Termites Active In Thailand ?

[pautai]

i have noticed some large holes appearing in some concrete uprights , and there appears to be some critters at work eating away .

is this just harmless ants and poor casting of the sections or possibly termites ?

[penzman]

A good Thai friend ouf ours had us visit his house In Bangkok. I was wondering why the big door frames and furniture was discoloured.

Termites. They have eaten through doorframes , bookshelves,bannisters, underside of the roof outside, bedframes.

I believe the discoloration is from some acid the termites excrete after eating up the wood. You could walk around the house and knock on things and they all sounder hollow. They had also chewed through gypsum in the garage to get inside through pipes leading inside the house.

SO, beware if you start seeing discoloration in some wood around the house and knock here and there to see if anything sounds hollow.

We have a constant come and go of tiny red ants that come inside the house. The usually try and find open packages of food in the cupboards. The also feed on all the bugs that have died inside the ceiling lamp covers. In a few days I will place a few bowls of a sugary mixture around the house and try and see where the nests are when they head back that way. It will be their last meal.

Ants have chewed up concrete and gypsum here as well, get rid of them before they do any further damage to the concrete. You may just see tiny holes on the outside but the uprights may very well be hollow inside now or soon.

My wife says she had the whole underside of the concrete slab sprayed with some anti-termite chemical. Haven't seen a termite, except for the ones with wings that come from somewhere else at night.

[udon]

Poor casting AND concrete critters

There are co's in Thailand who will spray the exterior of your home for these critters once a month.

Not expensive!

Best if your home is slightly elevated to enable good spraying in the nooks and crannies.

Edited February 10, 2005 by udon

[lopburi3]

Termites are a very serious problem here in Thailand. For that last 10 years we have used a spray firm that comes every other month and checks/sprays and have not had further problems. First visit will include drilling holes in cement floors to get under house and in ceilings but after that it becomes a find/destroy before they can establish themselves again. Cost per year is only about 6,000 baht or less so not a major expense.

Warning - they bite like ###### if you want to try to DIY.

[Jai Dee]

Termites are a very serious problem here in Thailand.  For that last 10 years we have used a spray firm that comes every other month and checks/sprays and have not had further problems.  First visit will include drilling holes in cement floors to get under house and in ceilings but after that it becomes a find/destroy before they can establish themselves again.  Cost per year is only about 6,000 baht or less so not a major expense.

Warning - they bite like ###### if you want to try to DIY.

If you've used the same company for the past 10 years they must be pretty good.

What's their name?

And what about new house contruction techniques now? They seem to be putting PVC "termite control" pipes under the concrete slab. Are these perforated to allow filling with chemicals to dissapate under the house?

[lopburi3]

We use a family operation and the same 3 people have shown up, every other month, after calling the day before. Here in Bangkok they advertise via fliers or signs on homes/power poles. But best to find someone in area and find out who they use. Believe most try to work in specific areas if they can.

There are also chain type places but most people we talk with have not had good experiences with them but there are probably good and bad as everywhere. But the owner has more reason to keep customer happy and chains are more likely to be employees.

[jitagon]

I've been told that it is possible to insert chemical carrying pipes into the land which are activated to destroy termites. Is this a very new thing here? Does anyone know how much it costs?

[astral]

There are even villages called Bahn Pluark (Termite Mound) in this country

which must say something.

[Jai Dee]

I've been told that it is possible to insert chemical carrying pipes into the land which are activated to destroy termites. Is this a very new thing here? Does anyone know how much it costs?

I don't know jitagon... I asked the same question.

The developer that is going to be building our house (just outside Pattaya) puts these pipes in as part of the house package. I'd like to know more about it too... like how does it work? what chemical is used? how frequently must you do it? how much does it cost? how effective is it? how dangerous is it? etc................

[buadhai]

In 1980 I built a wooden house here in Saipan, where termites are a huge problem. It is a pole house. All the lumber, including the poles, was treated. I also put CFhlordane in the holes before we sunk the poles. I've never seen any evidence of termite infestation in that house.

Because of environmental and health concerns, neither Chlordane nor the sort of treated lumber I used (copper arsenate) are now available in the US.

