Sheep Farming - Why Not?

[Whatever]

I just wondered if anyone could tell me why they don't farm sheep in Isaan. Lamb is tasty meat, I'm sure there'd be a market for it.

[bina]

already been discussed once:

southern muslem thai eat sheep and goats; all the thai people i know dont touch it with a ten foot pole they claim that sheep and goats stink... i love lamb and goat (i raise them, but not in thailand).... to each his/her own;

i think that sheep are difficult to raise in humid tropic climates unless there is a breed that i dont know about that can deal with the humidity (beduin sheep deal with dry desert heat)...we shear ours every May before the heavy heat...

[Lourens]

I love a good lamb chop now and then but to try and find one is very difficult. The only mutton I could find was at the local farang store in Buriram but at a price. Maybe if there was more demand for it, it would become more available. Now that Thailand and Australia have renewed and improved their relations things might become easier for us mutton chompers.

[RamdomChances]

There is actually some sheep and goat farming in thailand, even up here (central thai) but as bina says most thais wont eat it because they think it smells (even though they have never tried it).

As far as I can tell the meat goes down south and is bought by agents. I've never seen goat or lamb on sale in the markets here, although Macro does stock frozen aussy lamb some times (about 600 bht a leg)

I've often though that there is a speciality market for good quality lamb (the thai lamb is'nt) i.e resteraunts/hotels/deli's in bkk and tourist areas.

Raising them in the heat and humidity would be a challenge, i've also thought about getting a few new born lambs and fatting them up for a few months (baged food and good quality grass). Of course you would have to kill them (or get someone to do it for you), butchering is an other problem as the thais just tend to hack bits off.

I dont know if lambs have to be hung (like beef) before eating, if so that would also be a prob.

Cheers RC

[plachon]

Bina and Random have just about said it all, but I'll add a penn'orth to the basket. Having kept goats in the past, they present no problems in the raising (if done correctly) or the marketing (if you know where to look), but most Thais do turn their noses up at them, even without ever having tasted goat meat/chevon. However, sheep present a new set of problems, being predominant grazers, unlike the drought-tolerant browsing goats, (who will put up with heat, cold and generally take the good times with the bad). Sheep need shearing and as there's no market for wool in Thailand afaik, then your only option would be too dump it, or start a cottage industry with your missus spinning a jenny. Could be quite fun, if you'r into the Good Life (not just Felicity Kendall's knickers), and wanted to pioneer a new industry in LoS. It's not as if Thais, don't love wrapping up to the eyeballs in every piece of clothing in their wardrobe, when the mercury hits 19 C, all of 4 days a year each Dec/Jan! Nowt like a wooly jumper in the morning (if you're from Nz or Wales)!

So, not impossible, but just not the easiest option in the book and you'll be buggered if you can find a source of lambs, this side of Ratchburi (wee tip of where to look for goats and sheep).

[RamdomChances]

Pla, I can actually get lambs here(or used to be able to), and theres lots of goat farming. For the wool it would have to be mittens and slippers, although last year I could of done with a wooly jumper it was regularly geting down to 14 C in the nights.

Come to think of it its getting a bit chilly in the mornings now, time to dig the fleece out.

Cheers RC

[bina]

dont need to hang lamb: slaughter the kosher or islamic way (bleed first, then hack off the pieces) and put on a good wood fire....

mutton , well, no israeli jew or beduin or arab in his right mind will eat it, too old and strong tasting... also, bag fed (concentrated food) lamb doesnt sell well here, most people buy lamb at 17 shekel a kilo live, send it to pasture for an other month to get the 'free range' taste', then light the barbecue...

sheep graze from the ground, and only grass hay types; goats forage every where and make better use of what they eat... they are hardier, more intelligent, can withstand stress from dogs etc... sheep shearing is a major backache and to really shear a flock, you usually rent a person who travels around the country from flock to flock, and he has workers that do mechanical shearing... but wont do it for a few sheep.... i do (did,see below) my sheep, angora goats and alpacas; that is, my thai worker does it better and faster then me, but i had to teach him.

its ramadan here, and my 11 beautiful zoo goats (some worth over 2000 shekels a piece not as meat ), most of them recently bred, two bottle fed pet lambs and one horse were stolen in the middle of the night even with alarm systems and all... and the thieves tied my baby three yr. old camel up with a rope and she strangled herself since she was never trained to stand tied....

any body want to donate some thai buffalo???? too big and heavy to steal

hey RANDOM , my goat came back negative for johnnes disease but only got the results two days after they were stolen.... intensive worming with something , not ivomac, and vitamin b complex shots for two weeks seemed to do the trick just in time for id al fitr (muslem holiday after ramadan)

no offense to any muslems on the forum....

