My Observations On This Forum Section

[Khonwan]

I have been an active member of ThaiVisa for 6 years until recently. I believe I have given to ThaiVisa much more than I’ve taken. I like to contribute in order to share my knowledge, such as it is, for the exact same reasons that have seen me teach English and maths (in only just adequate Thai) in my local primary school part of last year for free. I have a love of knowledge and like to share it. I have experience of raising and breeding cattle (160 head at peak) for here for some years, fattening 120 or so pigs, planting 70 rai of rubber (5 or 6 years ago; they were adjacent to the forest and much of it was burned after one year when the forest was on fire – I ploughed the rest rather than live on tenter hooks every dry season). Despite the fact that I agree with the common assertion that Thais do not like to change their farming methods, especially if being introduced by a foreigner, I have spent many, many hours in conversation with numerous villagers in my sub-district to promote better, more productive, farming practices – some of which have been taken on-board by a few after a while.

I did not quit this forum simply because of Andycrosby. Despite the fact that I found his comments in my last thread highly obnoxious, I would never quit simply due to one person. I quit because I was disgusted that his attitude to his neighbouring, but Thai, farmers was supported and shared by several major contributors in this forum, e.g. IsaanAussie. Indeed only one other spoke up against those attitudes – Somo. It was never about the pathetic invitation to meet in a car park – I was raised in the heart of gangland east-end Glasgow and have now been living in a village for 16 years which has a notorious reputation for killers (I reckon - from personal knowledge of many - that perhaps as many as 50% of the men in my village, and surrounding villages, have killed at least once; some of them are my friends, at least one is an enemy). No, I’ve never been a gang member, never had trouble with the police, and am not usually inclined to violence, but I’ve also never been afraid to rub my neighbours here up the wrong way when I considered it deserved, without fear of potential consequences.

I quit because I realised that I no longer wanted to contribute to a group of expat farmers who think it okay to f*** their farming neighbours perhaps just because they are Thai.

Since quitting the forum, I have still been reading many of the posts (without signing on). I’ve been surprised at much of what I’ve seen written. I’ve seen comments here that seem to suggest that one needs prior farming experience before commencing farming here; that you must be present at your farm fulltime; that you need to be hands-on and dirty; that making a living from farming here is always, but only, an aspiration. I was surprised to see the vehement attacks on Somo’s posts on his farming operation, which even saw Ozzydom (whom I respect) trying to rubbish his figures (I personally had no difficulty following the logic or maths contained in his posts and would affirm that they are all reasonable), which saw Gary simply accusing him of bullshit. I’ve seen comments by those who have zero or very little experience in cassava write of prices plummeting to 25% of previous highs. I think I even read Jamescollister writing of receiving only Bt5++ per tonne. These figures are either nonsense or are purely down to local aberrations. The figures for a dozen or so geographical areas covering the whole of Thailand’s cassava crop are freely available on a weekly basis over the last few years on a site which I’ve often linked to in my cassava thread. Indeed, the lowest figure I personally remember receiving was Bt780/tonne around 13 years ago when fuel, fertiliser and labour were much cheaper than now.

Some of you guys in Isaan have met via your Farming Forum Meetings. Great idea. I think I am, however, starting to see some signs of a clique starting with unqualified defence and support of fellow meet-up members against those you have not met face-to-face. Not a positive development. Posts should be judged on their content, not on your like or dislike of the poster.

