Isaan, Farmers Idea Exchange - Meet-Up No. 2

[AA1]

Re. Next Meet-up is on Saturday, 10th. December.

Please excuse my starting a new Topic for this meeting as I feel that it will be easier for new readers to find out about it if it is at the beginning of the Topic rather than on Page 6+ of the previous one! The idea is that we hope to hold gatherings, say every 2 to 3 months, at different types of agricultural farms in which Expats are involved in (well financial - to keep those who like talking about work permits happy!!) so that we can not only learn more about what we have an interest in but also get many other ideas as well - the most extreme case in the 1st. meeting was talking with one member who was hoping to trout farm in Laos!!

To read how the idea of the first meeting developed and came about --- up to some photos and comments about that 1st. meeting read Topic "Isaan, Farmers Idea Exchange" which I will bring back up to the top of Topics when I post this one.

It is now only just over 5 weeks until we have our next Gathering of the Isaan Farmers Idea Exchange! The 1st. meeting, with such a mixture of different types of Expat farmers, at Isaan Aussies' pig farm was such a success in September, I feel very ill equipped to follow that up BUT will do my best!

Being on a rubber farm, rather than a pig farm, my hamburgers would be extremely chooey and, if I tried to make sausages, they would be more suitable for girlfriends to use when you're passed it or should I say "pissed it"!! Anyway we will still produce food which we have NOT farmed and will lay in a supply of Leo on a similar basis to that which IA did.

Below is copied what I posted in 'Isaan, Farmers Idea Exchange' as my preliminary suggestion to which I have no adverse comments so now stand as the final plan.

"As I am having the honour of hosting the next meet-up, I thought it would be helpful for you if I suggested a date well in advance so that you have plenty of time if you want to make any comments or other Ideas.

.

Date:- Saturday 10th. December 2011.

Our last Meeting was on a Saturday and so that is what I have worked on but as Jim said to me Monday - Friday up here are just the same as weekends to us up here so any day of the week is just as convenient (I suppose unless we have children going to school).

It is Constitution Day but that had little relevence up here.

Time, as with IA:- Any time in the morning.

Meeting place:- Our house (or as I call it 'My Gereatric Ward"!)

We live in Surin (province) in a small village 9 km. from the Highway 24 at Sangha. I will provide a route guide for those wanting to come before the date but this gives a good idea for distance etc.

Plan:-

Meet up at our house for a drink or 2 or .... (and snackish lunch, if wanted) to discuss general or specific farming problems or ideas that we have PLUS anything else!!

In the afternoon, pay a visit to our small rubber farm

followed by talking, walking round near our house, drinking or whatever have you followed by a barbeque supper in the evening.

Accomodation:- If required, I will arrange at a local hotel/resort on Highway 24 by Sangkha which I am told is quite reasonable.

All comments much appreciated.

AA1. (Anthony).

"

Please let me know if you would like any additions to the day and do hope that you can come - including you Bergen with your camera!

IA and Worm Farmer - your presence, plus wives, is noted and very welcome.

James, Hope you plus your rubber friends will be able to come (your expert presence will be invaluable!!)

For those interested in extending the evening, Sangkha does have a bit of night life for a drink or two or....

As far as accomadation needed and for food etc. please let me know,if possible, by the beginning of December if you can come so that I can arrange everything for you.

Much look forward to welcoming you and as I say will post route maps much nearer the date.

Anthony (AA1).

p.s. Not only do we have no floods within about 100 miles BUT as the local Temple is having a party on Saturday the council? have sent in the road levelers so our local dirt roads should still be fairly flat in December as I was getting worried as they were becoming dreadful!!!

I will NOT be going to the Temple party as it is on Nov. 5th (for those NOT English - Guy Fawkes Night for fireworks) as knowing the locals. it will probably be bullets rather than fireworks flying around!!!!!!!

p.p.s. As soon as I finished typing this and was ready to send, my internet connection collapsed so for the last 3 days have been unable to turn off my computer without losing this post!! I gather a car drove into a CAT installation in Korat (3 hours drive from here) and knocked out a vast area which they supply!!! Glad to be back on again now.

[IsaanAussie]

AA1,

Well done me ol' son.

I will be there with knobs on. If you need help with the bacon and burgers just let me know. Bringing a box of beer was the best thing everyone did. I thought that keeping tabs would be a nightmare but it wasn't, we didn't make money out of it but it didnt cost us anything either. I will bring the 200 litre ice box id you want it? Mind you supply the ice!

To everyone else,

Think about what you want out of meeting 2, seriously, how can you contribute, what would be of benefit to you? The intent here is for everyone to gain something. Even our latex expert Jimbo! I have a telephone number that will deliver blinking lights and winking ladies to the hotel if you want. The guy lives in PhuSing and speaks English. Will I book something that goes BOOM at night for you? no! But will supply the number for those that PM me.

