstairs now, so having those wooden door jambs, bannisters,etc, it might be best to pre-emptively get some poison arranged, I'm thinking from the earlier posts, this could be a job worth DIY. 

 

I did a lot of manual stuff earlier myself (except electrical) but I am slowing down now, though I think I could manage a pressure gun with some good PPE.

Door jams, wood molding, banister where they set in at the bottom and most stuff you wouldn't think they go into an munch on they will. You will eventually see the mound pop out of a crevice or it will look like little excrement adobe like flakes. Not much to do except spray can with a tube and squirt into the hole many times. For termites you probably should look under and at the backs of certain furniture pieces every so often before its too late.

 

Ants will do the same in your wood cupboards in the crevasses and live in any small hole in the cement. You can see they also eat away wood and glue and spit it out. They also like to make homes in the electrical boxes. ants are a full time job and each variety has their own pain in da <deleted> ways about them. 

[Stocky]

2 hours ago, recom273 said:

They came with nothing but a long drill bit (blunt), a big C pressure washer with some kind of disposable end cap, and a big blue barrel. One guy, just told the other what to do, one guy relayed this to the young guy who did all the work.

OK, so we got the professionals, they came to look at the property first, explained the procedure, gave us some brochures from the US company that manufactures the bait, quoted me a price and we signed a contract.

 

When the pest control guys turned up they came in a van with a company logo on the outside and had matching colour overalls in orange and blue with a company logo, they were even on time. They were neat and tidy and explained exactly what they were doing and why. So no complaints.

[Stocky]

1 hour ago, chalawaan said:

So are these houses built of wood out in the provinces

No, we have a 4 storey shophouse unit, concrete and brick construction, but they go after anything in the house made out of softwood, chipboard, wood fibre etc.

[Surelynot]

Clicked on the title and was expecting to see a photo of the wife or mother in law.

[Excel]

9 minutes ago, Surelynot said:

Clicked on the title and was expecting to see a photo of the wife or mother in law.

I have had 4 MILs previously and  they are all buried ???????? plus the current one   . That's cruel but just said for a cheap laugh and to be honest I loved all of them bar the 1st who shared her broomstick with her daughter. 

Edited June 17, 2021 by Excel

[mrbojangles]

On 6/17/2021 at 10:55 AM, Stocky said:

Seems I paid over the odds then. 

 

Difficult to tell. We paid 18k up in Chaiyaphum only 4 months ago. The wife said someone in the village could do it but I wanted a proper job from a proper Termite company with warranty etc and not a "pop up cowboy". Paying 18k now can save you 100's of k later as these buggers destroy everything. I wasn't up in the village at the time but the wife was and she was well impressed with what they did and they followed up a few weeks ago.

[Dr B]

It may be worth noting that there are basically two types of product. One is "nasty" chemical made from the flower pyrethrum. One taste and the termite is dead, but only if they taste it. I think Chaindrite uses this, and I bought some in Queensland a couple of years ago. Any termites which avoid tasting it survive. I think this is what they inject into pipes buried undernetah a property, usually annually.

The other involves using bait to get the termites to a location, usually buried in a protective ring around the property. If the termites get the bait, observed by their tunnels over the top of the wood, then a harmless-to-humans chemical is added which is a growth inhibitor. This does not kill them, so they take the food back to the nest and share it. It prevents their shells from hardening, which means that when they shed their skins next they cannot eat. This kills the whole nest, including the Queen, which is supposed to be good for 7 or 8 years. There is at least one company in Phuket offering this service, so probably more elsewhere. I brought my baits from Queensland, another termite centre.