chownah
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Posts posted by chownah
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Stanny,
I'm sure you will be able to write a good novel......your writing ability already improved dramatically from your first paragraph of your post to the second paragraph...and it continues to improve throughout your entire post!!! With a learning curve like that I predict you will win the Nobel prize for literature within a few months!!!
Keep up the good work,
Chownah
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If you are going to grow rice one year and one year only I advise to do it in the way that you know you will get good results....why take a chance with a one time crop by trying something new?...if you are just curious about it then try one small section as an experiment. Timing and amount of fertilizer used is important in growing rice. I'm sure that pig manure could be used (I've never done it or heard of anyone doing it) but trying to get it right the first time seems like a risk you should forgo especially for a one time only proposition.
Chownah
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You should check to see if there is standing water in the crawl space during the rainy weather and if there is try to do something to your drainage to eliminate it.
chownah
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MrPaddy,
If you have trouble with the full sized fruit trees you might try five year old ones more or less...We transplanted a lam yai tree that was about 2 or 2.5 metres tall and whose main trunk was as thick as a golf ball or a bit more by just digging it up with a ball of dirt about one metre in diametre and then moving it directly into the new hole.
1. Be sure the dirt around the tree is not saturated and not bone dry...you want it just wet enough so it will stick together well so that the root ball will not break.
2. Dig all around the tree at a distance of about 60 or 70 centimetres from the tree trunk....this is bigger than you want but if you dig out farther first and cut the roots then you can trim back the dirt while leaving the roots sticking out all around the root ball.
3. You should have the new hole dug already so really this should be the first thing on the list....ooops...dig some well rotted manure in the bottom of the hole...two or three buckets is what I try to use....be sure the hole is big enough...not too shallow and not too deep...you'll want to the ground surface level after transplant to be the same as originally although this doesn't seem to be too critical for most trees in Thailand.
4. Put a bunch of water in the hole so that the bottom is saturated or even with some standing water in the bottom...
5. Gently place the tree in the hole....the leaves go up...the root ball goes down.
6. Work some dirt under the root ball if you need to raise it up a bit...you can lower the root ball a small amount by rotating the root ball which will abrade a bit of the dirt from the bottom...you can probably get it to go down about 10 cm this way...trying for more would be risky.
7. When the tree is at the right height you can put layers of dirt with some aged manure around the root ball and compact them down with a piece of bamboo or a shovel handle in layers about 20 cm thick...water each layer before adding the next layer...in total I probably add 2 or 3 or 4 more buckets of aged cow manure around the root ball along with the dirt.
8. When it is completely full and compacted then water liberally until the ground is well saturated....you usally won't have to prop up this small of a tree if you got it straight to begin with...and if you didn't break the root ball in the process....but go ahead and prop it if it needs it or if it makes you fell better.
I did this and the tree never showed any signs of stress at all. My Thai worker if left to his own devices will not be nearly so careful to keep a good amount of dirt in tact on the roots and his failure rate is fairly high...
With trees this size you might get fruit the next year and almost assuredly you will get fruit in two years.
Chownah
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So if the fragrant variety is producing much better prices then why is not everyone planting it, especially if very little in growing conditions and requirements.
How about brown rice, I like brown rice myself and would definitley like to get the farmer to plant a patch of this for me as payment for the land and water perhaps.
Traditionally fragrant rice has a better price than sticky rice so farmers with good conditions for fragrant rice grow as much of it as they can....however fragrant rice and as far as I know rice varieties for steamed rice (rice varieties planted for steamed rice are called "kow chow" in Thai)in general are more susceptible to certain pathogens than are some varieties for sticky rice.....around where I live there is a disease that only the kow chow gets (or only gets to an appreciable degree) and some years it is present and some years it is not....so...growing kow chow is risky which offsets the potential extra profit from the higher price....also varieties of sticky rice give bigger yields than fragrant rice around where I live in Chiangrai....so this is a factor too.