To Bergen explicitly,

OK, this time I will make bacon on spec. How many Kilograms do you want? Remember pork prices are down.

From my perspective as the first host.

Last time an idea I and others have had to make new friends became a reality. I had fun and I hope others did too. If you have questions then this forum is a great place to find all sorts of answers. But it up to you as the Thais constantly remind us. To keep me happy do three things, firstly, lets make the second meeting better than the first, secondly, do your homework and ask your questions before hand, and thirdly, it ain't a contest, come along, expand the group and your horizons, come to AA1's place and have a great day.

Isaan Aussie

[WormFarmer]

Hi Anthony,

Yes we'll be there and will need accommodation for the Saturday night please.

IA - Please book me 1kg of that nice bacon you served up last time, the fairly pale coloured bacon, I think you said it was cured in molasses or something like that.

Cheers WF

[andycrosby]

I will try and make this one, I would need a room for 2 but will be coming alone Will let you know 100% on the 1st of Dec

[pigeonjake]

hi all, ide like to be there too, me and the wife, i missed the one at IA ive been working in scotland for 8 weeks but im home end of nov,i will be needing booking into hotel please, looking forward to meeting all and having a good chin wag,

take care jake

[AA1]

Hi ALL,

Today I popped over to the Hotel which I suggested earlier (AND IA has in fact stayed in and gave it a good report so blame any problems on him and any praise pass on to me!!) as we now have 3 rooms already needed (IA, WormFarmer and Pigeonjake) so booked these and reserved some more for the night of Saturday, 10th. Dec.. I will pay for all booked rooms in advance as saves any problems and then we can sort out on the day.

Price per night for room:- Baht 380.

If required in the morning - American Breakfast B100 or Thai Breakfast (3 menus) B80 each. (Farang charged higher price again!!)

I have said Rooms should have 1 LARGE bed (Andycrosby, please note!) BUT if anyone would prefer a room with 2 single beds let me know and I will organise.

The whole place is single storey around well tended gardens so it doesn't matter what time of the night you return or who with as you should not disturb anyone else!!

As replies come in, I will then confirm more rooms.

Much looking forward to seeing you all.

Anthony (AA1).

[WormFarmer]

Good work Anthony

[jamescollister]

Anthony I should have said earlier I will be there, probably with Trond. See you then Jim

[AA1]

Jim,

Much look forward to your coming here. Please tell Trond that we expect him too as the party wouldn't be complete without his scintillating company!!!!

General.

I should have put in my message yesterday that I will be posting detailed instructions how to get here at the beginning of December but if anyone wants to see roughly where we are.

Look at a map for Surin Province.

Find Highway 24.

Look along it and find market town of SANGKHA (NOT 'Sangha' as I misstyped earlier!)

We are about 8km. North East of there.Village is called Ban Sawat but doubt whether you will find that!!

I mentioned breakfast costs so you can budget for it!!!!!! You will pay after you have eaten.

All the Best and will keep you posted,

Anthony. (AA1).

Edited November 12, 2011 by AA1

[bergen]

Yes I'll be there and probably transporting Jim who'll be eager to arrive at Anthony's where he can finally have some Leo to calm his nerves.

1 room with big bed for me please..., and I'm a Singha drinker por favor.

IA - the wife has told me to order 4 kg bacon, and if you have any smoked ham, bring it along too.

If anyone play guitar, I might bring my harmonica................

Ear plugs may be useful to some....

Looking forward to the event!!

Edited November 12, 2011 by bergen

[AA1]

Yes I'll be there and probably transporting Jim who'll be eager to arrive at Anthony's where he can finally have some Leo to calm his nerves.

1 room with big bed for me please..., and I'm a Singha drinker por favor.

IA - the wife has told me to order 4 kg bacon, and if you have any smoked ham, bring it along too.

If anyone play guitar, I might bring my harmonica................

Ear plugs may be useful to some....

Looking forward to the event!!

Jim and Bergen - Rooms at hotel are booked for you for night of Dec. 10th.

Andy - A room is reserved and very much hope that we can turn it into a full booking at the beginning of Dec. and so learn more about your interesting venture as well as meeting you!

As said before I do hope that more of you will be able to come as it is a good chance to make new friends, have a fun day or two away from your farm as well as meet and get good advise while chatting to Thai Visa Farming Experts! such as IsaanAussie (pigs), WormFarmer (worm compost), jamescollister (rubber), hopefully andycrosby (Emus & Llamas!!) as well as the rest of us.

Should be a good day!!

One worry is that it might be only a 'Leo' day as yesterday I heard that Sangkha is running out of 'Singha' and may not be getting further supplies for a considerable time. Am putting in an order with our regular supplier and will see what comes BUT, Bergen, I will warn you if you have to bring your own!!!!!!!!!!

