Diary Of A Road Trip To Loei...

[MrSquigle]

wow...while I think the 'mystery man' theory is a bit much, I do believe the guy should be left alone.

I mean, a guy searching for you that has never met you, that in person you do not know if he is a freak or not !!

I have met some guys that I befriended via various means over the net, common interests or whatever, while most turn out to be normal guys and several have become very good friends.....a few have turned out to be complete nut jobs and you would never associate with them in normal life, not even for a friendly beer.

Is it true that nobody has met him from TV ? I find that hard to believe, but never really followed it for any reason at all. I remember reading his wife worked for some thai government establishment, so obviously that should have been a perfect starting point for anyone with a disturbing tendancy to track this guy down....if he owed you money or such for whatever reason, then sure go for it, if you had done business with him, or socialised with him, sure go for it.

But for what seems like people who have never met him to go on a road trip of many miles and days to seek him out ?????

What would MF have thought if he had been sitting on his verandah having a quiet beer when some dude rocked up and said "hi, I'm from TV and I tracked you down over the last 5 days and drove 500 k's looking for you and asked every tom dick and harry in every one horse town around here about you".... if I was MF I would have quietly shuffled inside and loaded my shotgun.

I have searched for a missing friend before, but the difference was that he was a friend, many of us looked for him, but he was a friend and we all knew him personally very well. This is completely different for people who have never met him or his family to be continually hunting for him.

Sure, start one concerned thread about him and show your concern there, but multiple threads and a manhunt....it's getting up there into the creepy category.

[bannork]

It always amazed the hel_l out of me how Mf found the not inconsiderable time to make all those lengthy posts, search the web for all the links he posted etc. For a man who was supposedly SOOOOO busy with his massive farming operation, it all never really rang true with me. Did he ever exist? Who the hel_l was he?.......It seems that there were no members who actually met him in person, on the Thai side of the pond at least! ........seemingly, very careful about not giving out his phone number, exact location etc? His wife was supposedly a veterinary professor at KK uni?; common sense would guide me there as a first point of call if I were desperate to locate him, which I'm not. The principal will know in an instant who the female veterinary professor who is married to an american is won't she?How can a farang named Tim who farms 1200 rai has 300 cows etc be so difficult to find in a relatively small province? Answer, because he doesn't exist!? Why would anyone go to the trouble of going to India to buy a second hand feed mill WHEN THERE ARE plenty of the same to buy here in Thailand?.....Nothing adds up!

As I have said before, personally, I cannot understand why anyone would go to such lengths to find someone they had never met personally? Can hardly call him a friend can you?

Don't forget he also said half his earnings came not from farming, but from playing the securities and forex markets around the world!

But if he never existed how can one explain all the incredibly detailed practical advice he gave? It wasn't like he had cut and paste, and then ran. Painstaking practical detail.

The mystery runs on.

Regarding location, when MF was banned temporarily for some unwise comments, I remember the moderator saying his computer's ( is it PP or EP, whatever) showed he was operating in the Loei region

Edited November 5, 2007 by bannork

[MrSquigle]

Stupid view, but up to you...hey that rhymes.

Did not say nobody should care, just don't launch a search party for someone unknown.

I won't lose any sleep over you not driving around in circles looking for me qual.

and check this out, whats good for the goose I guess !!

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?sh...=151815&hl=

Edited November 5, 2007 by MrSquigle

[Boo]

mrsquigle, as others have said, MF was a regular & helpful poster who offered up a lot of personal information about himself & who had dialogue with a lot of posters in pm & on the forum. As an prolific member he is missed & people are curious to his whereabouts.

The link you have given is someone trying to find another person who has not (to our knowledge) posted on thaivisa or offered up personal information & who no one has ever had dialogue with via thaivisa.com & so the topic was closed, but trying to compare the two is like trying to compare cows to monkeys & your not being very succesfull.

[MrSquigle]

A missing person is a missing person...

And yes, MF had several PM's with me about something also and offered to meet up, he came accross as a very charming and helpfull chap, no arguement there.

Point is about a complete stranger hunting you down if you go missing from an internet chat site for awhile.....if you think that is not strange, fine, but I do and I am sure many others would also.

I mean some guys need to get a bit of backbone, he states that he had the wind knocked out of him because some stranger on a website made a exaggerated remark about stalking....really if something like that upsets you then maybe go sit in a dark cupboard somewhere for awhile.

