FLIES. its a NIGHTMARE! How to stop?

[thelongshoot]

Ahh man.... I have no idea what is going on but moved into a new house and its like a hotel for flies. Its a nice big house, clean, not old, and the mrs seems to spend most of the time cleaning so its not a hygene thing. Plus my mate who lives around the corner says he has the same issue and its a recent thing.

There must be 100 of them in or around the house, As I write this there are about 20 of them just walking around on the lounge floor. They gather in little mobs and fly away when you get up and startle them.

Im constantly waving my arms around swatting them away and its driving me nuts!

I spent 3000 baht on a nice mosquito black hole thing that the bloke said works for flies also. It dosent. Neither does the electric zapper thing with a blue light that cost 1500 baht. Im too bloody slow to swat them and they dont annoy my mrs half as much as they do me, so she only occasionaly swats them.

Fly spray no good. Kills them for a while but reinforcments arive in 10 mins and i have a dog so dont like too much toxic spray kicking about.

Any tips? Any machine out there i can buy? They are pissing me off so much i would even say money is no object.

Apart from this - why the hell are there so many of them?

[bunta71]

Spraying a strong solution of bleach and water around does wonders. Only problem is it gets slippery when wet. An old restaurant trick that I use...

[skyaslimit]

Ahh man.... I have no idea what is going on but moved into a new house and its like a hotel for flies.  Its a nice big house, clean, not old, and the mrs seems to spend most of the time cleaning so its not a hygene thing.  Plus my mate who lives around the corner says he has the same issue and its a recent thing.

 

There must be 100 of them in or around the house,  As I write this there are about 20 of them just walking around on the lounge floor.  They gather in little mobs and fly away when you get up and startle them.

 

Im constantly waving my arms around swatting them away and its driving me nuts!

 

I spent 3000 baht on a nice mosquito black hole thing that the bloke said works for flies also.  It dosent.  Neither does the electric zapper thing with a blue light that cost 1500 baht.  Im too bloody slow to swat them and they dont annoy my mrs half as much as they do me, so she only occasionaly swats them.

 

Fly spray no good.  Kills them for a while but reinforcments arive in 10 mins and i have a dog so dont like too much toxic spray kicking about.

 

Any tips?  Any machine out there i can buy?  They are pissing me off so much i would even say money is no object.

 

Apart from this - why the hell are there so many of them?

There is an old Thai technic ; find some empty plastic bottles (1.5 liters, pepsi or coke bottles are fine) remove all stickers , wash thoroughly, fill with plain water and place them in and around your place. I saw this so many times here and asked an old lady what purpose it serves and she told me this technic works fine with common flies.

[Jasun]

You could dump something tasty closer to your neighbour's house. Tie ribbons on fans. Use reflectors. Citronella works on flies as well as mozzies. Last resort, get some spiders.

[thhMan]

Ahhh... The great Aussie Salute !!!

Yep... I have noticed more flies buzzing about than usual....

Ive also noticed more lazy Thais dumping their garbage on the side of roads and more Soi Dogs being fed by do gooders, tearing into garbage bins...

[Payboy]

Get a few pet toads.

[kurnell]

No flies. Just thousands of mozzies.

[KhunBENQ]

There are many pictures of such simple fly traps from bottles.

Just do a Google picture search for "กับดักแมลงวันขวด" (trap fly bottle).

But I doubt, that plain water is useful, you will probably need some sugar to get a sweet mix.

Simple example:

Another technique used is glue sticks, like this:

You can also simply purchase the glue. e.g. at BigC and smear it on some carton or the like.

Edited July 12, 2013 by KhunBENQ

[NanLaew]

But where are the OP's flies coming from? The house will be littered with chopped up plastic bottle fly-traps and yards of sticky paper and sticks and STILL have flies buzzing in and out.

Flies (maggots) hatch in organic materials and even in moist ground. Maybe a neighbour has a noodle meat ball factory and dumps the pretty foul effluent nearby; saw that in Udon once. Rotting fruit and vegetation? Any banana plantations nearby? A poorly managed compost heap (usually a farang thing)? Moobahn garbage pile nearby? Restaurant waste bins?