[lingling]

its ramadan here, and my 11 beautiful zoo goats (some worth over 2000 shekels a piece not as meat ), most of them recently bred, two bottle fed pet lambs and one horse were stolen in the middle of the night even with alarm systems and all... and the thieves tied my baby three yr. old camel up with a rope and she strangled herself since she was never trained to stand tied....

Skip the alarm systems - just hang a sign saying something along the lines of:

"هؤلاء غنم قد غُذِّيَتْ بلحم الخنزير الغير مطهوّ ."

(These sheep have been fed with pork meat)

[RamdomChances]

Hi Bina

Really sorry to hear about your animals being stolen.

As you and plachon have said goats are definatly more suited to the enviroment here, I also think "kid" tastes nearly as good as lamb, and a good goat curry takes some beating.

I have'nt seen any sheared sheep here just ones with scraggy mangy fleeces, not shure if they shear them ( but have'nt seen that many anyway).

I had 2 cows already tested positive for johnnes, I did'nt think it was treatable, but could'nt take the risk anyway, so off they went (probably burgers now).

Oh by the way how much is a shekel ??

[udon]

If you like good Oz lamb, speak nicely to Big Bob at The Office in Soi 33 next time yr in BKK and he will give you the location of his supplier around the soi 71 area off Sukh.

It's worth a visit.

Great stuff and very tender.

[lampard10]

I just wondered if anyone could tell me why they don't farm sheep in Isaan. Lamb is tasty meat, I'm sure there'd be a market for it.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

There is an English guy that has a sheep farm just outside Surin. We buy his meat for our restaurant. So it's not just hearsay.

[plachon]

I just wondered if anyone could tell me why they don't farm sheep in Isaan. Lamb is tasty meat, I'm sure there'd be a market for it.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

There is an English guy that has a sheep farm just outside Surin. We buy his meat for our restaurant. So it's not just hearsay.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Any more details Lampard, like village/district or even name, as would be interested to go and have a butchers some time. Might buy a half side of lamb at the same time, if there's any available.

[lampard10]

I just wondered if anyone could tell me why they don't farm sheep in Isaan. Lamb is tasty meat, I'm sure there'd be a market for it.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

There is an English guy that has a sheep farm just outside Surin. We buy his meat for our restaurant. So it's not just hearsay.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Any more details Lampard, like village/district or even name, as would be interested to go and have a butchers some time. Might buy a half side of lamb at the same time, if there's any available.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It's called 'The Siam Sheep Farm' run by Steve Aldington tel; 068759994/016008140 and its in Lamduan about 24 kms from town.

The full address is

Siam Sheep Farm

Baan Chay Crerin M8

T.Trabean Tear

A. Lamduan

Surin

regards martin

[brianbrain]

It's called 'The Siam Sheep Farm'  run by Steve Aldington tel; 068759994/016008140 and its in Lamduan about 24 kms from town.

          The full address is

                Siam Sheep Farm

                    Baan Chay Crerin M8

                          T.Trabean Tear

                              A. Lamduan

                                  Surin

                          regards martin

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I thought farming was a restricted occupation not open to foreigners. No?

[lampard10]

It's called 'The Siam Sheep Farm'  run by Steve Aldington tel; 068759994/016008140 and its in Lamduan about 24 kms from town.

          The full address is

                Siam Sheep Farm

                    Baan Chay Crerin M8

                           T.Trabean Tear

                              A. Lamduan

                                   Surin

                          regards martin

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I thought farming was a restricted occupation not open to foreigners. No?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Not that I've heard. I've just sold our Ostrich farm in Surin, and that was a limited company,with me owning 45% shares. They took too much looking after what with the Pub and all that.