Another guy elswhere got upset with someone because he had had a bad day over on another forum...well, what a life of fun and frevolity these lot lead.

some people i think may benefit from a little lecture from a well known australian academic...

Chopper_HardentheUp..wmv

[bina]

wasnt ramdom chance (his name was misspelled) in contact with him; and didnt some people visit him after his accident?? he is a real person as far as i can tell from his posts;

ramdom chance had a dairy but had to sell up and go back home for a while with family, but i seem to recall he was in contact cause of the farming dairy cow breeds conversation; and i thought that maybe someone HAD mentioned that he MF was sick of the bickering etc on the forum so was 'taking a rest'.. but that might be heresay as my memory might have mixed him with someone else.

or

maybe he suffered serious reprecussions after his accident and went back stateside /hospital??

bina

[ZukiSuzuki]

wasnt ramdom chance (his name was misspelled) in contact with him; and didnt some people visit him after his accident?? he is a real person as far as i can tell from his posts;

ramdom chance had a dairy but had to sell up and go back home for a while with family, but i seem to recall he was in contact cause of the farming dairy cow breeds conversation; and i thought that maybe someone HAD mentioned that he MF was sick of the bickering etc on the forum so was 'taking a rest'.. but that might be heresay as my memory might have mixed him with someone else.

or

maybe he suffered serious reprecussions after his accident and went back stateside /hospital??

bina

I doubt he will be back after all of this, people starting multiple threads about him and then someone driving around the country for days on end asking at farms, post offices, police stations and anywhere else they come accross about him.

[qualtrough]

I really don't see what the big deal is here. A long time forum member known for his informative posts and for being helpful, suddenly drops off the forum giving absolutely no indication that anything is amiss. Some members are concerned, probably fearing something bad may have happened to him, so they are trying to find out where he is. One member even tried to locate him by driving around. So, let's assume the worst case, MF for whatever reason, decided he wants to have nothing further to do with the forum and its members. If someone locates him MF can inform him/her that he wishes to be left alone, and that person can report that fact here. Happy ending for both parties--online friends know that he is OK, and MF is never bothered again. I think it is far more likely that he may have had a health problem or similar and may either no longer be with us or unable to communicate. I hope I am mistaken.

Edited November 5, 2007 by qualtrough

[old wanderer]

Well to put to rest that MF was not a real person.

He has been a guest of mine at my home on several occasion. He invited me to an upscale restaurant and my wife and I had a great meal with him (which included an expensive Merlot wine). His wife was supposed to join us, but was delayed on a flight, so I have never met his wife. I have ridden my Aprilia motorcycle with him on a European registered Ducati, and more meals at restaurants.

So he was more than just a name, he was indeed a friend.

Yes his arm was damaged severely in the accident, and he arrived at my home only 1 week after being released from the hospital.

I used to own a 5000 acre ranch and farm a section of it, and he was knowledgeable about farming.

His apartment in the USA was abandoned, and none of the neighbors had seen him since 2 days after I last saw him on July 1.

We were suppose to hook up in BKK a few days later.....

Personally I fear the worst as nobody walks away from the assets he left behind. He has not just decided not to post anymore.

Knowing other personal details of his life, I am still following up as time allows, but do not care to share the detail on the board.

If I do find anything definitive I will post it here.

[slapout]

Old Wanderer: I am confused, if MF was seen on July 3, was this 2007? If so, is the apartment in the USA? MF made a post the first week in July indicating he was in India and had been for some time. If the dates are correct as I have read them, this is amazing.

[MrSquigle]

Well, there you have it OW looking for a friend, finally someone who actually knows him and is concerned and not some dude racing around the country side looking for internet friends he has never met.

Hope you find him all ok OW.

[Crow Boy]

I have removed a post that was off topic and unnecessary.

Also please be mindful that as much as you would like to find Maize Farmer we must be careful to not disclose personal information ie out him in a public forum.

regards

Crow Boy

Moderating Team

Thai Visa

[percy2]

Hope MF is OK.

I enjoy reading the farming section.

Something I hope to have a bash at in a few years.

Just looking at his profile and his last post and info from OW

He wast last seen in person on Jul 3rd (in USA?)

He last posted from India on Jul 6th

He last logged on to TV Jul 8th the day he was supposed to leave India.

