Eliminate Ants Forever

[TongueThaied]

Eliminate Ants? In Thailand? YES!

The answer is borax. I have seen borax mentioned as an ant eliminator on Thai Visa many times, but simply did not believe such a simple solution could be effective. The ants finally drove me over the edge, and I was desperate, so decided to try the borax solution.

Back in February, I made two borax mixtures, one with a little honey and water and the other with bacon grease. I made seven small portions of each and placed them around the house and on the porch. Upon observation, I noticed the ants flocked to the bacon grease and pretty much ignored the honey.

I was absolutely amazed that every variety of ants was gone from the house within about two or three weeks! That was almost six months ago, and much to the amazement of my Thai family and all the in laws, all ants are GONE. After about four months, a few ants reappeared. I just put out another dose of borax and bacon grease where I saw them and they were soon gone.

The big problem was that I could not find borax anywhere, and I looked high and low in pharmacies, general merchandise and farm supply stores. Here is my solution that will work for any farang anywhere in Thailand. My wife is a high school teacher. I just Googled borax and pulled up the Wikipedia page, which showed the chemical formulation, etc. I printed it out and asked my wife to take it to the chemistry teacher at her school and asked him where to get it. In top Thai form, she immediately told me he wouldn't know. I insisted, so she took it to him and he did know, as I knew he would. He directed her to a tiny chemical supply place in town (Phitsanulok) called "The Science Center." I showed the guy in the store my printout and he produced the borax immediately. I since have purchased sodium nitrite and potassium nitrate at his store. They have a complete line of glassware, scales and everything else a high school chemistry lab might want. I never would have found that place just looking around. The printout and the high school chemistry teacher was the key.

After five years in Thailand trying to co-exist with the ants, here's what finally drove me over the edge. Of course, like everyone, I dealt with the daily occurrences of ants getting into any food item that was not completely sealed, sometimes even chewing through the wrappers of sealed packages. They got into the rice cooker and into the raw rice. I can't tell you how many times I have tossed a handful of peanuts into my mouth only to discover I had a mouthful of ants, too. It began to escalate when they started destroying things. I had a 7,000 baht Epson printer they got into unbeknownst to me. They shorted out the motherboard, completely destroying it and the power supply. With a 6,000 baht repair quote, I ditched it. Any of this sounding familiar? I then put my computer table up in those "no ant bowls" that have a little moat in which you can put oil. But then the little buggers got into the hot water shower device and caused it to stop working. I was able to clean it out with the help of a vacuum cleaner and get it working again -- but they were back within three weeks. Then they started getting into the light switches, which I either had to disassemble and clean or replace. They got into the electric wall receptacles. Finally, the power went off for the entire house. They had invaded the Saf-T-Cut! These frustrations seemed to become almost daily. I tried sprays and powders, all of which worked topically, but none of which cured the long term and endlessly recurring problems. I had even on several occasions tried to find borax, but to no avail.

The last straw came one morning after I had showered, dressed and jumped into my truck. I was just beginning to pull out when I felt a burning sensation on my balls. First I tried a simple adjustment, thinking I had a little sticker caught n my shorts, but the burning sensation instantly escalated. slammed on the brakes and ripped open my pants only to find that a load of these little bastards had gotten into my underwear drawer and were now biting me on the balls. Over the top this time. I declared war.

I had seen on TV that borax would get rid of the ants by killing them at their source. It sounded too good to be true, but now desperate, thought it worth trying -- if I could only find the damned stuff. Well I gave that story above, and the rest is history. I fought the ants, and I won!

I hope this helps some of you folks out there fighting the good fight.

Edited July 23, 2012 by TongueThaied
correct font

[lopburi3]

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[JakeBKK]

I can't tell you how many times I have tossed a handful of peanuts into my mouth only to discover I had a mouthful of ants, too.

Ants are nutritious, and you should welcome the change from peanuts with wasabi

The last straw came one morning after I had showered, dressed and jumped into my truck. I was just beginning to pull out when I felt a burning sensation on my balls. First I tried a simple adjustment, thinking I had a little sticker caught n my shorts, but the burning sensation instantly escalated. slammed on the brakes and ripped open my pants only to find that a load of these little bastards had gotten into my underwear drawer and were now biting me on the balls. Over the top this time. I declared war.

sorry , I'll guess it redefines the meaning of hot-pants.

