Cannot lose money in pigs teerak...hmmmm

[dao16]

It sounds like OP is on about a bigger investment than I have seen in my wife's village, but I know several families that do very well with pigs on a smaller scale. They have the proverbial pig pens, with all the smell, noise and slop that entails. They feed them and monitor their health, etc. on a daily basis. There is a big upfront investment which won't pay off until the piglets start rolling in and you have a cycle of mature pigs to sell to market.

All of the ones I have seen running for years are just one facet of the families' income (imagine the pig pen, chicken around, ducks, fish, a small shop out front, some cows, and maybe a tractor or some other vehicle they use to make money).

I would be hesitant to throw money into this venture or any other in the countryside. Most people have no idea how to maintain things and before you know it the pigs will be gone, sold or given away, and the pig pen wood will be put to another use, like planks for some other structure.

Good luck.

Edited March 14, 2015 by dao16

[neeray]

Bravo for "dirtycash". You did due diligence by putting your venture up for criticism and comments on TV Forum.

And you took the advice offered and made an intelligent decision.

The Isaan farm girl probably smells pretty good but this pig deal smells kind of bad.

[Kerryd]

Funny, I had a girlfriend last year that wanted me to invest in a pig farm as well, in Sa Kaeo. That was after I said no to the "condo sales" plan and no to the "illegal lottery" plan. Seems her mom had a small piece of land (I could buy of course) and was already raising buffalo (jing jing, complete with some pictures of some buffalo in an open shed/feeding area) !

She must have believed me when I said I couldn't afford to invest in anything like that ! (Even if I could afford to pile up 500,000 baht in the driveway, throw a match on it and not shed a tear I wouldn't have gone for it.)

Of course I am a bit jaded in my outlook now. I've had a couple of people want me to invest my money in their business ideas, mostly because they can't get any more loans from the banks, their credit cards are all maxed and overdue and they have lots of outstanding bills. They can't make a profit off of the businesses they currently run (or they spend it faster than they earn it) so need outside cash (preferably mine) to try something new.

Apparently I'm not much of a businessman though (according to them) as I don't understand why, when you see a small soi with say 2-3 laundries or moto repair shops already (barely) running, it's a good idea to start up another identical business and try to undercut the others ! It seems that people that "know" business (unlike me) think that's a great idea ! (Though in all fairness it does seem to work for 7/11 and Family Mart !)

Of course "you" can't lose money in pig farming, if "you" aren't the one putting the money into it ! If it's someone else's money and the business doesn't work hey, sell everything and pocket the proceeds ! "You" can't lose !

[gemguy]

Run Forest Run

Other than that: Can you make money pig farming?

Yes you can...but do you want to be raising pigs for a living ...as it is not easy and it is messy and they stink while anyone within 100 feet of you can smell the Pig Farmer in their vicinity.

The other factor is you have very little control over how the money would be spent and or spent judiciously on everything entailed to do it correctly

You would be considered very vulnerable and not in control of very much, other than doling out the money if you were to be the one financing this project.

I would say: NO...NO...NO......rather find a business or investment where you are in control of everything or near everything and certainly in control of the cash flow and the profits when you finally realize the return on your investment(s)

Cheers

[paddyjoe41]

All the girls love a farang and all of them have been schooled from a very early age how and what to say,especially the ones from Issan,no disrespect to them,its a remote area and no farang regardless of how large the bank balance will ever get a fair deal.How do you think her ma got her pigs and land?one things for sure it wasent Granpapa.As said before you have what you have through your previous hard work,you dont need more hard work and a lot of headaches,just to get broke.

[RT555]

Amazing people. That's all I have to say.

[mikiea]

I cant believe your even considering it after only a two months of being together.

