Termite Control

[grin]

Our property had the initial ground treatment before the house was built. Then a termite reticulation system of PCV pipes was installed at ground level before the foundation and floors were laid. There are 6 pipes for filling the system rising above the ground around the perimeter of the house. The system was first filled with chlorpyrifos almost exactly a year ago. During this year we have had no problem with ants but now we seem to have a major invasion of at least three different kind of ants. The ants are everywhere, even in rooms that we don't use and that have never had any food in them. This leads me to wonder if the chlorpyrifos was also controlling the ants.

In any case I think it may be time to fill up the system with pesticide again. The area that is protected is about 100 square meters. I have researched this and called several pest control companies here. I have read or been told that you need to refill the system every 3 or 4 months, once a year, once every 2 years, and once every 3 years. Also the prices ranged anywhere from 500 Baht per application to 15,000 Baht.

So this leads to a bunch of questions:

Does chlorpyrifos kill ants in addition to termites? I.e. does the appearance of ants indicate that it is time to refill?

Is chlorpyrifos the right pesticide to use for termites or is something less toxic available?

How often should the system be refilled and what is a reasonable price for a refill?

Should we do any ground treatment around the perimeter when we do the refill?

Can someone recommend a reliable pest control company in Chiang Mai?

[surayu]

Ok, let's start a plan for the battlefield as far as i know, ants are unable to cross the water, so if you can manage to create a water barrier all around your property and exterminate the ones that are already inside, you should be fine after, for snakes it's a bit more tricky as they can swim and climb vertical walls as well, i hope you win

Edit: ooooppss sorry, just realize it's termites and not simple ants, so they can fly too ...i guess you have to stick with some sort of chemicals then

Edited December 24, 2010 by surayu

[Pib]

Some info that might be helpful: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/371218-termite-protection/page__view__findpost__p__3680039

[juehoe]

[...] snakes it's a bit more tricky as they can swim and climb vertical walls as well

I heard that snakes have problems to cross tiled pathways - but I don't have any experience, yet.

[Pib]

[...] snakes it's a bit more tricky as they can swim and climb vertical walls as well

I heard that snakes have problems to cross tiled pathways - but I don't have any experience, yet.

I'll have to tell that to the next snake I see going across a tiled surface...that is, if they will slow down long enough for me to tell them. Seriously, I've seen snakes go across tile floors just as if they are on the ground.

[Pib]

Googling will give a variety of longevity estimates/tests for termiticides like cholorpyrifos and the longevity is greatly impacted by the type of soil. The longevity estimates I saw from googling went all the way up to 11 years, but most seem to indicate that after 5 years termiticides killing power has significantly decreased in some types of soil and you may be pushing your luck. Personally I would retreat through the PVC pipes every 3 years for termites.

Cholorpyrifos will kill ants, but I expect most of your ants are not coming from under the foundation where the termiticide was applied. I expect the great majority of ants are coming from just below the surface anywhere around your house, from nearby plants/trees (ants love to live in tropical type trees), from under nearby landscaping, crevices in your home's structure, possibly any gray water drain/sewer around your home, etc. Treatment for ants requires regular outside spraying around the house, some lite spot spraying in the house, and keeping food products sealed up tight---the later food requirement may be the most important...ants can smell a bread crumb a mile away. And after doing all of this you will still have ants in the house occasionally--going after some food--because this is the tropics!

[grin]

Pib, thanks for the link and info. I have been googling quite a bit on Imidacloprid, Fipronil, and Chlorpyrifos. I did see that Chlorpyrifos does kill ants by contact and that it was even used in indoor foggers available commercially in the US until they figured out it might not be such a good idea for babies to be crawling around on carpets inundated with Chlorpyrifos.

The reason that I think that the ants are coming from under the house is that previously there were always trails to the outdoors through cracks in the doors and windows and now the trails originate in cracks in the interior of the house. We have been quite good at keeping all food in ant proof containers and cleaning up crumbs from countertops and floors.

When the Chlorpyrifos was applied I did not see what the solution strength was. Also by looking at my house plans I see that the largest PVC pipe zone is about twice the area of the smallest PVC pipe zone and the guy applying the pesticide had no way of knowing this. He just pumped the pesticide in for about the same amount of time in each area.

I like the idea of doing this myself as I can put appropriate amounts in each area. I started looking for the three pesticides today in the usual places in Chiang Mai but found no sources so far. Global House here only has something called Solignum Soilguard which seems to be termite protection for wood in contact with the earth. If I can find something that only has to be applied once every three years I would be quite happy.

[Pib]

Both the HomePro I most visit here in western Bangkok on Ratchapruek Road and Global House in Nakhorn Pathom have the Premise 200 SC in the 1500-1600 Baht range. I know that don't do you any good in Chiang Mai, but I just wanted to indicate I do see Premise 200 SC carried in some HomePro's and the Global store I visit most often. Good luck in tracking some down.