Hope he turns up soon the farming forum is diminished without him and RamdomChances.

Cheers

[fruity]

As I said in an earlier post, seemingly there are no members who have met MF in Thailand? Old Wanderer has ridden expensive motorcycles & drank expensive wine with somebody in the USA who is supposedly the enigmatic MF; but is/was he one in the same? The dates don't add up, when OW met with the supposed MF, according to his posts, he was in India & had been for some time dismantling the old feed mill he'd bought.

A close friend, also a TV member & I were discussing this matter the other day over breakfast, his thoughts were similar to my own i.e. there is no MF, he added that in his opinion MF was some employee / mod from TV who had posed as a member when the farming section was young to get it going a little bit? Lets be honest here, the majority of his imformative posts came straight from the pages of some text book or web site, I always felt little was based on actual hands on experience?

Nothing adds up here & I reitterate what I said earlier; how did such a tremendously busy guy find the time to make all those lengthy posts, search the web for all those links etc?????

Whatever the truth, personally, I think it is time to let the matter drop. If there is a MF, leave him in peace & hope he is alive & well.

[MrSquigle]

If he is a 'mystery man' then someone is going to be extremely embarrassed !!

[percy2]

Looking at one of his old posts his family name is Watkins.

Tim Watkins (or as the Thai's call me - Khun Seri).

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=77439

Shouldn't be too hard to look up.

Cheers

[Acquiesce]

This is the best thread on Thaivisa by a long shot.

It has everything.

[bannork]

As I said in an earlier post, seemingly there are no members who have met MF in Thailand? Old Wanderer has ridden expensive motorcycles & drank expensive wine with somebody in the USA who is supposedly the enigmatic MF; but is/was he one in the same? The dates don't add up, when OW met with the supposed MF, according to his posts, he was in India & had been for some time dismantling the old feed mill he'd bought.

A close friend, also a TV member & I were discussing this matter the other day over breakfast, his thoughts were similar to my own i.e. there is no MF, he added that in his opinion MF was some employee / mod from TV who had posed as a member when the farming section was young to get it going a little bit? Lets be honest here, the majority of his imformative posts came straight from the pages of some text book or web site, I always felt little was based on actual hands on experience?

Nothing adds up here & I reitterate what I said earlier; how did such a tremendously busy guy find the time to make all those lengthy posts, search the web for all those links etc?????

Whatever the truth, personally, I think it is time to let the matter drop. If there is a MF, leave him in peace & hope he is alive & well.

Well if he is\was a creation of TV to liven up the farming forum I wish they'd re-employ him, he was a darn good read.

Random Chances was going to see him for a working tour as it were, but the accident curtailed that, coincidentally or not.

[Old Croc]

the farming forum is diminished without him and RamdomChances.

Cheers

hmmm?

[ZukiSuzuki]

So Ramdomchances seems to have had the most contact with him and he seems to believe that he was just sick of the people on the board.

Personaly I think he's just either taking a break or just got fed up with posting. I know he was fed up with what he percived as the constant bikkering from some members.

I read in another thread that he was susspended by a mod and that made him lose faith in the forum also.

[MrSquigle]

Bickering, banned and stalked....hmmm...wonder if he will return ?

[sbk]

So Ramdomchances seems to have had the most contact with him and he seems to believe that he was just sick of the people on the board.

Personaly I think he's just either taking a break or just got fed up with posting. I know he was fed up with what he percived as the constant bikkering from some members.

I read in another thread that he was susspended by a mod and that made him lose faith in the forum also.

Nope, not true.

May I suggest to some posters that if you don't have anything constructive to add to this thread instead of innuendoes and bs, then say nothing at all?

[fruity]

OK Something constructive........As I said in an earlier post on this subject; a VERY SIMPLE way to put this 'mystery' to bed would be for one of you concerned guys to get your spouse to contact the faculty of veterinary medicine at KK university & ask about / to speak with the lady veterinary professor in residence who is married to an american farang......At a guess, I reckon she doesn't exist either?

Whatever way, this should do the trick!

Vindaloo............lol.....

[ZukiSuzuki]

So Ramdomchances seems to have had the most contact with him and he seems to believe that he was just sick of the people on the board.

Personaly I think he's just either taking a break or just got fed up with posting. I know he was fed up with what he percived as the constant bikkering from some members.