I lived in Isaan for a few years too, and I think unless your getting married, FORGET IT.

oh no , no intentions after a couple months. just wanted to find out if there is any truth in what she says about pig farming as i allready suspected from the start that she doesnt know what shes talking about or else her mama would be doing it allready !!!

or she is trying to play me like a deck of cards

dude you have already been played, she knew you would not go for the pig farm idea. now all that is left is how much cash ya gunna give her for breaking her heart with the kibosh on the piggy farm. heheehehe..... yes you will pay. and yes she has done this before.... :-)

[Araiwa]

Just ask her for a detailed business plan. Industry analysis, customer anlysis, competitors, who will manage the business, financial projection, operational planning, legal issues, etc.

My prediction: she has no idea what you are talking about. Mama and papa and brothers and sisters and nieces and nephews and grandmother and grandfather just told her that a pig farm is a good business. And believe me when I say that it will not stop at 500,000.- THB.

3 years ago my wife (also Isaan) had a similar brilliant idea: fish and chicken farm. I was clever enough not to invest even 1 Baht. It was all her own money, money she inherited from her deceased husband. Her "senior technical advisors" were her older sister and her husband. Both rice farmers with 4 years school education. Of course she never listened to me. "Honey, farang don´t know. No need business plan in Thailand. My family know how to do." Well, I "enjoyed" the show. After she invested 2 million Baht she finally realised how stupid she was. Now her family and their neighbours enjoy Nam Bplaa Nin, the chicken died all, she never sold even 1 fish and she still has to pay all running costs (electricity, water, maintenance, etc.)

[maybefitz]

An alternative perspective; in rural CM, a lot of pig-farming, (and chickens too) are that you link to a total firm, like Betagrow. They supply the piglets and the food, all you do is fatten them up. Then after about 5 months the big firm arrange collection and take to market. You get the pay for fattening them up, that's all. I say this from experience - yes, I started a capital loan of 1m bt to my new wife to start a pig farm for 600 pigs. That was 13 years ago. She employed family members, so that kept the family happy. She's a good business woman, the pig farm has grown to 1,800 pigs, with alternative fuel system of methane from the pig shit. My wife has now developed 12 rai of Lumyai orchard, and a chicken farm for 10,000 chickens, (same system as the pig farm).

I know of another farang locally with a similar story - so in essence, to the OP, it can be done, despite all the doom-merchants of TV

[bigguy]

I cant believe your even considering it after only a two months of being together.

I lived in Isaan for a few years too, and I think unless your getting married, FORGET IT.

oh no , no intentions after a couple months. just wanted to find out if there is any truth in what she says about pig farming as i allready suspected from the start that she doesnt know what shes talking about or else her mama would be doing it allready !!!

or she is trying to play me like a deck of cards

A deck of cards huh??? And I know what TWO CARDS you are,,, lets see, ah yes, JOKER comes to mind..A couple of years ago whilst having a beer at the in-laws I said something about using some of the land to raise pigs. My father-in-law fell off the porch laughing, as he called me a Crazy Farang.. Never mentioned pigs again..

[Barin]

If the Family dont Skin You, C.P. will.They get all their info from your food suppliers they own in the area,know exactly what u got then drop their prices to hurt your margins.If youre big, they approach you to raise for them, same as they do to Fish Farmers.

This is a mafia style approach, isn't it?

[samsensam]

What previous experience does she have of running a pig farm?

What makes you think she could run one successfully now?

(or any other business for that matter)

How many new Thai business ventures have you seen fail within 6 months with a total loss to all investors?

exactly.

all the above plus:

what is her job now?

what is her work ethic? how hard does she work now?

how does she manage her income? is she financially aware?

is she able to put a basic business plan together - you can give her the headings and information you need - so you can then independently check her facts and figures?

dont let your personal feelings cloud your judgement. would you consider going into business with someone with the same proposition/proposal if you didnt have personal feelings for them?

[ozyjon]

I just couldn't wait to reply quickly enough.

It sounds exactly like my ex, in the exact

same region,, tried the same thing with me

they (family) wanted to be rich, knew of a

young Dutch guy married to a Thai girl who

ran a pig farm and were very successful

selling piglets, the family wanted to do the same.

They were from the region close to you.

