Thais & Big Trees

[Lourens]

The sad thing is that I lost a big tree that I was hoping to keep. We are busy establishing a garden at home. Now, I’m not a tree hugger or anything but what is it with Thais and big trees? They are forever cutting them down and when I ask why, I’m told it’s because they may fall over onto the house. There was no possibility of that tree falling on the house and it took many years of root growth to prevent that. Especially this particular tree. It had roots going down forever and it took a mighty big hole to try and get rid of them. Even then, it wasn’t all removed. And as I was sitting outside one morning, mourning this loss, a neighbor across from us started to cut down another two big old palm trees because he was going to build a chicken coup and these trees might fall over onto it and kill his precious chickens. I wanted to shout: “Go build your blasted chicken coup somewhere else!” but then, you try to explain global warming and the greenhouse effect to an Isaan farmer living off the fat of the land. Besides, I’m just a farang living in their country and I don’t want to make trouble. It is a strange situation to be in and frustrating at times but that is what I chose. I just hate seeing beautiful old big trees being cut down.

Has anyone else had a similar experience?

Read more on my BLOG

[h90]

yes Thais and enviroment is a bad story.

I found that people in the south are more sensitiv. but beeing more sensitiv than nothing is still not to much.....

sometimes I try to theach them, best experiences I had with food quality, there they were most sensitiv, but also only if you mix bad companies, bad politics only you because poor get cheated, good working is over nationalistic tricks "these bad companies do it in thailand because in their motherland they are not allowed to do it, so they put their shit into thailand"

but for not cutting the trees.... difficult .... try to explain them if everone cuts the trees, there is a shortage on water, which will increase the lao kao price soon.......

The sad thing is that I lost a big tree that I was hoping to keep. We are busy establishing a garden at home. Now, I’m not a tree hugger or anything but what is it with Thais and big trees? They are forever cutting them down and when I ask why, I’m told it’s because they may fall over onto the house. There was no possibility of that tree falling on the house and it took many years of root growth to prevent that. Especially this particular tree. It had roots going down forever and it took a mighty big hole to try and get rid of them. Even then, it wasn’t all removed. And as I was sitting outside one morning, mourning this loss, a neighbor across from us started to cut down another two big old palm trees because he was going to build a chicken coup and these trees might fall over onto it and kill his precious chickens. I wanted to shout: “Go build your blasted chicken coup somewhere else!” but then, you try to explain global warming and the greenhouse effect to an Isaan farmer living off the fat of the land. Besides, I’m just a farang living in their country and I don’t want to make trouble. It is a strange situation to be in and frustrating at times but that is what I chose. I just hate seeing beautiful old big trees being cut down.

Has anyone else had a similar experience?

Read more on my BLOG

[lingling]

The sad thing is that I lost a big tree that I was hoping to keep. We are busy establishing a garden at home. Now, I’m not a tree hugger or anything but what is it with Thais and big trees? They are forever cutting them down and when I ask why, I’m told it’s because they may fall over onto the house. There was no possibility of that tree falling on the house and it took many years of root growth to prevent that. Especially this particular tree. It had roots going down forever and it took a mighty big hole to try and get rid of them. Even then, it wasn’t all removed. And as I was sitting outside one morning, mourning this loss, a neighbor across from us started to cut down another two big old palm trees because he was going to build a chicken coup and these trees might fall over onto it and kill his precious chickens. I wanted to shout: “Go build your blasted chicken coup somewhere else!” but then, you try to explain global warming and the greenhouse effect to an Isaan farmer living off the fat of the land. Besides, I’m just a farang living in their country and I don’t want to make trouble. It is a strange situation to be in and frustrating at times but that is what I chose. I just hate seeing beautiful old big trees being cut down.

Has anyone else had a similar experience?

Read more on my BLOG

Was it your tree? If so, did you get to keep the wood? Could be that he just wanted the wood for his new chicken coup...

[markuk]

probably to sell the wood.