I’ve seen a number of illogical posts here over the years whining on how difficult farming is here by members farming only a few acres. I’ve replied to them from time to time until I got fed up: as anywhere else in the world, size DOES count. I reckon you need at least 100 rai just to survive and at least 200 rai to live reasonably well. I have 200 rai, Soidog2 has at least that, Maizefarmer has around 1,200 rai (if you believe he is or was actually farming here in Thailand). Some others like Monkeypants may not have much land but have relatively large farming operations. Each of us earn very decent returns and each of us have indicated just how decent in previous posts. I (or my wife if you like since everything is in her name) AVERAGE over a million per year from farming. For the record, I’ve grown cassava every year for around 13/15 years – I have NEVER had a loss. Soidog2 has also stated that in 10 years, or so, he also has never suffered a loss. Someone asked Somo, I think, about the effect of the very low prices being offered some 3 or 4 years ago I think – as he too indicated, the more intelligent cassava farmers with the financial means simply delayed harvest until the price returned to normal – I was amazed at the time to read that so many members of this board did exactly as the poor Thai farmers do, sold at the low price, and came on here to whine.

Like many others, I was a city boy who hankered for rural life. My life experience was mostly in 20 years in financial advice and brokering – sales, branch management of a very large assurance company, and owner of a small but successful brokerage. I had no farming experience before starting to build up my farm here. I spent my initial farming years here as a part-timer spending 3 nights per week at the farm and 4 nights at Bangkok (where I had my brokerage), with a 5 hours each-way drive with my family. My wife was NOT someone who loved farming – she had escaped that life as a girl and wanted to stay on in Bangkok. Our relationship was strong, however, and she followed me back upcountry to become fulltime farmers after 8 years of part-time farming, where she had hardly contributed. She is now my rock – she now manages all aspects of our cassava farming and still gets down and dirty along with the hired help though we have NO shortage of very capable labourers. Me? I’ve now fulfilled my dream of 16 years ago of becoming a “gentleman farmer” – and I love it (and her)! I’m 53 this year, she is 15 years younger (and fitter), and we live with our 11 & 16 year old daughters who attend local schools.

I and a number of other posters were unconvinced that Maizefarmer even lived in Thailand at the time of his many posts (most of which were nevertheless excellent contributions) so I can readily understand that forum members have no reason to take me or my posts at face value. Unlike Maizefarmer, a number of ThaiVisa members (probably 10-20) have individually visited my farm at least once over the years and others, such as IsaanAussie (if I recall correctly) have been invited in the distant past. But for those who may not accept the veracity of my posts, I don’t give a dam_n.

In support of Somo, though I can see he does not need my support, let me say first that we have never met (though we have had a couple of phone conversations in the past). I regard his posts as very credible, and realistically encouraging to prospective expat farmers. I do not understand the negative attitudes he has been attracting recently. He comes across (to me anyway) as an honest and CARING person… with no axe to grind. He even went to the bother of obtaining then publishing very interesting information on grass seed only to be “moderated” by a member with an attitude.

As an aside, grass seed farming is not suitable for all. As a cattle farmer here for some years before I was a grass farmer with 140 rai of pasture planted with the then-recommended most suitable grasses for my situation including ruzi grass, which cattle do indeed thoroughly enjoy, and purple guinea grass. I gave up because I only had green healthy grass for around 5 months per year and had to employ staff to cut and carry grass from elsewhere around the district. My soil would not hold enough moisture to carry useful grass through the long dry season and we have no source of water for irrigation. Perhaps the areas mentioned as farming these seeds are significantly clay.

Despite occasional clashes between Maizefarmer and me, or between Chownah and Maizefarmer, this farming forum was extremely informative, constructive, civil, non-competitive, and WELL MODERATED! The complete lack of moderation has enabled the forum to degenerate. This forum needs a FARMING moderator, i.e. someone who has a passion for farming in Thailand and who will work to keep this section constructive. I’m not volunteering – did that, was passed over, no longer willing. Perhaps someone who has not yet caused or encouraged conflict but appears to have a real interest in farming; perhaps Loong.

Some (if they have bothered to read this far) may well regard this post as somewhat pretentious…or a number of other less polite adjectives – so be it.

Will I contribute in the future? I said I had quit, but I’ll continue to read Farming in Thailand and may well return as a contributor at some time in the future should I see an improvement in attitudes.