[wpcoe]

The only way I finally got rid of the streams of ants into my condo was with granules that come in small round tins. The ants carry the granules to their nest and kill the entire colony there. However, I know there are different types of granules and based on a recommendation I read here on thaivisa.com, I finally got the right granules. However, I can't recall which was the effective type and am starting to see some ants again and want to repeat the treatment. Anybody remember the best brand/type of granules?

[bankruatsteve]

I have the pvc pipe under the house and I religiously pump in the chemical once a year. That's for termites though and probably whatever else might be habitating down there and so far (7 years) no termites. BUT, the ants still come. So, what I do is get a lot of ant spray (like from Macro) and go for daily inspections around the house. Whenever I see the trail of ants, I spray the shit out of it to the point entering the house. After a few days, they seem to get the message and bugger off. Now, I still go around once every 2 weeks or so but, for the most part, the ant problem is gone.

[TKRICM]

You should not use Chlorpyrifos in home.Today just reoprt that 7 tourist stay in Downtown hotel in Chiang Mai Deaths Caused by “Chlorpyrifos” Bed Bug Spray on mattress and DOW Chemical withdraw registeration on list (You can find the detail on Google.com)Very serious!!!!!

[Pib]

You should not use Chlorpyrifos in home.Today just report that 7 tourist stay in Downtown hotel in Chiang Mai Deaths Caused by "Chlorpyrifos" Bed Bug Spray on mattress and DOW Chemical withdraw registeration on list (You can find the detail on Google.com)Very serious!!!!!

Well, that one of the "theories/claims" as to what may have happened since they detected Chorpyrifos on some beds, but it has not been proven this caused the deaths. I saw a TV report a few days ago which said to have died from Chlorpyrifos so quickly a person would have had to mix a significant portion into a glass of water and drank it. Bunch of tests now being done by several agencies (from different countries) to hopefully narrow down the cause. The are concentrating on chemical contamination, virus, and other environmental factors in and around the hotel. Always smart to be cautious with all pesticides...use them only as directed.

[a99az]

My house is about five years old. About two years ago while I was in Spain my friends from next door called me to say that we had some ants in our house. I asked them to have it sprayed for us, we have pipes installed for this but the company thought it would be a good idea to drill 1 inch holes every where through our new tiled floors to spray. What a mess I was so sad to see on my return all my lovely floors drilled and plugged with soft white plaster. Sure they must of seen what a mess it was, I called them and asked if they would send someone round to repair the damage. Never had a reply. Bunch of cowboys out there, take care.

[merijn]

I have those pipes also under my house and the company is filling those pipes every 6 months and spray every where around the house.

I have a service contract with them and works fine except for the ants now and then.

[Pib]

I have those pipes also under my house and the company is filling those pipes every 6 months and spray every where around the house.

I have a service contract with them and works fine except for the ants now and then.

I hope you are not paying too much for this contract as filing those pipes every 6 months is really overdoing it if they are using quality termiticide. I know here in Bangkok a service to fill the pipes once a year with termiticide and do quarterly spraying around the house runs approx 7,000 baht. I have two neighbors who signed up for such a contract and dropped it after one year because the quarterly spraying really didn't help with the ants/bugs that much, didn't like the smell of the ant/bug spray, and felt once a year pipe fills for termites was probably not needed (and I didn't say anything to them). I don't use such a contract; I do my own termite/bug treatment. For termite prevention I use Bayer Premise 200SC which I mix with 100 liters of water every two years or so to fill the pipes (which is probably overdoing it). The Premise 200SC cost approx 1,600 baht at HomePro, Global, etc. I then occasionally spray around the house with a quality pesticide for ants, bugs, etc. But when you are living in the tropics keeping ants/bugs beat down is hard to do unless you are spraying like once a week....and of course during rainy season, any ant/bug spraying is quickly diluted/washed away by the rain. I pretty much just spot spray now when needed for ants/bugs/etc.

[grin]

I did quite a bit of research before I chose Fipronil for my termiticide. Then I contacted about a dozen pest control places here in Chiang Mai to find ones that use Fipronil. There are at least two Thai branded versions of Fipronil that come in 1 liter bottles which is mixed with 200 liters of water. I printed out pictures of bottles of the Toppo and Fipforce branded versions of Fipronil that I found online to show people from the companies I contacted.

The reputable companies will do four things for termite control: 1) fill the PVC pipes under the house 2) drill holes in the exterior of all vertical columns and pump pesticide in them, these are closed with a flush brass cap that can be unscrewed 3) pump pesticide into the ground around the perimeter of the house 4) spray all of the baseboards inside the house with a more diluted version of the pesticide.