[gburns57au]

The sad thing is that I lost a big tree that I was hoping to keep. We are busy establishing a garden at home. Now, I’m not a tree hugger or anything but what is it with Thais and big trees? They are forever cutting them down and when I ask why, I’m told it’s because they may fall over onto the house. There was no possibility of that tree falling on the house and it took many years of root growth to prevent that. Especially this particular tree. It had roots going down forever and it took a mighty big hole to try and get rid of them. Even then, it wasn’t all removed. And as I was sitting outside one morning, mourning this loss, a neighbor across from us started to cut down another two big old palm trees because he was going to build a chicken coup and these trees might fall over onto it and kill his precious chickens. I wanted to shout: “Go build your blasted chicken coup somewhere else!” but then, you try to explain global warming and the greenhouse effect to an Isaan farmer living off the fat of the land. Besides, I’m just a farang living in their country and I don’t want to make trouble. It is a strange situation to be in and frustrating at times but that is what I chose. I just hate seeing beautiful old big trees being cut down.

Has anyone else had a similar experience?

Read more on my BLOG

Did you ever catch up with Barry in Baan Kruad.....thats the other Sth African who lived in Perth.

[tavarich]

My wife is a killer of trees. When we bought our land four years ago, it had a nice jungle look. Thats what attracted me to it. I was thinking with a canopy like this there would be no need for the A/C running all the time. Well long story short, I didn't pick my words just right because when I came back a few months later it was mostly gone. I never said don't cut the trees I only said I liked all the trees. It just wasn't the same for me there after that. I lost interest in it. She did try and make me feel better by putting in several mangoes and lemon trees.

[Neeranam]

It's because ghosts like to live in trees, and trees can give off lots of negative vibes.

[Bung]

This is a topic close to my heart!

I have been pi##ed off plenty of times around my place with locals wrecking my trees.

Examples are:

Ripping branches off whenever they get remotely in their way

Hacking their machetes into them to have somewhere to hold them.

Cleaning excess paint of by brushing the trunk.

I don't get it, you have a nice tree and some shade and they will rip it down and have nothing but the raging sun beating down on them. And nowhere for their hammocks!

Maybe it is Neeranams theory.

I had some goats and they weren't much better.

[pnustedt]

I too am appalled at the way trees are felled. Frequently for the wood or for making charcoal but often for no apparent reason.

The family seem to have got the message now tho and don't hack down any trees on our land - unless really necessary and even then I am consulted first. My wife has now got her eye on some land she wants to buy because it has a lot of beautiful trees on it and we have been buying trees for planting.

At least the trees grow pretty quickly in Thailand.

[lopburi3]

The original answer was probably true. The tree may fall over and destroy the house. Thai have no insurance so prevention is the only option. If we lived on the edge we would not be quite as "Green" as we like to make ourselves out to be I am afraid.

That said it is a shame that in many cases there is no apparent rhyme or reason. But I have a great deal more concern about the forest encroachment than homeowners.

[marquess]

At the back of my house there is a kind of bush tree, well it wasn't a bush tree before. Anyway the guy next door took it on himself to cut the thing down, thus spoiling my view. When the tree grew back in a slightly more bushy form a couple of years, later. The people living on the otherside under took to cut it down, fortunately, I was in and saw what they were doing and managed to stop them. I have since asked my wife to tell them both to leave it alone and only concern themselves, with any branches that might stray over to their side. I have to keep a constant vigil. One of the neighbours is quite good now, and will say that he had to cut it for this or that reason, but the one on the other side, is obsessive and has to be constanlty reminded to leave it alone, as the area in which it is growing is our area and not theirs!

[terdsak_12]

There's a couple of birds nesting in a tree in my yard, so the maid thought it would be funny to scare them off. Until she saw my face, hasn't been near the tree since.

[zzap]

Yeah, Thais and animals - that can be a very sad story.

[Lourens]

Did you ever catch up with Barry in Baan Kruad.....thats the other Sth African who lived in Perth.

Never did catch up with him but really hope to do so some time.

I never thought of Neeranam's theory: "It's because ghosts like to live in trees, and trees can give off lots of negative vibes." I'll ask my wife.

And it never was just for the wood. If that was the case I would'nt mind that much. At least the trees are being used. There was a big bamboo bush in the vicinity that also got cut down but that was used to build a house and I can accept that. But wood from a palm tree is not worth much.

I saw a piece of land up a mountain (hill) nearby that I will aquire soon and put a huge fence around it. And the rule will be that no trees will be felled there. My wife is fine with this idea. I just hope it will stay that way.