Find the source!

[giddyup]

You can't beat screens on windows and doors, but I guess if you're renting that's not practical.

[farang000999]

i can assure you that your flies are not random. They are there for something. Is your sewage backed up? Leaky pipe? Take a good look around.

[greg71]

You do have mosquito screens? if so keep them closed

[arthurwait]

Yep something is attracting them. Find what it is and get rid.

Is there something on the floor where they gather ? Really clean the area whether you can see something or not.

[jcgodber]

I have lived here now for many years. I too cannot tolerate fries and bugs in the house. We never have flies inside. The very first thing I did was to screen all windows large and small.

Do what most Thais don't , KEEP THE DOORS CLOSED !

One of the most important things I did was spend about 5000 baht and install a garbage disposer. Many Thais put their food scraps in bowls outside for the dogs and chickens! NEVER LEAVE FOOD OUTSIDE !

I have 4 cats I never leave their food out for the flies and critters. The cats eat 2 times a day and then their uneaten food is put away, except for dry food .

To try to control the mosquitoes we have removed all standing water that has gathered from the rains

good luck

[Scully]

Flies thrive when it rains, there always tends to be many more in rain season.

I'm just saying so you don't give up the house.

[manly100]

back on the farm we got a large cardboard box, cut the top off it insert a bright light in the bottom then plaster the inside of the box with heavy machine grease. the bugs are attracted to the light and get stuck in the grease. you could probably get the whole house fitted with fly screens for about 10000 baht, worth it if your staying a while.

[pattayadingo]

Do you have a cesspit? That could be the answer.

If no cesspit obviously ignore this

[bunnydrops]

They come and go here, Many for a day or two and then gone. I tried the fly traps made out of plastic bottles. Didn't work. I tried putting just about everything I could think of from sugar water to chicken meat in them-- they were not interested ( I thought about dog shit--but naa). They didn't seem to be attracted to anything in particular. They just seem to hang around. There is a fly bait on the market, sold in feed stores in the States. Don't know if it can be had here. THAT really works.

[glegolo]

I live up in Isaan. Firstly this thing with plastic bottles filled with just water seems to be a popular solution.... But is it really that great????

Up here amongst people, they hang these waterfilled 1,5l filled with water on the gates mostly because to keep the dogs away from peeing in their territory just there..... When seeing that amount of water, that gives the dog a hint that he is not needed just here, go pee somewhere else...

I agree with what some of you guys already has said, and that is that if you have flies you do also have dirt laying around, same goes for ants.. I have seen thai clean, and that kind of cleaning is completely different from western cleaning.... We call it in Sweden "Eye-servant-cleaning, meaning that the cleaning only look good from a distance, but when checking it up there is a lot of dirt.... One wet towel and sweep the whole dam_n foor in one sweap without changing the water..... They just sweap the shit from one part of the room to another part of it....

So I think that there must be dirt and NOT so cleaned areas in the house.... My wife, not saying yours, is preferring to use the chalk instead of cleaning... We have sometimes a LOT of chalk here.. hahaha..

Glegolo

Edited July 13, 2013 by glegolo

[kikoman]

Even when I rented, I installed screens on the rental! First I had the landlord give written permission for me to do so and the right for me to keep my screens when I left. Before I moved in and signed a lease.

When I built my house we built the windows and doors to the same specifications as the size of the screens, The hardest part to that was to have my Thai neighbors and family to close the doors, it took a while but open doors are no longer a problem, I also use fly paper in the outside kitchen to control flies, it looks unsightly but very effective and after getting rid of the first hordes of flies now with so few flies stuck to them they do not look so bad.

We also placed a garbage can with a proper lid, in which to place the garbage and take it to the garbage bin in front of the house every night. We have the problem mostly under control, but the whole family must work together to effectively control our fly problem.

Cheers:

[thequietman]

Just squat down and park a nice brown swiss roll in the middle of your floor. The flies will only go to this. When it is all consumed, just squat and repeat.

Its cheap, effective and you won't run out of supplies of swiss roll. If you are a beer drinker, best to get the wife to make the deposit. You don't want to make a mess after all.

Good luck.

