Ban on Turkeys.... the fowl that is

[Gonzo the Face]

Can someone give more info on this.... I understand that last December Thai put on a ban on US Poultry. Thats almost a year ago now and there are no instances of bird flu or whatever that I have read about.

Is it a commercial ban or would it be possible for someone to bring in a couple birds for themselves? Can anybody explain the workings of the ban just a little. Unfortunately Thai Turkeys just don't cut it.

G

[LivinLOS]

I saw turkeys in rimping a couple of months ago.. This summer anyway.

[terminatorchiangmai]

Thanks giving and Christmas are banned this year if closer then 300 meter of anything !

[arunsakda]

The outbreak in the US (massive) was over months ago and even cautious Japan has lifted import restrictions on LIVE and processed

poultry from US depending on state of origin.

Really wonder if highly processed frozen butterballs can can threaten human health (properly cooked) or the local poultry industry?

[sappersrest]

Trust Gonzo to start a scare bet he has a couple of containers stashed away. good luck.

regards sappers rest

[Bill97]

I wish there was a ban on turkeys in CM and support all immigration's efforts to get rid of them.

[NancyL]

I think all the Butterballs you were seeing "a few months ago" were leftovers. I'd been eye-ing some of the Butterball boneless turkey roasts in a small section of the Tops Kad Suan Kaew freezer thru the summer, still at 820 baht/kilo, trying to decide how I'd cook one in our little toaster oven. (thaw,slice into thirds and roast was the best I could figure). Normally we order three cooked turkeys from Rim Ping at Christmas, dismember and freeze them and, more importantly their bones for broth-making, but I was almost out frozen turkey.

I had gone so far as to open the freezer and pick up a Butterball frozen turkey roast in my hand, standing there in the aisle at Tops, having a fantasy, only to return it to the freezer, deciding to wait until they had a sale. I guess they decided to round up all the unsold turkey products and move them to a more upscale location, like maybe the Tops at Central Festival.

Anyway, one day I went to visit my turkey roast to see if was on sale and discovered the turkey section at Tops KSK had been replaced by a display of duck with Chinese advertising. Sigh. I searched high and wide throughout the store. Nope. No turkey anywhere at Tops KSK and I heard much Chinese spoken among the customers. You know, they're not just tourists anymore.

Edited October 14, 2015 by NancyL

[Loaded]

It's part of my campaign to ban Christmas.

[Jip99]

I can't see the point of banning even the most disease infected turkeys when the Thais continue to woof down bplah rah !!

[zippydedodah]

The only place i know that has turkeys available is CM Smokehouse.

Mike, the owner, did a massive turkey round up and bought up every turkey he could find a few months ago

and has them in deep freeze.

Check his FB page... running about 6 kilos each, but a few 9 kilos left. Page say 600 baht/kilo, so that is a fair pricing

and he is not price gouging.

He will provide roasted or smoked turkeys... i reserved one yesterday.

[Gonzo the Face]

Again, ..... can you pop one or two in your suitcase and get back into Thailand , or does the ban mean no to that also?

[TheAppletons]

The only place i know that has turkeys available is CM Smokehouse.

Mike, the owner, did a massive turkey round up and bought up every turkey he could find a few months ago

and has them in deep freeze.

Check his FB page... running about 6 kilos each, but a few 9 kilos left. Page say 600 baht/kilo, so that is a fair pricing

and he is not price gouging.

He will provide roasted or smoked turkeys... i reserved one yesterday.

Seems like a very high price to me. If my math is correct, that's $8.50 USD per pound. No way I would pay $170 USD for a 20 pound turkey.

[zippydedodah]

The only place i know that has turkeys available is CM Smokehouse.

Mike, the owner, did a massive turkey round up and bought up every turkey he could find a few months ago

and has them in deep freeze.

Check his FB page... running about 6 kilos each, but a few 9 kilos left. Page say 600 baht/kilo, so that is a fair pricing

and he is not price gouging.

He will provide roasted or smoked turkeys... i reserved one yesterday.

Seems like a very high price to me. If my math is correct, that's $8.50 USD per pound. No way I would pay $170 USD for a 20 pound turkey.

i agree.. it is a high price to pay... desperate times call for desperate measures. We are planning a party of about 40 people, so we will get a smallish turkey and then 2 baked honey glazed hams... for the meat side of things. Not gonna be cheap, but it is only once a year.

[NancyL]

The only place i know that has turkeys available is CM Smokehouse.

Mike, the owner, did a massive turkey round up and bought up every turkey he could find a few months ago

and has them in deep freeze.

Check his FB page... running about 6 kilos each, but a few 9 kilos left. Page say 600 baht/kilo, so that is a fair pricing

and he is not price gouging.