Can you still get Chlordane or copper arsenate treated lumber in LOS?

What chemicals are used to treat wood and the soil?

[SamSipEt]

I've been told that it is possible to insert chemical carrying pipes into the land which are activated to destroy termites. Is this a very new thing here? Does anyone know how much it costs?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I don't know jitagon... I asked the same question.

The developer that is going to be building our house (just outside Pattaya) puts these pipes in as part of the house package. I'd like to know more about it too... like how does it work? what chemical is used? how frequently must you do it? how much does it cost? how effective is it? how dangerous is it? etc................

Hopefully your house has now been completed; you have moved in and are living happily and termite free. Can your year or two of experience answer any of the questions posed?

[CBDK]

I have used a product "Sentricon" from company M-seven http:/www.m-seven.co.th which is basically a non-toxic way of fighting the termites. Our house is full of cats and I don't want to poisen them as well. Its a bit expensive - works great. Let me explain:

There are three kinds of termites; the workers (who are the eating guys who bring home the food to the nest), the soldier who stays in the nest and the last is the queen.

Around the house, 3 meter between a station (container) is placed in the ground or drilled into the slab. In this station is a soft piece of good smelling wood that the termites will love. M-Seven drops by every 2 months to check the station. If some wood has been eaten, some poisened even more tasty wood is replaced in the station. The workers eat it (termites always eat the soft wood first) and bring it back into the nest to the soldiers and the queen who then will die and stop making anymore junior-termites! If termites are found, M-Seven stops by every 2 weeks to check and if necessary add additional stations until the termites are gone. No extra charge - in the subscription.

It takes a little while to kill the termites this way (we were badly attacked and it was 2 month before all was gone), but its very ecological and good if you have pets. And you hit the nest rather than just dumping toxid around your garden) But - expensive. 100 tw with a two story house was about 30k baht for 3 years. There are other companies than M-Seven using this product, though I found the service from them not suitable for me.

About new houses. I'm about to build a house now. We had to fill the land and asked M-Seven what to do. They adviced us not to add a pipe under the house as they tend to block after a few years. They told us to bring poisen to the land deep and then continue with the stations when house has finished.

Just before that we had our land filled up. The local contractor added some of his own poisen to the new soil - about 5k baht for 100 tw. Dare I tell you that his kids was running barefooted around afterwards? Then played with their aquarie fish who died the next day. So did their dog!!! Scary stuff that poisen - scary contractor!!

Anyway, just before we added the lower concrete beams M-Seven came to spray in ground (with a long tube). For only about 120 sqm the charged almost 20 k (!) but garantied the poisen would work for 5 years and that if we continued with the Sentricon system we should be safe for always.

Hope above can help...

i have noticed some large holes appearing in some concrete uprights , and there appears to be some critters at work eating away .

is this just harmless ants and poor casting of the sections or possibly termites ?

[chownah]

Termites eating concrete? Hard to swallow. Links?

Chownah

[Loom]

The treated wood you're talking about looks greenish when new, I believe. I built a deck using it 20 years ago in the US. Wood is still in good condition.

Building a deck in Thailand and requested pressure treated wood. It's the same green colored stuff: available and apparently used by most of the resorts in our area.

From what I understand there's a moderate risk if you're actually working with the material (probably if you eat the sawdust), but the risk from everyday exposure isn't so great that the EPA is recommending removing treated wood structures.

In 1980 I built a wooden house here in Saipan, where termites are a huge problem. It is a pole house. All the lumber, including the poles, was treated. I also put CFhlordane in the holes before we sunk the poles. I've never seen any evidence of termite infestation in that house.

Because of environmental and health concerns, neither Chlordane nor the sort of treated lumber I used (copper arsenate) are now available in the US.

Can you still get Chlordane or copper arsenate treated lumber in LOS?

What chemicals are used to treat wood and the soil?

[singa-traz]

I've been told that it is possible to insert chemical carrying pipes into the land which are activated to destroy termites. Is this a very new thing here? Does anyone know how much it costs?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I don't know jitagon... I asked the same question.