[giddyup]

Even when I rented, I installed screens on the rental! First I had the landlord give written permission for me to do so and the right for me to keep my screens when I left. Before I moved in and signed a lease.

When I built my house we built the windows and doors to the same specifications as the size of the screens, The hardest part to that was to have my Thai neighbors and family to close the doors, it took a while but open doors are no longer a problem, I also use fly paper in the outside kitchen to control flies, it looks unsightly but very effective and after getting rid of the first hordes of flies now with so few flies stuck to them they do not look so bad.

We also placed a garbage can with a proper lid, in which to place the garbage and take it to the garbage bin in front of the house every night. We have the problem mostly under control, but the whole family must work together to effectively control our fly problem.

Cheers:

I agree that screens are the answer. I had mine put in as soon as I bought the house, and we get very, very few insects inside. The odd fly that does get in usually flys in when we're coming in or going out. Don't have any mosquitos either.

[loong]

They come and go here, Many for a day or two and then gone. I tried the fly traps made out of plastic bottles. Didn't work. I tried putting just about everything I could think of from sugar water to chicken meat in them-- they were not interested ( I thought about dog shit--but naa). They didn't seem to be attracted to anything in particular. They just seem to hang around. There is a fly bait on the market, sold in feed stores in the States. Don't know if it can be had here. THAT really works.

Just about the best bait for the traps is over-ripe mango. The only thing that the flies seem to prefer is whatever I am eating at any particular time!!

[Netizen]

Zip the fly. Problem solved.

[monkey4u]

Do you have a cesspit? That could be the answer.

If no cesspit obviously ignore this

I have an uncle named CesPit

[dansan]

How to make a Penny Fly Bag

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bst_x7NJo-Y

Cheezy video but you will get the idea.

[Suradit69]

Do you have a cesspit? That could be the answer.

If no cesspit obviously ignore this

"If no cesspit obviously ignore this " Great Saturday morning laugh. Thanks.

Not sure how effective this is but it sounds fairly easy and if it fails you can eat the basil.

There are about a million kinds of basil and new varieties being introduced all the time. Basil is a beautiful fragrant plant that grows easily in most climates. It even tolerates the dry, Texas heat pretty well.

Most people know fresh basil is delicious in pesto, tomato based dishes, and salads but did you also know that it is one of the best ways to keep flies out of your house? Just plant basil next to the doors, use as a foundation planting mixed in with your flowers, or plant in containers. The flies will stay far away.

You can grow basil in containers by your picnic table or on your patio and cut a nice size bunch of it to decorate the blanket with when you go to a remote picnic spot. As an added bonus, mosquitoes don't like it either. Choose your favorite, all the basil that I have tried works equally as well.

Edited July 13, 2013 by Suradit69

[pattayadingo]

Do you have a cesspit? That could be the answer.

If no cesspit obviously ignore this

"If no cesspit obviously ignore this "

Great Saturday morning laugh. Thanks.

My pleasure is your pleasure

[sunshine51]

Put a couple dozen gecko's in your place...that'll do it.

Or you can get one of those CO2 powered pistols which

shoot 3mm plastic balls and have a go...just watch out

for your pets and the missus.

[habfan]

Even when I rented, I installed screens on the rental! First I had the landlord give written permission for me to do so and the right for me to keep my screens when I left. Before I moved in and signed a lease.

When I built my house we built the windows and doors to the same specifications as the size of the screens, The hardest part to that was to have my Thai neighbors and family to close the doors, it took a while but open doors are no longer a problem, I also use fly paper in the outside kitchen to control flies, it looks unsightly but very effective and after getting rid of the first hordes of flies now with so few flies stuck to them they do not look so bad.

We also placed a garbage can with a proper lid, in which to place the garbage and take it to the garbage bin in front of the house every night. We have the problem mostly under control, but the whole family must work together to effectively control our fly problem.

Cheers:

Lot's of flies outside my house but with the screens very few get inside. Getting my sons to close the doors though is a different ball of wax and has now become my full time job. I seem to remember my parents always telling me SHUT THE DAMN DOOR when I was a kid so I hope there're enjoying the payback where ever they are.