Khonwan

[cdmtdm]

excellent post and i for one miss your input , the appointment of a moderator to a specific forum must have an interest in that topic otherwise it really is a free for all .... IMO

[David48]

To Khonwan, you are obviously an old hand at the Farming game in Thailand based on what you wrote above and any Forum would be the poorer if someone with your experience was lost.

Couple of things I don't understand ...

Where is the bridge that leads me from your days growing up in a tougher area of Glasgow ...

but I’ve also never been afraid to rub my neighbours here up the wrong way when I considered it deserved, without fear of potential consequences.

to this next statement

I quit because I realised that I no longer wanted to contribute to a group of expat farmers who think it okay to f*** their farming neighbours perhaps just because they are Thai.

In relation to the other member somo, you mention

He even went to the bother of obtaining then publishing very interesting information on grass seed only to be “moderated” by a member with an attitude.

There is a subtle inference that the member you refer to without naming is me ... who do you refer to?

As an observation, a light touch, if any touch is needed in the Farming Forum and I have rarely seen posts which cross that invisible line.

When you have the time, a reply to the above questions would be appreciated.

.

[jamescollister]

Afraid I am somewhat at a loss on the Andy Crosby thing, most have been when I was in OZ having my eyes done. So can't comment. Never believed MZ was in Thailand, but he knew his stuff just the same.

Yes 50 satang was the price the cassava harvester was offering at the time, leaving it until the price increased was not a option, as we needed the land cleared..

As to somos posts I am generally skeptical of anyone who says they can do things by telephone, be it in Thailand, UK,US or OZ. In my experience if you are not there things get done poorly or not at all. As I sit, there is a farang building a house not far from here,every month he sends money 1/2 goes to the house and 1/2 to the card game.

Yes there may well be a little click building up in this forum, as per the farmers meetings, but that is to be expected. When you sit drinking beer, meet their wives and families, they become friends not avatars and you tend to stick up for friends.

As was once said to me on another forum, where poster really rip in to each other, it;s for fun and if you gain some useful information all the better,

Always read and liked your posts, think you should continue posting and if I say something you don;t agree with feel free to go stuck in, my skins pretty think. Jim

[somo]

I have no problem with having a heated discussion but when someone accuses me of making things up it does annoy me especially when it is so easy to demonstrate it is the accusers who don't know what they are talking about.

When they then try again by misinterpreting things I have said it becomes clear that they are on some sort of mission to discredit regardless of the facts.

This refusal to accept the truth is I think probably due to past difficulties prejudicing peoples judgement.

Prejudice has no place in a healthy forum. Respect for the integrity of others should be freely given unless there are facts that put it in doubt.

I am pleased Khonwan has emerged from his self imposed exile and thank him for setting the record straight on the credibility of my profit claims.

PS The cheque is in the post

[TongueThaied]

ThaiVisa is filled with <deleted> and flamers. I would be lying if I denied ever engaging in such tactics myself. I'm not proud of that, but cannot deny that I've always had a little of the shit disturber in me -- or maybe a lot. But the fact is, when you have a media that allows anonymous posting, which is what an Internet forum is, then you are going to get this. Anonymous posting allows the <deleted> that don't have the guts to say something to your face to hit and run. But even with that, there is some good stuff on here that is very useful -- especially on this forum. If every decent contributor flees when attacked, then we will have nothing left.

The very things which Khonwan deplores, and I am in total sympathy with him, are just part of the nature of the beast. Better to have a thick skin, laugh off or ignore the <deleted> and keep your eye on the ball.

A couple of years ago, I put on a post about how the immigration officials tried to extort 3,000 baht out of me, and I told them "No way Jose." I was shocked at the posts that followed. Folks said it would serve me right to have my visa revoked for failing to "play the game," etc. At first, I was annoyed, but then, with a feeling of superiority, I just considered the weak and cowardly natures of these posters, and accepted them as amusing losers.