Look forward to hearing from you.

Anthony (AA1).

[pigeonjake]

ill def be there with the wife, still in scotland till 30th, ive been doing a quick 9 week job, got to keep the money coming in, till we can get the pig farm going properly, im really looking forward to meeting you all,

take care boys see you all soon jake

[bergen]

Yes I'll be there and probably transporting Jim who'll be eager to arrive at Anthony's where he can finally have some Leo to calm his nerves.

1 room with big bed for me please..., and I'm a Singha drinker por favor.

IA - the wife has told me to order 4 kg bacon, and if you have any smoked ham, bring it along too.

If anyone play guitar, I might bring my harmonica................

Ear plugs may be useful to some....

Looking forward to the event!!

Jim and Bergen - Rooms at hotel are booked for you for night of Dec. 10th.

Andy - A room is reserved and very much hope that we can turn it into a full booking at the beginning of Dec. and so learn more about your interesting venture as well as meeting you!

As said before I do hope that more of you will be able to come as it is a good chance to make new friends, have a fun day or two away from your farm as well as meet and get good advise while chatting to Thai Visa Farming Experts! such as IsaanAussie (pigs), WormFarmer (worm compost), jamescollister (rubber), hopefully andycrosby (Emus & Llamas!!) as well as the rest of us.

Should be a good day!!

One worry is that it might be only a 'Leo' day as yesterday I heard that Sangkha is running out of 'Singha' and may not be getting further supplies for a considerable time. Am putting in an order with our regular supplier and will see what comes BUT, Bergen, I will warn you if you have to bring your own!!!!!!!!!!

Look forward to hearing from you.

Anthony (AA1).

No shortage of Singha in my part of Los, but I understand I have to bring my own reserve...........

[THAIPHUKET]

this map may help.

Greetings from Chiang Mai

[bergen]

this map may help.

Greetings from Chiang Mai

It doesn't show any Singha shops??

[AA1]

Bergen. "No shortage of Singha in my part of Los, but I understand I have to bring my own reserve........... "

Don't worry. I went into the supplier I use and they had 5 cases of Singha left, so I bought 3 of them. I hope that that ammount will be enough for you as I know that you will be loaded pretty fully if you are bringing Jim plus all his rubber!!!!

THAIPHUKET. "this map may help."

Thanks for the map which will give people an idea of where where we are.

Our village is just over half way across your map and about a third of the way down from the top.

Where you see a little group of 'dirt tracks' just to the right of the river going down the middle of the map, slightly nearer to Khon Taek rather than Sangka but virtually on the line between them.

I am working on maps and directions at the moment so having done that and found out how to load them onto a Thai Visa Thread I will post them as soon as possible.

I see you are up in Chiang Mai. Having looked up where Sangkha is, why don't you have a little break and come down and join us on the 10th. You could have Saturday and that night (or more0 down here and them go on to Bergen who you would meet here. He has a lovely resort about an hour and a bit drive away which is quite close to Prasat Khao Phra Wihan (which all the fighting WAS about!!). You can find full details of his place by clicking on the picture of him with his Norwegian flag when he posts a thread which will take you to his 'profile' and you will see his web address. He would look after you well and give you a chance to see how we live in this part of the world!!

ALL.

As I say above, maps & directions will appear soon.

Who else would like to come?

More the merrier (not sure that that is right as we will very soon be merrier anyway!!) but you know what I mean!

Still plenty of accomodation at the local hotel

and

we would like your company and learn from your experiences too!

LET ME KNOW.

All the best,

Anthony (AA1).

[bergen]

AA1 - I'm glad you managed to get hold of some proper beer from your supplier.

And thanks maak maak for promoting our farm stay.

[AA1]

Hi All,

As we're meeting at the end of next week (Saturday, Dec. 10th.), I felt it was close enough to our gathering to sent you directions, so spent the weekend sorting out a couple of maps and the written instructions to go with them. That was the easy bit as being a computer illiterate how do I post them on Thai Visa? IA came to my rescue yet again and so hopefully I will attach them correctly!!!!

To you who are still thinking of coming - DO!!!

The more the merrier.

Plenty of beer is waiting for you PLUS excellent company!

Just let us know as soon as possible (well at least a day in andvance) for the wife's catering needs and to book a hotel room if you need it.

We look forward to seeing you.

If you have difficulty downloading the directions let me know.

My directions to find Ban Sawat!.docx

Anthony (AA1).

[bergen]

Hi Anthony and all others

The time is flying!! Farmers meet next Saturday, Christmas 2 weeks later and then 2012 is knocking on the door.

I think Jim is coming to my place today, and if so we'll make some strategic plans on how to get to the rooms in the evening next Sat., if SantiSuk/Steve doesn't show up in his white limo....

See you all on the 10th...