This last year the price for sticky rice was actually higher than for kow chow for the first time that anyone can remember...so if this happens again this coming year it will tend to push people toward the sticky rice varieties I guess.....we'll see.
Chownah
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But what time of year does the rice planting start and stop ?
And what is the difference between growing the fragrant rice and any other variety ?
When to plant rice is determined by the variety of rice, the weather in your area, the availability of water in your area, and the availability of labor in your area.
There really is no difference between fragrant rice and other types. For steamed rice I grow Kow Dok Mali 105 which is what is grown around where I live for fragrant rice...I also think that it is the major variety grown throughout Thailand but I'm not sure on that. For sticky rice I grow Kow Gaw Khaw 6. These two varietites are what almost everyone around here plants. The locals do everything the same for these two varieties....I make minor adjustments for each but the adjustments are minor and if done properly should increase yields...but its a fine point and so far my "fine tuning" has not been detrimental but to show definite improvement will probably require me to improve my techniques and to use them for a few years to be sure that what I'm doing is working or if other factors cause the difference in yields....there are many factors which affect rice yields and it seems difficult to try to isolate one to show its affect.
These two varieties are planted in nursery at the same time (June or July) and transplanted out at the same time and harvested at the same time. It can be done this way because they are both day length sensitive varieties and they have the same critical day length....this means that there is a long window of opportunity for planting and any rice of either of these varieties planted in that long window of time will mature on a certain date...or within a couple of days....this is because when the day length gets to the critical day length then the maturing process is triggered and for these two varieties it takes the same length of time from the start of the maturing process to ripeness...within a couple of days anyway.
Some varieties of rice are not day length sensitive.....these varieties have a certain number of days from emergence (sprouts emerge from the ground) until maturity and the length of the day has no influence at all....they can be planted at any time of the year as far as I know...I've never grown any of these but I'm considering it because an early crop would fit into some of my rotation plans better than the day length sensitve kinds we've been growing.
Chownah
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Government accused of breaking promises (headline Bangkok Post)
"..............
The Campaign for Popular Democracy (CPD) has accused the government of reneging on election promises............."
............"
Just so everyone knows.....this is the same CPD which joined with and worked with PAD two years ago...so...no surprises that they would make these accusations....I think this is a sign of the PAD testing the waters to see how agitation will be received both by the gov't and by prospective supporters. The CPD is on its own not that important of an organisation so by using it "on point" does not risk the credibility of PAD overall.
Chownah
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Shock of all horrors... the PPP has lied.... as the teetering coalition gets more unstable... and they're taking it all out on a man who was just at death's door...
"Teetering".....is the coalition "teetering"......is that "teetering" as in on the verge of collapse?....are you with Tony Clifton on this one (I think it's Tony Clifton who keeps saying April) and think that the coalition gov't can't last through April?
Chownah
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The piece is, at best, contrived and factual inaccurate. This is the hallmark of this individual's work, as was noted to me, if he wasn't who he was {by family} no one would take the slightest bit of notice. However, as part of a long term campaign to both get noticed and to show to specific interest groups that he's 'one of them' it links in with his other pieces. I'm rather busy in the analogue presently, but if the new poster, by the by welcome, would care to search herein, answers are here.
Regards
PS Is he just a messenger, I do wonder that too.
Factually inaccurate?
Would you mind pointing these inaccuracies out, please?
This obviously is not an academic paper but a commentary, but there are more than a few research papers around by various scholars that do criticise the PAD along very similar lines, although more indepth than a newspaper could give space.
So, list the inaccuracies, please, instead of just the writers inadequacies.
Yes, please, do list the inaccuracies. I'm not trying to argue....I would like to know what facts were claimed that are in error....I wouldn't want to be misled by the inaccuracies...really.