[brianbrain]

It's called 'The Siam Sheep Farm'  run by Steve Aldington tel....

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I thought farming was a restricted occupation not open to foreigners. No?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Not that I've heard. I've just sold our Ostrich farm in Surin, and that was a limited company,with me owning 45% shares. They took too much looking after what with the Pub and all that.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I searched the TV web site and came up with this:

http://www.boi.go.th/thai/business/legal_issues.html

Aliens engaged in work prohibited to them by Royal Decree (see below) shall be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years or to a fine ranging from 2,000 to 100,000 baht, or both.

F. Restricted Occupations

A Royal Decree in 1973 listed 39 occupations and professions that were then prohibited to aliens. This list has been amended on several occasions by subsequent Royal Decrees, the latest one in 1979.

Labor

Work in agriculture, animal breeding, forestry, fishery or general farm supervision ...

The link to a BOI web page (above) did not work so I had a quick search of the BOI web site myself. The only thing I could come up with was this:

http://www.boi.go.th/english/about/eligible_activities.asp

(UNOFFICIAL TRANSLATION)

Based on Board of Investment Announcement

No. 2 / 2543

Types, Sizes and Conditions of Activities Eligible for Promotion

By virtue of Section 16 paragraph 2 of the Investment Promotion Act B.E. 2520, the Board of Investment hereby announces that:

1.  Announcement of the Board of Investment No. 2/2536 dated April 9, 1993 regarding types, sizes and conditions of activities eligible for promotion shall be revoked.

2.  Activities on the list attached to this announcement are eligible for investment promotion.

3.  A minimum level of investment capital (excluding cost of land and working capital) of one million baht shall be required for all types of activities eligible for promotion.

4.  Promoted projects must comply with the conditions specified for each type of activity.

5.  The rights and benefits provided for promoted projects shall be in accordance with Board of Investment Announcement No. 1/2543 regarding policies and criteria for investment promotion, except that which is specified in the list of activities attached to this announcement.

6.  The following activities have been designated as priority activities.

6.1  Agriculture and agricultural products as specified in Section 1 of the Investment Promotion List attached to this Announcement.

Presumably (and this is just a guess) it is okay for foreigners to invest into farming just so long as they aren't seen to be engaged in the daily work.

Anyway, anyone wanting to give sheep farming a go I wish them the best of luck. Before going to uni to study agriculture / land management I spent a year working on sheep farms, mostly clipping rotten feet and correcting prolapsed cervices. Don't let that put you off, I think it's a great idea so long as you can find a market.

[plachon]

It's called 'The Siam Sheep Farm'  run by Steve Aldington tel....

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I thought farming was a restricted occupation not open to foreigners. No?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Not that I've heard. I've just sold our Ostrich farm in Surin, and that was a limited company,with me owning 45% shares. They took too much looking after what with the Pub and all that.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I searched the TV web site and came up with this:

http://www.boi.go.th/thai/business/legal_issues.html

Aliens engaged in work prohibited to them by Royal Decree (see below) shall be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years or to a fine ranging from 2,000 to 100,000 baht, or both.

F. Restricted Occupations

A Royal Decree in 1973 listed 39 occupations and professions that were then prohibited to aliens. This list has been amended on several occasions by subsequent Royal Decrees, the latest one in 1979.

Labor

Work in agriculture, animal breeding, forestry, fishery or general farm supervision ...

The link to a BOI web page (above) did not work so I had a quick search of the BOI web site myself. The only thing I could come up with was this:

http://www.boi.go.th/english/about/eligible_activities.asp

(UNOFFICIAL TRANSLATION)

Based on Board of Investment Announcement

No. 2 / 2543

Types, Sizes and Conditions of Activities Eligible for Promotion

By virtue of Section 16 paragraph 2 of the Investment Promotion Act B.E. 2520, the Board of Investment hereby announces that:

1.  Announcement of the Board of Investment No. 2/2536 dated April 9, 1993 regarding types, sizes and conditions of activities eligible for promotion shall be revoked.

2.  Activities on the list attached to this announcement are eligible for investment promotion.

3.  A minimum level of investment capital (excluding cost of land and working capital) of one million baht shall be required for all types of activities eligible for promotion.