I read in another thread that he was susspended by a mod and that made him lose faith in the forum also.

Nope, not true.

May I suggest to some posters that if you don't have anything constructive to add to this thread instead of innuendoes and bs, then say nothing at all?

What is untrue?

[bannork]

Monday morning my wife and I decided to take a trip from KPP to Loei to see if we could find Maizefarmer. From past posts the closest we figured he'd be was somewhere in or around one of the amphurs near Phu Kradueng. Loaded up the truck, shot a quick note to GaryA we'd be in the area, and off we went east on highway 12 passing through Pitsanalok, Petchabun, Chaiyapum, and Kon Kaen and then north on highway 201 to Loei.

We pulled into the town of Phu Kadueng and stopped at the post office. My wife started asking the questions: Do you know a dairy farmer named Tim? Been here 20 years, somewhere nearby, 300 head of cattle, 1200 rai, from America, etc, etc. The guys said yeh, there's a farmer raising cattle north of here just south of amphur King Nong Hin. We drove to Nong Hin and stopped at the police office and started asking the questions. He walked with us over to the local taxi, sawng teow, fresh market and HE started asking everybody the questions. One of the folks said, "yeh, there's a farang raising beef cattle south of town but he's Japanese, not American, and he only has about 50 head. Why don't you try the dairy north of town?"

Drove about 15km north of town and found a dairy called "Highland Dairy". The place looked vacant but the door was open and we found two men inside. Again the questions and it turns out this dairy produces it's own milk and distributes only to the local schools. It was school mid term so they weren't producing any milk. They suggested we drive to Amphur Erowan where there was a milk collection site where the local dairy farmers dropped off their milk. Looking at the map we decided to head back south to Nong Hin and spend the night. Found a quiet resort with a small lake for B450/night for a bungalow. As we were leaving the next morning the owner invited us for coffee and so we sat and chatted for a bit and my wife gave her the story of our trip. She said, "oh there's an American farmer south east of here in Thambun Poerm."

We headed out east on highway 2141 to T. Poerm. An almost, "one horse town", we stopped at the police box and started the questions. The officer said there were no farangs in town but we should check at Amphur Pha Khao. Drove over to Pha Khao and at the entrance to town there was a very large police station/prison. Went inside and there were at least 20 officers just hanging out as their shift didn't start for another five minutes or so. It was kinda funny when one of the officers looked at his buddy and said "hey, the police should know about a farang that's been here for 20 years?!" But none of them knew Tim. One guy told us there was a farang farmer about 15km east of town. We found the hosue of that farmer and turns out he is a Frenchman and he and his wife are processing rice and exporting to the USA and France but no knowledge of Tim. Found out there was an American another 10 or so klicks east. Yes, and American in the middle of nowhere, with a monstrous house fabricating leather handbags and belts for export to the US. He also had an English language school but he had never heard of Tim. He mentioned another American further east but he was retired and just hanging out.

No luck in Pha Khao so we headed north on highway 2400 to Erowan stopping every so often to ask around about Tim but no luck. When we arrived in Erowan we inquired about the milk collection station and drove west of town a bit to the station. One of the guys told us Tim didn't deliver his milk there but there was another collection site east of town and that Tim dropped off his milk there and those folks would know how to get ahold of him. Oh yeh!! When we arrived at that station there was some discussion and the lady got on the phone. Afterwards she told us to have a seat and that somebody was going to come pick us up. About 15 minutes later a rather large Thai, wearing a cowboy hat, pulls up in a new truck. Turns out the guy is managing a dairy farm for an Australian who lives in Australia. Danm, not Tim's farm.

We head back into the town of Erowan to get some lunch at a restaurant we saw earlier. Two, very drunk, Air Force guys are there and insist I sit and chat with them and the restaurant owner. I'm not very good at getting out of these situations so I sit down for awhile and tell them we're looking for Tim. The owner tells us she knows the guy that flew the helicopter when Tim was airlifted to the hospital after his accident last year. "What's the pilots' name?" I asked. "Don't know but he lives in Phu Kadueng across the street from the vegetarian restaurant on the main highway." After lunch we get back on highway 201 west to Amphur Wang Saphung and then south again to Phu Kadueng.