Don't let the <deleted> steal the jewels.

[tim armstrong]

Without doubt for me, the farming forum is probably the most informative, helpful, funny, genuine and useful forum on Thai visa. I really hope it stays that way.

[Gary A]

It's nice to be nice, BUT. sometimes you have to call them as you see them. There is a lot of good information on the board but some posts are totally erroneous and maybe even damaging.

[ozzydom]

Khonwan is a member for whom I have the utmost respect and I will comment on a couple of his remarks.

First off ,Moderation... As a few of the members would know, I was the original Moderator of the Farming Forum,this was at a time when TV and this forum in particular was far smaller than at present.

The forum in those days had its fair share of Trolls, Troublemakers and plain old Bulls*#$tters,the difference was that Mods had the time to "nip things in the bud" when they looked like getting out of hand.

As TV grew and the work load increased it became necessary for Mods to become "Super Mods (now Global Mods) and there was less time to moderate (a thankless job at best) individual forums and so some threads can and do step outside the bounds of acceptability.

[IsaanAussie]

I share Ozzydom's respect for Khonwan's knowledge and contributions. Since I rated a couple of mentions, I am not living in the ideal village. Fortunately no abundance of murderers but one particular convicted child molester that has taken a dislike to me and is a continuous irritant.

Yes, I remember the generous invitation to visit and regret that events lead me in a different direction.

I have only been actively farming for 4 years so I bow to experience. Getting tired and dirty every day may not be to everyones liking but I enjoy what I do and agree with Jim that things usually do not get done as planned or on budget when I am not here. In my experience a simple fact.

On skeptical comments on the content of some posts, I tend to heed Gary's warning. I often wonder if some of my posts could mislead others looking to enter the pig farming side of things. There have been 4 of our members all of whom I believed had made good starts only to suddenly be gone.

My last comment on this issue is, Khonwan, you are right of the issue of scale. The more you have and the more you have to fall back on, the easier things must become. If you ever find that the extra is becoming tiring, feel free to throw this old dog a bone or two.

Personally I hope you change your mind Khonwan and take an active role here again.

[somo]

It's nice to be nice, BUT. sometimes you have to call them as you see them. There is a lot of good information on the board but some posts are totally erroneous and maybe even damaging.

Damaging posts! Surely you are joking?

[Gary A]

It's nice to be nice, BUT. sometimes you have to call them as you see them. There is a lot of good information on the board but some posts are totally erroneous and maybe even damaging.

Damaging posts! Surely you are joking?

Actually I wasn't referring to your posts and I was not joking.

[loong]

I'm happy to see that you have not moved on from the forum totally Khonwan.

I'm basically a simple organic kitchen gardener, but when we were asked if we wanted to rent 8 rai of cassava land earlier this year, I found your sticky thread on cassava extremely useful and informative.

I am just learning at the moment, but I believe that reading your cassava thread has considerably cut my learning curve. It is much appreciated and I am sure, not only by me. Many others have benefitted from you willingness to share your knowledge.

Thanks

[Jotham79]

For the first 10 years I lost money in unimaginable ways and with amazing consistency. However, had I picked the right crop or fruit to farm, things would have been totally different. We all know stories of failure, but there is no logical reason to disbelieve that sooner or later someone would make a series of decisions leading to success.

Also, some things will work in one area and not another so every newmember should be warned to consider what would work locally for him/her. I can also recommend going back and reading old posts, but you can only go back to about page 80 and then there is nothing there. I had a coupleof month of down time recently with little to do. It is really interesting to see the evolution of the present posters and the number of posters who posted heavliy for a while, but are now gone. The other thing I can recommend is to search u-tube on topics of interest as there is a ton of how-to stuff there.

I understand how difficult it is to make a go of it here and while success may not be a probability chances are alot better with this board and the networking it allows.