He will provide roasted or smoked turkeys... i reserved one yesterday.

Seems like a very high price to me. If my math is correct, that's $8.50 USD per pound. No way I would pay $170 USD for a 20 pound turkey.

No, it's more like $7.73 a pound. Still a whopping price for a 20 pound turkey. But look at the bright side. You'll get all the nice bones to make turkey broth. Nothing like home-made turkey broth to use in making soups and stews. Much better than chicken broth.

Edited October 15, 2015 by NancyL

[Chiengmaijoe]

The only place i know that has turkeys available is CM Smokehouse.

Mike, the owner, did a massive turkey round up and bought up every turkey he could find a few months ago

and has them in deep freeze.

Check his FB page... running about 6 kilos each, but a few 9 kilos left. Page say 600 baht/kilo, so that is a fair pricing

and he is not price gouging.

He will provide roasted or smoked turkeys... i reserved one yesterday.

Seems like a very high price to me. If my math is correct, that's $8.50 USD per pound. No way I would pay $170 USD for a 20 pound turkey.

i agree.. it is a high price to pay... desperate times call for desperate measures. We are planning a party of about 40 people, so we will get a smallish turkey and then 2 baked honey glazed hams... for the meat side of things. Not gonna be cheap, but it is only once a year.

You say 600b/kilo is fair pricing and then say it is a high price to pay. How much would you usually pay for turkey in Chiang Mai? 600b/kilo is about 70% more than I paid for cooked turkey last year.

[arunsakda]

Just another chance to "Fleece the Frangs". How much is a can of Pumpkin going for this time?

Last year at Topps it was like 250 baht or something like that.

[Gonzo the Face]

Last year , depending on the time of the year Butterball turkeys at both Makro or Horeca were in the 175 - 195 baht per Kilo range......

Now if you say its 600 baht per kilo....... call it what you want but you cannot put out a Thanksgiving dinner at a price that reflects the 600 baht and still have your patrons think that you are not ripping them off.

If thats the price, so be it, but in that instance we will not be having turkey for Thanksgiving or Christmas this year.

Edited October 15, 2015 by Gonzo the Face

[Chicog]

I would go and have a word with Rimping.

http://www.bernardmatthews.com/product/golden-norfolk-turkey

[zippydedodah]

The only place i know that has turkeys available is CM Smokehouse.

Mike, the owner, did a massive turkey round up and bought up every turkey he could find a few months ago

and has them in deep freeze.

Check his FB page... running about 6 kilos each, but a few 9 kilos left. Page say 600 baht/kilo, so that is a fair pricing

and he is not price gouging.

He will provide roasted or smoked turkeys... i reserved one yesterday.

Seems like a very high price to me. If my math is correct, that's $8.50 USD per pound. No way I would pay $170 USD for a 20 pound turkey.

i agree.. it is a high price to pay... desperate times call for desperate measures. We are planning a party of about 40 people, so we will get a smallish turkey and then 2 baked honey glazed hams... for the meat side of things. Not gonna be cheap, but it is only once a year.

You say 600b/kilo is fair pricing and then say it is a high price to pay. How much would you usually pay for turkey in Chiang Mai? 600b/kilo is about 70% more than I paid for cooked turkey last year.

It is a high price... i say it is fair because i cannot find anything else in town... if he wanted, he could charge more and there are plenty of people with deep pockets that want that turkey... at any price. So to me, that price is better than not having turkey at all. How much i believe is a "fair price" is a subjective perception and not much to debate about. If someone can find me more turkeys, at a cheaper price, i will be happy to buy one or two of those also... expecting a large crew for this years party.

[NancyL]

I would go and have a word with Rimping.

http://www.bernardmatthews.com/product/golden-norfolk-turkey

Good point -- the U.S. isn't the only place in the world that produces turkeys. I seem to recall reading somewhere that Israel consumes more turkey per capita than anywhere else in the world.

One year the only frozen cranberries available at Rim Ping were from Romania or Poland or someplace strange in eastern Europe. Surely, they can do a similar search for frozen turkeys.

[LivinLOS]

Those comparing Mikes prices.. Is it not smoked and cooked Turkeys hes selling at those prices ?? Is that like for like uncooked / frozen turkey ??

Mikes stuff isnt cheap, but I find its insanely good quality, made by a genuinely nice guy.. I buy stuff there and am happy to continue to do so.

[orang37]

It looks like the annual American celebration of the subjugation of Native Americans in Thailand this year will be neither foul, nor fair, but I wonder how the turkeys feel about that.

~o:37;

[ilostmypassword]

Just another chance to "Fleece the Frangs". How much is a can of Pumpkin going for this time?