Chownah
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Chownah, you could easily substitute Jesus to that sentence tooActually I just think that the Buddha was a pretty smart guy who figured out some good stuff and who suggested that if people are interested in what he was teaching they should try it for themselves to see if it works for them too....so I don't go for all the organized stuff....different people...different ideas.
Absolutely I include Jesus as a guy who knew some good stuff and is worth checking out....and as Naam mentioned there are lots of others....I'm partial to Lao Tzu as well as the Buddha...I recommend checking out any of them that hold any interest for someone at all...
Chownah
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It's getting really thick now...
Prem orders newspapers to criticise me : Thaksin
The following is the transcript of what ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra told Thais in Sydney. Australia on February 10, 2007,
I don't understand why you say "It's getting really thick now...." when this is really old news...over one year old....how does this indicate that something is getting thick now?...and why have you posted such an old article now?....just wondering as I could see no reason for posting it now.
Chownah
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I said it before... there will be blood shed in Bangkok again, it's heading that way
I certainly has happened before....several times...so it seems like a real possibility for the future. Having the military take over the country every few years certainly seems like it would encourage people to think that th use of guns is appropriate.....at least with the last coup no one was shot...so maybe......but you know, realistically, don't you think that if you want to inculcate an appreciation for non-violence that it would be better if they didn't have a military coup every few years....as a starter?...don't you think that it sends the wrong message?
Chownah
And what was the message the "democratically" elected government sent when it went on its killing spree of thousands of suspected drug criminals?
Exactly my point.....violence is a way too acceptable approach to problem solving here....most Thais really don't have an issue with the drug related killings...for Thais it is mostly a non-issuo....which is sad....if the police stood by and watched (and even helped I guess) while peacefully demonstrating students were massacred then what's a few people involved in the drug trade?....the Thai people are to a degree insensitive to violence and having a military coup every few years certainly doesn't help in my opinion.
Chownah
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American Standard squat toilets.
Hmmmmmmmmm
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If I have to choose a label I guess I'm Buddhist.....When the topic first came up (when applying for a bank account actually) they were speaking in Thai so my wife just answered "Christian"...I heard this so had to correct her (told her I'm Buddhist) on this.....I had a difficult time convinciny my wife that I wasn't Christian...she wanted me to know it was ok to be Christian...it took her awhile to figure out that I really wasn't Christian...when I first moved here some of the neighbors sort of tangentially brought up Christianity in the conversation and even after I politely conversed about it (I was raised as a Christian so I know a bit about it) and told them that I wasn't a Christian my wife still had to emphatically state that I really wasn't a Christian. It is especially confusing for them because I don't go to the temple to do what they think of as Buddhism.....I think they've mostly figured out that I'm a farang style Buddhist I guess. Actually I just think that the Buddha was a pretty smart guy who figured out some good stuff and who suggested that if people are interested in what he was teaching they should try it for themselves to see if it works for them too....so I don't go for all the organized stuff....different people...different ideas.
Chownah
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My roof is the cheap unpainted corrugated asbestos cement roof tiles that are 120 cm long and about 50 cm wide....its been there for 6 years and I expect it will last for 15 if not 20 or more.....its not so good looking...is the natural grey color but now somewhat mottled...the preferred brand around here has for its trademark five overlapping rings that looks like the olympic games trademark....I don't know if it really matters though.
chownah
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MrPaddy,
You might consider soybeans...the Thais call them yellow beans. In Chiangrai province soybeans are often rotated with rice....there is about one month between rice harvest and soybean plant time so this gives enough time for the field to dry and to prepare for planting. Soybeans do need to be planted at a certain time of the year because they are sensitive to day length for blooming and developing beans. Seems like they plant them around here at about one week into the new year. If they grow soybeans in your area then just use the type that they grow as this will (hopefully) be the kind whose day length requirement matches your area....I would check with the closest agriculture university and get their advise too.