Jotham78

[endure]

Maizefarmer hasn't posted since 2010. Chownah hasn't posted since 2008. It's not really reasonable to criticise people who haven't been around Thaivisa for the past 2-4 years.

[ozzydom]

Maizefarmer hasn't posted since 2010. Chownah hasn't posted since 2008. It's not really reasonable to criticise people who haven't been around Thaivisa for the past 2-4 years.

In fairness to Khonwan,I think he was merely stating historical fact and not criticising, if you recall ,it was not hard to get into a verbal stoush with either one of the beforementioned members.

[NoshowJones]

ThaiVisa is filled with <deleted> and flamers. I would be lying if I denied ever engaging in such tactics myself. I'm not proud of that, but cannot deny that I've always had a little of the shit disturber in me -- or maybe a lot. But the fact is, when you have a media that allows anonymous posting, which is what an Internet forum is, then you are going to get this. Anonymous posting allows the <deleted> that don't have the guts to say something to your face to hit and run. But even with that, there is some good stuff on here that is very useful -- especially on this forum. If every decent contributor flees when attacked, then we will have nothing left.

The very things which Khonwan deplores, and I am in total sympathy with him, are just part of the nature of the beast. Better to have a thick skin, laugh off or ignore the <deleted> and keep your eye on the ball.

A couple of years ago, I put on a post about how the immigration officials tried to extort 3,000 baht out of me, and I told them "No way Jose." I was shocked at the posts that followed. Folks said it would serve me right to have my visa revoked for failing to "play the game," etc. At first, I was annoyed, but then, with a feeling of superiority, I just considered the weak and cowardly natures of these posters, and accepted them as amusing losers.

Don't let the <deleted> steal the jewels.

Excellent post Tongue Thaid, I have come across a few <deleted>, replying to me and they'll never drive me away, although I do have to say only a very small minority.

ThaiVisa is filled with <deleted> and flamers. I would be lying if I denied ever engaging in such tactics myself. I'm not proud of that, but cannot deny that I've always had a little of the shit disturber in me -- or maybe a lot. But the fact is, when you have a media that allows anonymous posting, which is what an Internet forum is, then you are going to get this. Anonymous posting allows the <deleted> that don't have the guts to say something to your face to hit and run. But even with that, there is some good stuff on here that is very useful -- especially on this forum. If every decent contributor flees when attacked, then we will have nothing left.

The very things which Khonwan deplores, and I am in total sympathy with him, are just part of the nature of the beast. Better to have a thick skin, laugh off or ignore the <deleted> and keep your eye on the ball.

A couple of years ago, I put on a post about how the immigration officials tried to extort 3,000 baht out of me, and I told them "No way Jose." I was shocked at the posts that followed. Folks said it would serve me right to have my visa revoked for failing to "play the game," etc. At first, I was annoyed, but then, with a feeling of superiority, I just considered the weak and cowardly natures of these posters, and accepted them as amusing losers.

Don't let the <deleted> steal the jewels.

Great post Tongue Thaied, I have had a few <deleted> reply to my posts and they will never drive me away, but they are only a very small minority, I come from the same area of Scotland as Khonwan, and like you, I hope he starts posting again. Come on Khonwan, I would say that around 90% of posters to this forum make it worth looking into, and lets see you posting again.

[Khonwan]

Guys, thank you for your replies – I appreciate appreciation. However, I hope my point was not lost since my post wasn’t about feeling unappreciated (though positive affirmation is always welcome!). I just feel that if I am to contribute my time to help other farmers, I would rather not see those farmers denigrate other farmers – Thai or foreign (note also that not all members here are “farang” [Caucasians]). I am just as keen to help my fellow Thai farmer as I am my fellow expat farmer. I would hope that expat farmers here who benefit from the forum might repay me and other contributors by similarly helping other farmers within their own circles (who may be mostly Thai). Whilst in general Thais may not show an immediate respect for our ideas, they are not stupid enough to deny the evidence of their own eyes should they see clear evidence by way of our farms that our ideas put more money in our pockets.