After so many previous failed business starts i

think, not another one, my girl hounds me for

the same amount of money you describe, oh i

just can't deal with lazy Issan people always

looking for the JACKPOT falang,, i stood my

ground and refused to hand over the cash,

within a week they kicked me out of my house,

i was really happy to leave, now i think i have

been replaced by a new JACKPOT, you.

good luck, please PM me with more information

as i would love to tell you more of the missing

pieces,, one thing the Issan people hate more

in the whole world, the dreaded 4 letter word,,,,

W-O-R-K

[maderaroja]

Why not become a partner with an unrelated Chinese-Thai person who will put up the 51% and establish a legitimate business? Then, there are many advantages that may accrue to you; work permit, home ownership, etc.

[ozyjon]

Does that mean u are putting in half 250k.I think it sounds interesting.Watched a program about pig farming in Spain the other night.It was the poorest region in Spain and the farmers didnt realise how much there pigs were selling for.These were the wild type -black rather than pink.Keep researching and keep your options open and good luck.

Yes i live there, the pigs make for wonderful spicy

sausage of many varieties and Parma ham, they

are not bred for pork cutlets or the hot dog type

food, they are a dark meat with great flavour, i

can't see the Thais eating Spanish chourico.

[Dannyboy666]

i see there is a lot of expert pig farmers posting here, and i bet half of them have never seen a pig,

you can make money from pig farming,!

its all about getting the right contacts,

we buy our feed direct from a mill, saying on starter feed 200bht a bag down to finnishing feed we save 48bht a bag from the feed shop prices,

we buy our piglets in at 800 to 1200 bht a piglet depending on size,

it take us 4 months to grow them out to 100 kilo and at the moment its 55 bht a kilo farm gate price

its takes aprox 6 bags of feed per pig, so you can say 2700bht to rear,+ say 1200 per piglet= 3900

at 100 kilo we get 5500 per pig, sometimes more,

at the moment its at least 1600 bht profit,

and we sell between 20 and 40 pigs a month,

its 840 here and ive just finnished the cleaning and feeding,

we also have ducks for eggs and meat and chickens for the same,my wife sells eggs everyday, and we have just started selling a few fish as the pond behind the pig stys was just doing nothing, now every 3 month we put in and take out 1000 cat fish,

so please done comment unless you know what your talking about, thats the trouble with TV nowadays,

TO MANY EXPERTS WHO KNOW F££K ALL

No Jake, there are too many like You.. O.K. It suits your lifestyle, respect your resolve, but then you choose to insult posters offering sound opinions to the O.P. question..Its hard work,and not easy money.All you need is to upset the Locals, have no work permit,local admin to shut you down, YES even upcountry , and ones lost the Lot.

i dont have a problem with posters giving advice, ive had plenty of it on here in the old days, from some of the old pig farmers on here,

what really pisses me off is that some posters just jump on the old band wagon that all thai girls are going to rip you off,

not one of the posters on here know this girl that the OP has met,

YET ALL ARE SAYING SHE IS JUST AFTER YOU MONEY HER FAMILY ARE NO GOOD THEY WILL THROW YOU OUT WHEN THE MONEY IS GONE,

please tell me how they can all come to this conclusion?

they are not all the same my friend, i dont live in issan now were near it but i dont think that all the girls from there are bad, im not that small minded,

thats what gets me,

and as for the locals round were i live i would say they are fine, they have all seen me making my pig stys laying blocks ect,(my dad was a builder) so i do most of my own building work too,

sometimes when i off getting piglets they will ask can i pick them a couple up, not a problem, i even sell them feed, at a much lower cost then the shops,

i just wish some would get away from there bar stool and stop looking through beer glasses, as not all thai girls are bad,

and yes you could say im still looking through rose tinted glasses, but my god they havnt fell of yet and thats after 9 years,

and to the other poster who asked about how much money goes back into my bank account,

ill put it this way, we dont touch my money from my offshore work we live very very well from our farm, my wife keeps excelent books for when i get home, i dont even bother to look at them, see its all about trust, and that seams to be lacking in a lot of the posters on here,

i came home on the 8th from my last trip and there was 123,000bht in my desk draw,

i wanted to buy my wife a small car, ide seen a couple, proton savey auto, she cant drive but i would like her to learn,

but she wouldnt have it,, so i got her a motor bike and side car, thats what she wanted,,lol, to take the kids to school,

please believe me when i say it they are not all on the make,

you can call me lucky, i think i am,

jake

the only thing I don't like about your quote is , Why did you let her buy a motosidecar, Those things should be Banned...