4.  Promoted projects must comply with the conditions specified for each type of activity.

5.  The rights and benefits provided for promoted projects shall be in accordance with Board of Investment Announcement No. 1/2543 regarding policies and criteria for investment promotion, except that which is specified in the list of activities attached to this announcement.

6.  The following activities have been designated as priority activities.

6.1  Agriculture and agricultural products as specified in Section 1 of the Investment Promotion List attached to this Announcement.

Presumably (and this is just a guess) it is okay for foreigners to invest into farming just so long as they aren't seen to be engaged in the daily work.

Anyway, anyone wanting to give sheep farming a go I wish them the best of luck. Before going to uni to study agriculture / land management I spent a year working on sheep farms, mostly clipping rotten feet and correcting prolapsed cervices. Don't let that put you off, I think it's a great idea so long as you can find a market.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

OOOOOOgggh Brian, you wouldn't come and clip me rotten toe nails and push up me Chalfonts wouldya? They're giving me terrible gip just lately, and how much different can a prolapsed cervix be from a bunch of Nobbies? I'd pay you handsomely in Chang, baht and wool and wouldn't tell the Labour Dept., honest.

[udon]

What a bunch of sad bastards we are...... reading about sheep farming in LoS on NYE.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!

[dr_Pat_Pong]

What a bunch of sad bastards we are...... reading about sheep farming in LoS on NYE. 

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL! 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You have been far too long in the shed mate. Happy New Year

[jayenram]

...... animal breeding ..........

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Does that include the Welsh and the Kiwis?

Just a thought

[dr_Pat_Pong]

...... animal breeding ..........

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Does that include the Welsh and the Kiwis?

Just a thought

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It's only a sport to the Welsh and Kiwis,

[aletta]

No sheep here in chilly Khon Kaen but plenty of goats along the roadsides in small flocks.

[bina]

alletta,

can you send me some pics; i collect all info on domestic animals especially goats, and dogs..... when i was in thailand never saw a goat. would like to see what breed etc.... can pm me if you like to know where to send pics if you have any....

(i raise goats, etc)

[aletta]

Hi Bina

Will take my digital camera out with me and try and get some photos for you.All i know is that they are a pygmy variety and are tiny to those in Holland.(maybe 30 cm high)

[bina]

thanx aletta;

[COBBER]

I just wondered if anyone could tell me why they don't farm sheep in Isaan. Lamb is tasty meat, I'm sure there'd be a market for it.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Dear Whatever,

To get the same quality lamb as Welsh, Aussie or NZ you nead European breads of sheep and european grasses for them to graze on. I dont realy think that the heat is a big issue. It can get pretty hot in Australia in the summer. There is some sheep farming in Thailand but this tends to be breeds of sheep that can digest any types of grass and the lamb is not the best quality.

As for marketing i have a lot of bbqs at home and allways have imported lamb chops and the thais just love it. I think if its at an affordable price thais would buy it.Also there are 1 million foreigners here with work permits and many more retirees, visa runners etc. which is a pretty big market.

[aletta]

Cobber is spot on about the price being too high for you average Thai.Really only a luxury item for the farang and associates.

[Huckenfell]

already been discussed once:

southern muslem thai eat sheep and goats; all the thai people i know dont touch it with a ten foot pole they claim that sheep and goats stink... i love lamb and goat (i raise them, but not in thailand).... to each his/her own;

i think that sheep are difficult to raise in humid tropic climates unless there is a breed that i dont know about that can deal with the humidity (beduin sheep deal with dry desert heat)...we shear ours every May before the heavy heat...

Yes , in hot humid wet areas , Sheep suffer badly from footrot

[Nawtilus]

Heat they can handle, heat and humidity they cannot so well.

I can shear a sheep, well I could many years ago, got a bad back now, but sure i could still do one, slow and careful like.

Sheep will also do ok on what they can find to eat, just look at the sheep stations in australia that are not in the green belt. But like any animal, they will do much better on good pasture.

Are there really 1 million expats in los, seems rather a high number.

I have a plan...just call me Sidney...Sidney Kidman of the sheep side of the family.

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Arise Sir Sid