Spent the night in Nong Hin and Wed morning tried to find the helicopter pilot but no luck. We did find the Poo Yai Ban's wife but again she had never heard of this farang. She said you're going about this all wrong. You need to drive to Koen Kaen and go to the market and ask anybody selling makuas about Tim. Maybe next time I thought. Drove into the town of Phu Kadeung and stopped at the amphur office. The lady in charge got on the phone and had a long talk with somebody. She told us there was a moo baan north of town and just about every country in the world was represented by a luk keuy!! She told us which house to look for to find the person that knew everybody there. We take off headed north again and find the person that knows everybody. No Amercans! Irish, English, French, Japanese, Korean but no Americans. Oh well.

My wife and I just looked at each other and knew it was time to head back home to KPP. We did manage to hook up with GaryA along the way and have to say we really appreciated his and his wife's time and hospitality. Wonderful people. The part of Loei that we saw was beautiful with all the mountains, forests, and waterfalls and the Thai people were wonderful everywhere and nobody hesistated to stop what they were doing and spend some time to talk with us and try to help us out.

Before we started out on this trip I figured how hard can it be to find a farang who's been in Thailand 20 years with 1200 rai, 300 head of dairy cattle, and 20 rai of makua? After three days and 1200kms I figure it's pretty tough. Well, no sign of the Maizefarmer but it was a great trip and a break from the routine.

Attached is a map showing the highways of Loei we travelled highlighted in blue. The map is from "Map Magic" by ThinkNet.

Hope I didn't bore you to much with this little story.

rgds

Somtham, I hate to tell you but I think you went the wrong way from the start. I've just read one of the earliest of MF's posts, on the third or second last page and he says he lives not far from Sam Muang on road 2216 and he's at the base of Pu Kradeung national park which places him on the south west side of Pu Kradeung whilst you were to the east and north.

Looking at the map Sam Muang is on the 2216 which goes south to Nam Nao and north it becomes the 2216 to Dan Sai.

If noone has heard of him in Sam Muang then something is up.

Bannork.

[sbk]

So Ramdomchances seems to have had the most contact with him and he seems to believe that he was just sick of the people on the board.

Personaly I think he's just either taking a break or just got fed up with posting. I know he was fed up with what he percived as the constant bikkering from some members.

I read in another thread that he was susspended by a mod and that made him lose faith in the forum also.

Nope, not true.

May I suggest to some posters that if you don't have anything constructive to add to this thread instead of innuendoes and bs, then say nothing at all?

What is untrue?

MF was not suspended, nor banned nor anything else. He simply stopped posting for reasons unknown. So, your post is untrue.

Personally, given his history and his involvement in this forum, I worry too.

[sbk]

Let me make it clear. MaizeFarmer has not been suspended-- anything that happened happened quite a long time ago so is not relevant to the topic at hand.

[JungleBiker]

Well I will be in Khon Kaen tomorrow (Monday) morning, so if I have a chance I will visit the university and try to find Tim's wife or at least someone who knows her.

JB.

[Somtham]

Well I will be in Khon Kaen tomorrow (Monday) morning, so if I have a chance I will visit the university and try to find Tim's wife or at least someone who knows her.

JB.

JB - you may want to save the trip. My wife and I visited the School of Veterinary Medicine and the School of Animal Husbandry at KKU and there are no profesors there with farang husbands.

The campus is huge at 5,500+ rai. Wonder how many students they have and how good the education is.

Have a safe trip.

rgds

[brahmburgers]

I fully appreciate the effort put forth to locate MF. It makes me wonder if I disappeared suddenly, who would bother rummaging around to see what happened. MF incognitoism smells fishy to me. For such a personable fellow to quit communicating is beyond odd. I hope he didn't go the way of some of the twisted stories that have come thru the grapevine: the US ex-marine who got killed by a Thai neighbor for complaining about irresponsible pesticide spraying. ....or the farang who got knifed due to a dispute about a water rights on his land. I don't want to sound alarmist, but sh1t happens. Let's hope all's well with MF.

Question about travel: I've taken buses between my town of C.Rai and Kon Kaen, and it's 12 hours each way! A big reason for the long duration is the bus goes due south for half the journey, and then goes due east from Phitsanolok. I'd like to do the trip by driving through Loei. A straighter path rather than a giant right angle. Is is plausible to drive that way (perhaps down the along Mekong) or would that route be too twisted and the roads too crumby?