[maderaroja]

All Thai sausages taste like bologna to me. Why does someone not import Italian spices to season the sausages? Why are there no dried sausages in Thailand? All things to consider when raising pigs.

Edited March 14, 2015 by maderaroja

[crazydrummerpauly]

Hope springs eternal....this has a bad smell about it - just like the pigs!

Edited March 14, 2015 by crazydrummerpauly

[off road pat]

What previous experience does she have of running a pig farm?

What makes you think she could run one successfully now?

(or any other business for that matter)

How many new Thai business ventures have you seen fail within 6 months with a total loss to all investors?

She hasn't but the parents probably have.

The OP is only good for the money he will put in......the rest is up to them.......till they get fed up with him and throw him out.

No Costas, until the realize that the OP doesen't have a unlimited....bottomless bank account...

[mick01827]

I cant believe your even considering it after only a two months of being together.

I lived in Isaan for a few years too, and I think unless your getting married, FORGET IT.

oh no , no intentions after a couple months. just wanted to find out if there is any truth in what she says about pig farming as i allready suspected from the start that she doesnt know what shes talking about or else her mama would be doing it allready !!!

or she is trying to play me like a deck of cards

Surely your answering your own questions if your questioning her reliability.

With reference to pattaya/jomtien you might want to do some research and look at putting your money into condos, there's a lot going on there at the moment and in the next 5/10 years things are going to happen

[masuk]

If they get swine fever and die or one of the many diseases that pigs get,

or just simple from over heating, you will definitely loose money.

regards Worgeordie

Your money will not only be LOOSE, but it will be LOST.

Sounds tough, but folk here seem so sweet, and it's almost painless as they extract the money.

[off road pat]

i see there is a lot of expert pig farmers posting here, and i bet half of them have never seen a pig,

you can make money from pig farming,!

its all about getting the right contacts,

we buy our feed direct from a mill, saying on starter feed 200bht a bag down to finnishing feed we save 48bht a bag from the feed shop prices,

we buy our piglets in at 800 to 1200 bht a piglet depending on size,

it take us 4 months to grow them out to 100 kilo and at the moment its 55 bht a kilo farm gate price

its takes aprox 6 bags of feed per pig, so you can say 2700bht to rear,+ say 1200 per piglet= 3900

at 100 kilo we get 5500 per pig, sometimes more,

at the moment its at least 1600 bht profit,

and we sell between 20 and 40 pigs a month,

its 840 here and ive just finnished the cleaning and feeding,

we also have ducks for eggs and meat and chickens for the same,my wife sells eggs everyday, and we have just started selling a few fish as the pond behind the pig stys was just doing nothing, now every 3 month we put in and take out 1000 cat fish,

so please done comment unless you know what your talking about, thats the trouble with TV nowadays,

TO MANY EXPERTS WHO KNOW F££K ALL

As I appreciate your knowledge and professional expertise, but most replies were about the possible scam, or further trouble loosing the OP's money....

In any case, he may have a great opportunity to make or loose a lot of money....!

Again, thank you for your Expertise.

[off road pat]

37 replies, and I just came to number 7 before I got so boared from all the simpleminded answers that I stopped reading.

It was the usual stupid stuff from people that either have absolutely no knowledge of anything outside England or USA, or from people

that themselfs have such a personalities that not even their own parents could like them, much less the thai population.....

Plse... there are scammers, lazy idiots amongst the thai people here, but for heaven sake open your Pattaya and Bangkok small eyes, and try to learn outside your own small living quarters.... There are actually decent nice thai people, and there are ways to do business and secure yourself a litlle bit..... But the main thing is.. If you come here as a falang and think that you can strike "gold".... forget it,... Just invest the amount that you feel comfortable with, and that you can afford to loose, without crying yourself to sleep...