Sorry for the delay in responding (day out in the city yesterday) but in order of posts: Ctmdtm, yes I completely agree; I’ve also been annoyed at times when mods with no understanding of farming lifestyle have on occasion clearly demonstrated this in their occasional moderation of this section; hence the need for our own mod.

David48, thanks for your comments. Yes it was you but I thought whilst worth mentioning it wasn’t serious enough to name you. With respect to a possible contradiction in my post, I don’t see it. Perhaps I can clarify this by giving an example of my being prepared to rub up my Thai neighbours the wrong way without fear of consequences: I had an issue a couple of years ago with a villager who insisted on reducing the width of a 600m track (part of the 2km road from my village to my home). Having first approached him and his ex-Poo Yai Baan father-in-law (named owner of the land on either side) and receiving no joy, I took it to the new Poo Yai Baan who advised to take it to the police, who advised to take it to the Sor Por Kor authority, who advised to take it to the forest police (since it turned out the adjacent fields had not yet been transferred from their authority hence the track was their responsibility). During this process, the ex-Poo Yai (who is well known as having been a hard man who has murdered quite a few folk here in the past) sent my wife and I a veiled but clear message via mutual friends threatening our lives. I laughed this off, passing on the message that he would also being signing his own death warrant since revenge was guaranteed. In the end, a senior officer from the city head office of the forest police was appointed by the district governor to settle the dispute, which resulted in us getting a written agreement to a width of 4 metres (it was 2m, and less in places) signed by three disputants and nine officials. I’ve had other situations here too but that was the only time I had to deal with a death threat. In general, I am respectful of all people I meet in daily life regardless of their race or economic situation…but I do ensure that same basic respect in return. I tell them often that NOBODY is more important/better than me and NOBODY less so.

Jim, thanks also for your comments. Scepticism is both healthy and vital. I hope no member will be publicly called out, however, unless one has reasonable grounds to back up the doubts and explains these whilst bringing the member into question. With regards to Somo, I genuinely accept the veracity of his posts. It is important to remember that a belief in what constitutes as normal implies the existence of exceptions. Whilst it may well true that we find nationals here to be less dependable than those from our own countries, it only takes one good dependable person who can then be relied upon to carry out our instructions during our absence. I’m sure no member here would make a ridiculous statement that such Thais do not exist. I’m sure some may find it fun, in a childish way, to rip into other members but I know that many members on the receiving end do not appreciate the “humour”, nor do I believe that the onus is on them to thicken their skins. Yes, we all have members we like and those we dislike but we really ought to be more disciplined (at least in this speciality forum section) to be purely objective in our reading of posts here. Farming is a science; let’s treat it as such in our objectivity.

Somo, your cheque hasn’t turned up yet! I’ve actually enjoyed seeing you, Soidog2, Loong and others discussing cassava without me during my absence. I have long regretted that the pinned cassava thread appeared to be viewed as my domain. As pointed out in my OP in that thread, I do not regard myself as an expert on the subject – I still hope to learn from others; simply growing cassava longer than other members is no qualification; neither is scale. I would really appreciate other growers contributing their ideas to that thread rather than just asking me for my views; I’ve been very pleased to see you doing so, Somo. I would like Soidog2 to contribute too – let previous clashes be buried – since he too has loads of experience.

Thanks too, TongueThaied. I think I’ve now covered your points in my comments.

And yes, Tim, I wholeheartedly agree.

Thanks Gary – glad you clarified that you weren’t referring to Somo. I think I’ve covered your point in my response to Jim above.

Pigeonjake, thanks for your PM – I’ll PM you today.

I appreciate your remarks, Ozzydom. Perhaps a small correction is called for though: I found you a very good mod but you were the second rather than first. RamdomChance (Sic.) set up this section and had mod status; I know him, having been to his house in Nakhon Sawan before he left Thailand. Thank you, also, for enlightening Endure – your reply was spot on.