The developer that is going to be building our house (just outside Pattaya) puts these pipes in as part of the house package. I'd like to know more about it too... like how does it work? what chemical is used? how frequently must you do it? how much does it cost? how effective is it? how dangerous is it? etc................

The pipe will be below your house, and can be accessed on the side/back of your house, to fill in the chemical.

Spread every 6 months (I think).

Here is a picture of the pipe:

http://new.photos.yahoo.com/zagpower/album...803743505664/18

[Lost in LOS]

Termites eating concrete? Hard to swallow. Links?

Chownah

I am a us builder and in hawaii they spray the earth beneath the slab before pouring. yes the termites will eat a hole up through the concrete, no links, just experience. i sprayed the treatment under the slab of my new house being built

[chownah]

From: http://www.aces.edu/pubs/docs/A/ANR-1035/

Formosan subterranean termites have also been known to attack (but not eat) non-cellulose material such as thin sheets of soft metal (lead or copper), asphalt, plaster, mortar, creosote, rubber, and plastic in search of food and moisture. However, their highly publicized ability to chew through concrete is a fallacy. Instead of chewing through the concrete, Formosan subterranean termites are uncanny in finding small cracks in concrete that they use as foraging routes.

[Bredbury Blue]

They're certainly active in my Land & Houses mooban in Samut Prakarn. Our house is 3 yrs old and like many here has had constant attacks - and we employ a monthly pest control company.

For the past 10 days life has been miserable as we're having most of our downstairs ceilings renewed and having to live upstairs because of the little buggers eating the plasterboard!

Think we'll be trying sentricon - its good is it? Any contact numbers in BKK anybody?

[Silurian]

I went to a home/trade show and found several termite control vendors.

Here are two for Sentricon.

M Factors: 02-941-4860

M-Seven: 02-321-6440-1, 02-721-1720-1

After going to the show, it gets more confusing what product/service to use. Of course everyone says they are the best.

[Bredbury Blue]

Had Sentricon visit today - costs about baht 600 x the linear metre length around your house in the 1st year and half that every year after.

Edited February 3, 2007 by Bredbury Blue

[frenchFARANGbkk]

Hello,

Are termites a risk for laminate floor in condo ?

Thanks.

[lopburi3]

We have used a local spray firm for the last 10 years and no termites since. First visit did full treatment including bore holes to reach underground but has not been required since. Spray every other month and contract is 5,000 per year. Well worth the price as after 25 years house had enough to hear them eating away.

[frodo]

We have used a local spray firm for the last 10 years and no termites since. First visit did full treatment including bore holes to reach underground but has not been required since. Spray every other month and contract is 5,000 per year. Well worth the price as after 25 years house had enough to hear them eating away.

What is the name of this company, or any other for that matter? I've recently discovered many termite mud tunnels in my home. Didn't notice until I had moved a few items in my storage room, and I am shocked at the damage they have already caused

[metisdead]

I've been using Advance Service for the past 7 years, 5K baht/year. Every year on renewal of contract they re-open the holes bored on first visit and pump new fluid and re-close the holes. Monthly visit by a technician. No termites since.

www.ads.co.th

[frodo]

Thanks for that! Only 5K baht a year? I will definitely look them up.

Thanks again.

[Cuban]

>Warning - they bite like ###### if you want to try to DIY.

This is true - they left a selection of little pus filled spots on my leg recently !

[PorYai1]

I live in ChaAm. Does anybody have the name of a Termit control company nearby? Thanks

[PETERTHEEATER]

I live in ChaAm. Does anybody have the name of a Termit control company nearby? Thanks

http://www.termitesdiy.com/thailand.html#

[longway]

Has anyone used this company? Was it effective?

Nanoherb English page

They claim to be to get rid of termites using herbs to disrupt their digestion, and say that no poison or drilling is required. I would like to use them as I have a termite infestation in my spa, and want to avoid using poison if at all possible for obvious reasons.

Cheers.

[longway]

In case anyone is in the same situation, we have decided to go with a company called M7, using the Sentricon system. We made the decision after my gf talked to a representative from the Thai pest control asscociation.

Thai PMA

I can't really vouch for their neutrality, but they did seem to give good advice.