I hired Chiang Mai Pest Control and they used 2 liters of Toppo and 400 liters of water for the 6 pipes under our house, the 7 columns they drilled holes in, the perimeter and the interior. The total cost to us was 4000 baht so it seems like they must have paid no more than 1000 baht each for the 1 liter bottles of Toppo. Also I watched them open the shrink wrapped bottles and pour it in the water so I know they did not water down the pesticide before hand.

For the same service from 3 other companies in Chiang Mai I was quoted 30000, 20000 and 15000 baht. These 3 companies had people that spoke English well with a hard sell (they seemed to cater to foreigners) but I persevered with Chiang Mai Pest Control to understand them and this seems to have worked out just fine. By the way this also included a 1 year warranty.

[merijn]

I have those pipes also under my house and the company is filling those pipes every 6 months and spray every where around the house.

I have a service contract with them and works fine except for the ants now and then.

I hope you are not paying too much for this contract as filing those pipes every 6 months is really overdoing it if they are using quality termiticide. I know here in Bangkok a service to fill the pipes once a year with termiticide and do quarterly spraying around the house runs approx 7,000 baht. I have two neighbors who signed up for such a contract and dropped it after one year because the quarterly spraying really didn't help with the ants/bugs that much, didn't like the smell of the ant/bug spray, and felt once a year pipe fills for termites was probably not needed (and I didn't say anything to them). I don't use such a contract; I do my own termite/bug treatment. For termite prevention I use Bayer Premise 200SC which I mix with 100 liters of water every two years or so to fill the pipes (which is probably overdoing it). The Premise 200SC cost approx 1,600 baht at HomePro, Global, etc. I then occasionally spray around the house with a quality pesticide for ants, bugs, etc. But when you are living in the tropics keeping ants/bugs beat down is hard to do unless you are spraying like once a week....and of course during rainy season, any ant/bug spraying is quickly diluted/washed away by the rain. I pretty much just spot spray now when needed for ants/bugs/etc.

I really don't know if it is overkill.

And i basically don't care much also.

I don't have to think about it, when it is time they come around and fill or spray whatever is required.

The money is not to bad so I’m happy with it.

[kyrre]

Does anyone know if Homepro in Pattaya have the Premise 200SC, or any other shops?

Edited October 12, 2012 by kyrre

[TS79]

<snip> I then occasionally spray around the house with a quality pesticide for ants, bugs, etc. But when you are living in the tropics keeping ants/bugs beat down is hard to do unless you are spraying like once a week....and of course during rainy season, any ant/bug spraying is quickly diluted/washed away by the rain. I pretty much just spot spray now when needed for ants/bugs/etc.

PIB, can you tell me what brand (and where you can find) a quality pesticide for ants / bugs. I use a company to spray once a month with a pesticide called Bifenthrin 10% W/V and it is very good but due to its potency it is not available to local consumers, apparently available only if you are a licenced pest control company.

[Pib]

<snip> I then occasionally spray around the house with a quality pesticide for ants, bugs, etc. But when you are living in the tropics keeping ants/bugs beat down is hard to do unless you are spraying like once a week....and of course during rainy season, any ant/bug spraying is quickly diluted/washed away by the rain. I pretty much just spot spray now when needed for ants/bugs/etc.

PIB, can you tell me what brand (and where you can find) a quality pesticide for ants / bugs. I use a company to spray once a month with a pesticide called Bifenthrin 10% W/V and it is very good but due to its potency it is not available to local consumers, apparently available only if you are a licenced pest control company.

Sorry for the belated reply...haven't revisited this thread for a while.

I use Chaindrite Stedfast 30SC to spray around the house...it's Bifenthrin 3% W/V. There is no smell to this insecticide...or at least my nose can't detect any unless I stick it in the bottle. I buy it at HomePro or Global in 500ml bottles...I see it in quite a few stores. Unfortunately, the instructions on the bottle are in Thai but here's a link to the description/instructions which Google Translate translates from Thai to English pretty good. Link I use to use Chaindrite Stedfast 4 SC which is Alphaacypermethrin 4% W/V but I don't see it on the store shelves anymore.

For termite treatment under the house foundation/via the PVC treatment pipes built into the foundation, I use Premise 200 SC, also availabe at HomePro and Global....or at least the HomePro and Global I frequent in western Bangkok and Nakhon Pathom.

Edited October 18, 2012 by Pib

[crazykopite]

When I had a problem with ants I would go to home Pro Mart and buy chalk I would then chalk around the edge of the house as most thai houses have a covered walkway around the walls Ants do not like chalk otherwise I suggest using CHAINDRITE it comes either in powder form and a spray can this is very good even kills termite I prefere the powder little more in cost but it works very well

[kyrre]

Where do you buy CHAINDRITE and what is the price. Do you have any link to its spec?

[Pib]

Where do you buy CHAINDRITE and what is the price. Do you have any link to its spec?

Use the Link in Post #20...Chaindrite is sold in most hardware stores.

[kyrre]

Thank You, missed that one...