You (and any most other posters) are still very welcome to visit me anytime, though one cassava farm looks much like the next. I too hope that my “glass is half full” posts do not mislead those thinking of taking up farming but there are enough “my glass is half empty” post(er)s to balance things – and that is both good and necessary. I do wish that some of those posters that started cassava growing would come back with reports of their experiences – negative or positive. I remember one was going to lay down irrigation on, I think, 200 rai as his first attempt at growing cassava (this may well have been divulged in a phonecall-only rather than a post – I’m not sure). I tried to talk him out of going to that expense before learning to cultivate the crop as others initially. I’d love to hear back from him as to how it all turned out but can’t recall his name.

Loong, I’m just happy that you found my thread to be useful; I’ll join your current cassava thread in a day or so with some comments I’d like to add.

Jotham79: I don’t recall reading posts from you in the past (might just be my dreadful memory) but I’ll be sure to now because I consider your post to be the best. Right on the mark. I have made so, SO, many mistakes during my initial years of farming that have cost me many hundreds of thousands of baht. Perseverance is key. There exists a best and viable farming solution pertinent to any farmer’s locale, environment, ability, and lifestyle but it can take sweat, time and money to figure it out. I too have told “newbies” to spend time (weeks or months) pouring through this fantastic resource. The early posts are indeed very difficult to readily access but they are archived and are still searchable. I regard time spent on this research to be necessary due diligence. I have, on occasion, found newbies to be less than impressed with this suggestion, hoping for us to constantly (and without reward) make things easier for them by re-writing all that has been already written. Such people are destined to fail in their pipedreams of succeeding in farming.

Possum1931, I’ve just read your post having already written the above (offline as usual) – thanks for your comments. As you see above, I too think Jotham’s post was great. I don’t recall if you have contributed to the farming forum before but I hope to hear about your own experiences if you are farming here (I understand that we also have many reading this forum who are not yet engaged in farming, and that’s great too).

Regards

Khonwan

PS I’m sorry if I come across as preaching – I guess it is because I studied philosophy and THEOLOGY in my early life.

(Edited to correct spacing)

Edited July 29, 2012 by Khonwan

[pigeonjake]

hi there,

well i for one am glad to see you back,

i dont like to see anyone go away, in my opinion everyone has something to share,

even the novice and i think im a novice,

ive never been afraid to ask for advice from falang or thai, nobody knows averything, if we can all get along and help each other then that would be great,

i for one love reading what goes on on other peoples farms, even if im not doing what they do, i still like to read about things and try and learn,

so from jake, thank you to all the posters on TV

[Bluetongue]

I've been trying to put together a reasonable response to this thread in my head. I've failed but Jake pretty much covered it. I come here mainly to find stuff out by trawling through the search function. I'm not prolific but I do appreciate any input when I do have to go to print. Most of my interest in actual farming at the moment is not of the mainstream but I still get a few replies. I think we do have a fairly common interest though in dealing with all people here in Thailand and the collective awareness and experience of that is very reassuring to me.

[endure]

Maizefarmer hasn't posted since 2010. Chownah hasn't posted since 2008. It's not really reasonable to criticise people who haven't been around Thaivisa for the past 2-4 years.

In fairness to Khonwan,I think he was merely stating historical fact and not criticising, if you recall ,it was not hard to get into a verbal stoush with either one of the beforementioned members.

He implied that Maizefarmer was a liar in that he didn't live in Thailand when he said he did.

[ozzydom]

Maizefarmer hasn't posted since 2010. Chownah hasn't posted since 2008. It's not really reasonable to criticise people who haven't been around Thaivisa for the past 2-4 years.

In fairness to Khonwan,I think he was merely stating historical fact and not criticising, if you recall ,it was not hard to get into a verbal stoush with either one of the beforementioned members.