Last year at Topps it was like 250 baht or something like that.

If anything, pumpkin will be a lot more this year because of too much rain in southern Illinois. Apparently, that's where the cooking pumpkins mostly come from. It's very cheap and easy to make your own here. Thai pumpkings are excellent for pies. Just cut them up and roast in oven till soft. If you don't have an oven you could steam them. Not quite as good but plenty good enough.

[Chiengmaijoe]

Any update on Turkey availability? Thanksgiving is only a month away.

[scottiejohn]

It looks like the annual American celebration of the subjugation of Native Americans in Thailand this year will be neither foul, nor fair, but I wonder how the turkeys feel about that.

~o:37;

Not as stuffed as usual!

If there are no turkeys for sale will they hold their own thanksgiving party and if so what will be on the menu?

Edited October 25, 2015 by scottiejohn

[NancyL]

I found two frozen turkeys at Rim Ping Nim City on Friday around 5 pm. The date on their tags were 22-10-2558, so they are new arrivals. Norbest from Utah. That's in the U.S., but maybe it's one of the states not affected by the poultry problems. Always in the past I've purchased Butterballs, but beggars can't be choosers. 350 baht/kilo.

They were the only two turkeys in the store, but the display section for turkey was small. Perhaps they were the initial scouts and more will follow. I hope so, because I really need a couple more.

The real challenge was in was trying to explain to the so-called customer service personnel that I wanted the purchase them now, but have Rim Ping hold and cook them for pick-up on Thanksgiving. They do this every year, but they must have had their "B-team management" on duty for a Friday evening. I had resorted to putting the two frozen turkeys into a shopping cart, because they couldn't even fathom what a nok "turkey" was without a visual aid. Despite my flawless Thai and efforts to try to find help within their deli department, I wasn't making much progress. At one point, they said I had to take them over to their Narawat store. (yeah, sure -- anything to get rid of the crazy farang lady going on about some American holiday.) Finally, a kindly, mature cashier who had obviously worked in the store for years had the courage to step in to contradict her younger superiors and explain that yes, the store did indeed cook turkeys every year for Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays and then proceeded to thumb thru forms in their little office area until she found the correct one. She also told them who to call at another Rim Ping store for a complete explanation. Whew!

I think we got all the paperwork done and the turkeys back in the freezer before they were totally thawed.

Edited October 25, 2015 by NancyL

[LivinLOS]

I found two frozen turkeys at Rim Ping Nim City on Friday around 5 pm.

anything to get rid of the crazy farang lady going on about some American holiday

I think we got all the paperwork done and the turkeys back in the freezer before they were totally thawed.

Great I will probably be able to go buy them today.. Thanks

[NancyL]

I found two frozen turkeys at Rim Ping Nim City on Friday around 5 pm.

anything to get rid of the crazy farang lady going on about some American holiday

I think we got all the paperwork done and the turkeys back in the freezer before they were totally thawed.

Great I will probably be able to go buy them today.. Thanks

Not my turkeys, you aren't! I paid for them, plus extra for cooking. They wheeled them into the back of the store, presumably to put them into the freezer for storage until the appointed time to start thawing them for cooking.

I hope they get more turkeys from wherever that pair came from. I really like to have two more for the day, so we can serve one at the feast and have three extras for each couple to have a "take-home turkey" for left overs for their freezers.

Actually I have a secret agenda -- I ask the other two couples to give me their turkey bones and carcasses after they pick them clean. Makes really great broth. Much better than chicken broth for cooking and the only way I can get low sodium broth here is to make my own.

[slapout]

I bought and cooked a local breed, hatched and raised Thai turkey about 20 odd years ago here in chiang mai. used the cooking time and temperature that we used for wild turkey back home that we ate on holiidays Sometimes even out of season.

It met the Norbest quality and size and it was prepared for cooking, stuffed, etc as were wild birds. There are farms raiseing turkey here in Thailand. our ex neighbors had 6 or 7 but they moved and My scouts have not come up with where to. The Ag college may be a source, if not for birds, info as to where the farms are located.

[junglechef]

I bought a few live turkeys a month ago.

3 1/2 months old so won't be eating them this season but plan on a good thinning of my gai ban (local chicken) flock for my birthday bbq this weekend.

Heard a rumor that I'll be presented with some sheep to befriend my goats on that day too.

Could continue with rambling farther off-topic about my barnyard friends but, yes live turkeys are available here.

(I started this topic 2 months ago, http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/849202-live-turkeys-wanted/)

Here's a shot of my #1 farm hand welcoming the turkeys home

Edited October 26, 2015 by junglechef