[AA1]

Hi Anthony and all others

The time is flying!! Farmers meet next Saturday, Christmas 2 weeks later and then 2012 is knocking on the door.

I think Jim is coming to my place today, and if so we'll make some strategic plans on how to get to the rooms in the evening next Sat., if SantiSuk/Steve doesn't show up in his white limo....

See you all on the 10th...

Hi Bergen,

Haven't heard a word from SantiSuk/Steve. Do you know where he is if so can you send him word as would be lovely to get him along too.

Tell Jim that I hope his head is fully recovered.

Hope the directions worked okay as when I tried them the maps appeared very large and didn't condense back to A4 size again BUT that maybe my very slow internet connection OR the useless computer operator!!!!

Anthony

[bergen]

Hi Anthony and all others

The time is flying!! Farmers meet next Saturday, Christmas 2 weeks later and then 2012 is knocking on the door.

I think Jim is coming to my place today, and if so we'll make some strategic plans on how to get to the rooms in the evening next Sat., if SantiSuk/Steve doesn't show up in his white limo....

See you all on the 10th...

Hi Bergen,

Haven't heard a word from SantiSuk/Steve. Do you know where he is if so can you send him word as would be lovely to get him along too.

Tell Jim that I hope his head is fully recovered.

Hope the directions worked okay as when I tried them the maps appeared very large and didn't condense back to A4 size again BUT that maybe my very slow internet connection OR the useless computer operator!!!!

Anthony

Anthony I've sent Steve an email, but so far no reply.

Will see him on this coming Saturday, as the Ubon Hash House Harriers (UHHH) will have their monthly run (walk)

You're all welcome there of course

See separate topic on Isaan forum

As for the maps they look "first class"

However I have a new printer that doesn't work, so can't get them printed.....

[AA1]

Bergen,

Thanks and hope that you can get Steve to join us.

You have a similar problem to me BUT whereas you cannot get your printer to work, mine does work except for anything to do with Thai Visa. Any printing wanted from TV has to be copied into my computer and then printed from that copy!!!!

Don't get a heart attack with UHHH as sounds hard work!

Anthony.

Edited November 29, 2011 by AA1

[SantiSuk]

Bergen,

Thanks and hope that you can get Steve to join us.

You have a similar problem to me BUT whereas you cannot get your printer to work, mine does work except for anything to do with Thai Visa. Any printing wanted from TV has to be copied into my computer and then printed from that copy!!!!

Don't get a heart attack with UHHH as sounds hard work!

Anthony.

Would have loved to be there, but unfortunately I'm out of the country that weekend. I'll hopefully catch up with you and others at meeting no 3 Anthony.

[bergen]

Bergen,

Thanks and hope that you can get Steve to join us.

You have a similar problem to me BUT whereas you cannot get your printer to work, mine does work except for anything to do with Thai Visa. Any printing wanted from TV has to be copied into my computer and then printed from that copy!!!!

Don't get a heart attack with UHHH as sounds hard work!

Anthony.

Au contraire!

It's like a walk in the park, where the hashers explore new areas each time, and at the end listen to some "true" tales, may sing a few songs and consume a modest number of various beers

(or non alcoholic drinks if that suites better )

It's not a contest, but a fun social event!

[pigeonjake]

hi all,

thats me at manchester airport, cant wait to get back, im really looking forward to the meet to finaly put faces to the people on here, my wife sold 3 pigs the other day and the price was 55bht kilo were near sakeow

see you all very soon, take care all and keep smiling

[andycrosby]

Hi A1, looks like I can make it after all I have some work 100 klicks away so its not worth going home to come back again. Ill be there on the afternoon of the 9th can you book me the hotel for then and the 10th thanks Andy

[andycrosby]

just two quick ones can you post your phone number or send it in a PM and 2 what is the name of the hotel ?

[AA1]

just two quick ones can you post your phone number or send it in a PM and 2 what is the name of the hotel ?

Andy,

Delighted that you can come.

Will be going to book at hotel tomorrow

BUT

If you like my wife and I would be very happy for you to come and stay with us on the Friday night (9th.) and then you could stay with the others at the hotel on the 10th.

Give me a ring when you have a moment on 084-927-6756.

Anthony. (AA1)

[andycrosby]

Hi Anthony.

Thanks for the offer I am at work now and will ring you tonight when I get home.

[MrOdyssey]

Hello AA1,

I'll be there, but without any rainbow trout. These things take time. I'll need accommodation. Sorry for the late notice. Sure there are other places in Sangkha if it's too late. Let me know if I should sort something out myself. The Odyssey I refer to is my project on the Bolaven Plateau that I bored everyone with at liberty at the last meeting. You can follow the progress, or lack of it, on my Main Blog page on my website (see my profile or PM me).

Looking forwardly,

Richard