Good luck

One of the smartest answers to the OP....

best regards. Off Road.

[steven100]

Yeh ... !! sounds great , get up there and swallow around in that pig slop for a few years ..

It'll be fantastic for you to get to know all the Nakon Sawon locals and have a real ball in that pigs swill ....

Edited March 14, 2015 by steven100

[maderaroja]

I don't see anyone using silage for animal feeds. Why is that?

[chingmai331]

Very little food value in coconut husks. Pigs can be very aggressive food seekers, will root under every fence.

And do have any idea how strong the smell of pig sh*t can be on YOU after a day in the feed lot?

[pigeonjake]

I don't see anyone using silage for animal feeds. Why is that?

if you look at my pics you will see we bed our pigs on straw, cuts down on the smell as we spray with EM, but most of the experts wont know about this, as they dont know about pigs,

when the pigs are neally at weight we buy corn at 7bht kilo we buy it by the ton, soak it again in EM and molasis, brings them on great and adds to the flavour of the meat,

but i dont understand your question,?

we can sell pig poo at 45bht a bag, but im still using all we have on our own land, ive got a small tractor and roto tiller and it goes into our land for the fruit trees,

like i said i was from farming stock in the uk, so it was what i wanted to do here,

when i do retire fully ill get sheep too,

i make beautiful lincolnshire and cumberland sausage,+ pork pies,

and believe me with using EM and molases pigs dont smell half as bad as some of the pig experts on here are saying,

its takes a couple of hours morning and evening to take care of our pigs, its far better then just sitting in a bar all day, or even just sat on our varanda,

its what you enjoy that matters, i enjoy taking care of all our animals,

pigs, ducks 3 typs, chickens, fancy pigeons of all colours, budgies, zebra finches, fish, not just the ones to eat, dogs,

then the veg we grow, i know goes on our veg, all organic, same as all our eggs and meat, duck,chicken all organic,

this is the last im posting,,

i dont feal the need to try and convert,

every one to there own thing, im into farming,,,

[mercman24]

she doesn't have a few cows does she ? only same same happened to me recently. i kid you not. got yourself a bargain there mate, mine said-- 1 million with out paperwork or 2 million with ?? and she would marry me. i am mulling it over, even said she would wipe my a** when i got old, how thoughtful.

[Altalake]

Been going to Thailand for 40 years. Just the other day we (my wife and I) met a nice young Thai guy who told us the dream of all the Isaan gals is to go to Pattaya/Phuket/Hua Hin, meet a rich Farang and part him from his money.

Now who could believe such a dastardly tale? It is quite shocking what they will make up.

[poweratradio]

Ask any pig farmer from the american mid-west to eastern timbuktu. = You can loose a lot of money with pigs. While the statement of GF "you can not loose money with pigs" stands correct, if one is willing and (financially) able to sick with it for 10 years.

Since the Thai-Mentality is not geared for long term-thinking, (unless having chinese ancestrial roots and chinese upbringing) at the first sign of adversity, they will throw in the towel and OP will be faced with a 100 % write off in the magnitude of 500'000 Bht

Generally: Small to mid-sized Farmers in Thailand will gladly confirm: "There is no money in Farming".

OP has 2 ways to disperse of 500'000 Bht:

- Engage in pig- business and loose 500'000 Bht and write a book titled "How I lost 500'000 Bht in Thailnd with pigs" OR;

- How I engaged 500 Hostesses in Thailand and I had the time of my life.

The financial result of both avenues will be the same: All the money gone !

But witch book title would sell better than the other?

Cheers.

Lose lose lose is that all this thread is going to say....??? Well so what it is only $15,000 dollars not much to lose at all. I say go for it but limit the cash outlay beyond the 500,000 TBT mark. If it is micro managed it will fail because there will be to many bosses or fingers in the pie. Do your own research and buy a few piglets get some fencing get set to slop some hogs.