He implied that Maizefarmer was a liar in that he didn't live in Thailand when he said he did.

Did you ever meet Maizefarmer in person endure?I know many members looked for him or his farm but never heard of anybody physically meeting him.

[endure]

Maizefarmer hasn't posted since 2010. Chownah hasn't posted since 2008. It's not really reasonable to criticise people who haven't been around Thaivisa for the past 2-4 years.

In fairness to Khonwan,I think he was merely stating historical fact and not criticising, if you recall ,it was not hard to get into a verbal stoush with either one of the beforementioned members.

He implied that Maizefarmer was a liar in that he didn't live in Thailand when he said he did.

Did you ever meet Maizefarmer in person endure?I know many members looked for him or his farm but never heard of anybody physically meeting him.

What's that got to do with calling someone who hasn't posted on TV for 2 years a liar?

[cdmtdm]

in my humble opinion .... the main reason i am attracted to this topic is the respect shown to others .... 99 percent of the time anyway ...

[endure]

in my humble opinion .... the main reason i am attracted to this topic is the respect shown to others .... 99 percent of the time anyway ...

I agree completely. It's not very respectful to accuse someone of lying when it's unlikely that they can defend themselves and rebut the accusation.

[cdmtdm]

in my humble opinion .... the main reason i am attracted to this topic is the respect shown to others .... 99 percent of the time anyway ...

I agree completely. It's not very respectful to accuse someone of lying when it's unlikely that they can defend themselves and rebut the accusation.

and forgiveness ..so lets move along and get back to the great forum we have available to us all ...

[Khonwan]

Endure

You say I called him a liar – your word, not mine. I simply stand by what I said. I have a certain amount of knowledge that I cannot go into here and I do personally also know the member who went to great lengths to track him down based on MF’s own revelations. I’ve already had much of this out directly with MZ in posts (most of which I think were eventually deleted). MZ is welcome to come back and explain himself should he wish. And since there is zero evidence that anyone knows him here in Thailand, he is unlikely to be able to be embarrassed by anyone.

Anyway, you seem determined to derail this thread. Please keep on topic (that goes for the previous poster too) or take your argument up with me via PM.

[somo]

I've been trying to put together a reasonable response to this thread in my head. I've failed but Jake pretty much covered it. I come here mainly to find stuff out by trawling through the search function. I'm not prolific but I do appreciate any input when I do have to go to print. Most of my interest in actual farming at the moment is not of the mainstream but I still get a few replies. I think we do have a fairly common interest though in dealing with all people here in Thailand and the collective awareness and experience of that is very reassuring to me.

I too have been pondering a reply.

This thread talks about the nature of this online community and I find it quite ironic that we

sometimes mirror a typical Thai village with our petty spats and quarrels. The thing is to not let

that get out of hand and grow into something bigger. Villagers are often guilty of that and

we should learn not to make the same mistake.

All of us here are, I think, a little bit special in that most farangs do not end up trying to make

go of farming in Thailand. 99% of them are back home and most of them would love to have the guts to do what we are doing.

The thing is they do not!

Sometimes things are tough but so what. We should not let that be too strong an influence on the mood here and in the words of the brilliant

Dr John (The Night Tripper) we gotta:

"Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive,

Eliminate that negative

Catch on to the Affirmative

Don't mess with Mr In Between"

Yeah

Edited July 30, 2012 by somo

[metisdead]

Trolling posts have been removed.

[Rsquared]

I know I am new to this forum..........but Khonwan's comments moved me.

I was initially invited here by a fellow member and am happy to be a part of it.

There is so much good intelligent advice for like-minded members here, I find it disappointing that sometimes it slides into the mentality of those who frequent the General Forum.

@ Khonwan.......I have never heard so many warm and respectful comments directed to one individual as yourself.

I regret that I wasn't here a lot earlier to appreciate your well documented knowledge.

Cheers.