[Hostile17]

isnt that the same thing as the little packet of pellets they sell at tesco?

[JeffreyMcCollum]

Not sure where your from. Borax in america is a type of soap. it is the Boron in Borax that kills bugs. They use it in most wood treatment in America.

However note, it's nbot forever. they do come back and need to be treated again. Other chemicals last longer but leave a residue behind that last a long time.

[WebBangkok]

Yes I need this, I bought these yellow ant pellet things you buy in Home Pro. There is a little ant nest in the part of a closed backyard we dont use. They came after the floods and they really piss me off as there in the house.

I sit down watching TV having a nice glass of coke, I put my glass down for 10 minutes and there is ants trying to get in there.

I saw the borax method on youtube a few months ago but could not find any here.

lol at the ants in your underpants.

[giddyup]

Yes I need this, I bought these yellow ant pellet things you buy in Home Pro. There is a little ant nest in the part of a closed backyard we dont use. They came after the floods and they really piss me off as there in the house.

I sit down watching TV having a nice glass of coke, I put my glass down for 10 minutes and there is ants trying to get in there.

I saw the borax method on youtube a few months ago but could not find any here.

lol at the ants in your underpants.

I take it the pellets didn't work?

[Ahnsahn]

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TongueThaied, is the chemical symbol Na4B4O7 (with all the numbers as subscripts)? If not, would you attach the chemical Borax formula that you wrote down and gave to your wife plus, would you also list the location of the 'Science Center'? (GPS coordinates would be even better!) TIA for this important info!

[rak sa_ngop]

Yes I need this, I bought these yellow ant pellet things you buy in Home Pro. There is a little ant nest in the part of a closed backyard we dont use. They came after the floods and they really piss me off as there in the house.

I sit down watching TV having a nice glass of coke, I put my glass down for 10 minutes and there is ants trying to get in there.

I saw the borax method on youtube a few months ago but could not find any here.

lol at the ants in your underpants.

I take it the pellets didn't work?

If you are talking about ARS pellets, I submitted a thread about them about 5 years ago (can't be ARSed to find the thread now). The original ARS pellets were produced in Japan. Then the colour of the sachets changed from yellow to red and the pellets changed colour from yellow to orange. Suddenly the ants in my condo were no longer interested in my orange pellets, but were quite happy to still take the few remaining yellow ones back to their homes. After a few days I was always ant free for about a year with the yellow pellets

The reason: the pellets were now being made in Thailand. The formulation had obviously changed and were literally useless.

[h90]

similar...they were in the towel.

I dried myself jump into my clothes and went to speak with my staff.....

Very hard to make a straight face while speaking with people while the ants bite you in the balls....

[kuripot]

If you know anyone coming over from the UK then it is still available from selected sources as it is banned from the high street stores as a result of the usual EU h&s bull*hit. It seems to be known as Borax Decahydrate or Sodium tetraborate decahydrate. The most reasonably priced I have found is from

http://www.intralabs.co.uk/borax.html The description is as follows;

Borax has been used as a laundry detergent boaster for many years. Its particular chemical properties allow low level production of Hydrogen Peroxide when added to water while at the same time producing a basic solution, both of which increase the cleaning power of detergents.

It can also be used as an insecticide and is effective at riding your home of ants, fleas, cockroaches & other insects. It can be used to make bait balls for large infestations of ants or can be just sprinkled on a carpet to combat a suspected flea problem.

Borax can also be used as flux for welding iron or steel, as a swimming pool buffering agent, as a fire retardant, a treatment for thrush in horses hooves, anti-fungal foot bath, to make putty (by adding Borax solution to PVA glue) and as a buffer in chemical reactions.

Prices range from around 85 baht for a 250 gram pack to around 980 baht equivalent for a 10Kg box. Having someone bring some over may make the search easier.

[Berkshire]

Very interesting. I might have to give it a try one of these days....if I can find some Borax. Those little yellow pellet things (in the clear green container) doesn't work too well.

[kuripot]

I remember Borax being used in the Philippines to treat timber against termites and other borers. They also used to "poison" the ground around the perimeter of the house to stop ants and other crawling insects getting into the property.

[WebBangkok]

Very interesting. I might have to give it a try one of these days....if I can find some Borax. Those little yellow pellet things (in the clear green container) doesn't work too well.

Yes, thats what I have.

They are useless. I will find some borax somewhere, I will just have to ask some Thai friends.

But how do you say Borax in Thai?

[ripstanley]

Very interesting. I might have to give it a try one of these days....if I can find some Borax. Those little yellow pellet things (in the clear green container) doesn't work too well.

Yes, thats what I have.

They are useless. I will find some borax somewhere, I will just have to ask some Thai friends.

But how do you say Borax in Thai?

I found this site that sells borax http://www.healthfoodthailand.com/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=borax&x=7&y=7

[WebBangkok]

Very interesting. I might have to give it a try one of these days....if I can find some Borax. Those little yellow pellet things (in the clear green container) doesn't work too well.

Yes, thats what I have.

They are useless. I will find some borax somewhere, I will just have to ask some Thai friends.

But how do you say Borax in Thai?

I found this site that sells borax http://www.healthfoo...s=borax&x=7&y=7

Nice find. I will buy myself some of that.

[Shot]

I like bacon.

[Jingthing]

Why doesn't someone tell an expat market like Villa that there IS a demand for Borax in retail stores in Thailand? It's weird that basic and very useful product like Borax is so hard to buy here.

[jackr]

But how do you say Borax in Thai?

Bawlacks.

[bikkalad]

AntRid in Australia......comes in a small 100ml bottle (gel) put it down on the ant trail they take it back to the nest kills queen etc......no more ants http://www.antrid.com.au/

Edited July 23, 2012 by bikkalad

[Gary A]

Whenever I think of it, I have friends who are visiting from the US bring me a product called Terro. It is a liquid and comes in a small clear plastic bottle. The active ingredient is ......... Yes, borax. The liquid looks like a fairly thick syrup. A drop or two wherever you see the little pests draws many more and apparently they carry it back to the colony and it kills the queen. It works great but may take a few days and more drops. When the drops attract no more ants, the problem is solved.

[Hostile17]

Hopefully this topic does not get polluted by some vinegar fanatics. I read a thread the other day about vinegar and not only does thai vinegar not clean shit, ants LOVE it.

[nocturn]

similar...they were in the towel.

I dried myself jump into my clothes and went to speak with my staff.....

Very hard to make a straight face while speaking with people while the ants bite you in the balls....

happened to me on a few occasions.

painful

[Rsquared]

Toungue Thaied, you have missed your calling...........you should be writing novels and short stories, haven't had a good laugh for a

while....many thanks.

Most importantly though, thanks for the info on Borax. We have not been infested to the state of "blacking-out the house", but they are still a nuisance.

Cheers to ripstanley for that website, I have already bookmarked it.

Thanks.

[TongueThaied]

Why doesn't someone tell an expat market like Villa that there IS a demand for Borax in retail stores in Thailand? It's weird that basic and very useful product like Borax is so hard to buy here.

Yeah, weird, and I cannot find regualr cleaning amonia either. They had it at the chemical shop, but too expensive for cleaning.

[BSJ]

Now, what was the address of "The Science Center" in Phitsanulok???

An A4 size Google map with a pin stuck in at the right spot would be appreciated.

[daoyai]

Why doesn't someone tell an expat market like Villa that there IS a demand for Borax in retail stores in Thailand? It's weird that basic and very useful product like Borax is so hard to buy here.

I have mine delivered by a 20 mule team.

[T_Dog]

Timely thread here as the ants have been chewing through plastic to get into the fish food. Does anyone know of a chemical supply house or have a source of Borax in Chiang Mai?

[TongueThaied]

Paste as plain text. If correcting just copy and then paste as plain text.

TongueThaied, is the chemical symbol Na4B4O7 (with all the numbers as subscripts)? If not, would you attach the chemical Borax formula that you wrote down and gave to your wife plus, would you also list the location of the 'Science Center'? (GPS coordinates would be even better!) TIA for this important info!

Na₂B₄O₇·10H₂O or Na₂[b₄O₅(OH)₄]·8H₂O See, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borax

Here are the GPS coordinates for the Science Center (very small sign outside) in Phitsanulok: N16.81920 E100.24555

I tried to upload the .gpx file, but it seems ThaiVisa blocks this sort of file.

You can put the coordinates into your Garmin or Google Maps.

But, let me add, every Muang (large town) should have this sort of shop to supple the local high schools with lab supplies. Ask a chemistry teacher where it is.

Edited July 24, 2012 by TongueThaied

[jvs]

Baking soda mixed with powdered sugar works just as well and available everywhere.