There are two different kinds of soybeans...the usual kind that westerners know of is the kind raised for dry beans....the other kind is grown for eating the beans while still green. The dry bean kind is called "tua leung" which means "yellow bean"...the kind for eating the been green is called "tua let"....don't know what that means. It is my understanding (but not sure) that the tua let sells for a higher price but is more labor intensive...it also has the advantages that the crop residue from this is high quality animal feed especially for cows. The tua leung has the advantages that it can be mechanically harvested and since the bean is dry it can be stored for extended lengths of time so there is no rush to sell them like there is with the tua let since tua let will spoil after some days (don't know how long though)...and in the last few years I have seen tua let being at least partially frozen to extend their shelf life.
Soybeans are legumes so you need to get rhizobium bacteria to put with the seeds the first time they are planted in a field....in subsequent years there is enough holdover of the bacteria so no need to use it every year.....ask at the closest agriculture university about the rhizobium bacteria...they'll know all about it...you need to get the right kind...its really cheap from what I've heard but never bought any myself.
You might consider peanuts also although from what I've heard it is a risky crop to grow but has high returns and also the crop residue is high quality animal feed from what I've heard...also should use rhizobium the first time planted in a particular field I guess....probably not the same kind as the kind used for soybeans so be warned that you need to get the right rhizobium for the crop you plant.
Chownah
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How much water you will need to pump depends on the kind of soil you have, how well sealed the bottom of the paddy fields are, how water tight the dykes are, the method used for growing the rice, and the weather. There may be some factors I've forgotten but I think that these are the main ones.
If you had enough water at one or two metres from the surface you could pump enough even with a 5 inch tube pump which is the smallest diametre tube pump I've seen...I've got two of them. I don't know for sure how many hours per day you would have to run it but my experience is that a few hours a day would probably keep maybe 5 rai flooded...assuming the bottom is fairly well sealed and likewise the dykes. I have never done this so this is based on my pumping water before the rice season to germinate weed seeds before plowing as a weed control strategy...so this is my best guess...a few hours per day could do 5 rai or so...maybe more...depending on how many hours is "few"....so....if you pumped say 12 hours per day I think you could probably keep 20 rai full if it didn't leak too much. If you got an 8 inch or larger tube pump you would save on fuel and also pump fewer hours per day....remember that all of this depends on having enough water within a couple metres of the surface. The deeper the water is the more fuel it will take to pump it (twice as deep=twice the fuel) and the more sophisticated the pump will have to be I guess.
You may end up losing money with doing this...don't know for sure but it seems unlikely to be profitable. If you just want to keep the fields green then you could plant something besides rice that takes less water during the dry season....just about anything would take way less water than rice. You could grow a green manure crop (for instance) during the dry season which would keep the fields green and would add fertility to the soil so less fertilizer would be needed for the rice...you might be able to eliminate the need for additional fertilizer entirely....that's the system I'm trying to develop.
chownah
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I said it before... there will be blood shed in Bangkok again, it's heading that way
I certainly has happened before....several times...so it seems like a real possibility for the future. Having the military take over the country every few years certainly seems like it would encourage people to think that th use of guns is appropriate.....at least with the last coup no one was shot...so maybe......but you know, realistically, don't you think that if you want to inculcate an appreciation for non-violence that it would be better if they didn't have a military coup every few years....as a starter?...don't you think that it sends the wrong message?
Chownah
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I don't like, better say i hate the simple style most houses are build in. a column every 3-4 meter is not acceptable. I need at least 6 meters better even 8 meters between load bearing structures.
As an icf wall will be bearing the weight all along its width it should be more strong and stable and the foundation would have a more more equally divided weight. (i am planning a strip or raft foundation).
Another plus is i think the more strong concrete that you get with icf. As the form stays in its place it keeps the concrete 'wet' so that it can cure better and gets a lot more stronger. Also the whole structure will be tied together which will give less change of cracks, also during settling of the building.
If your main reasons for choosing ICF are:
1. larger distances between load bearing structures
2. stronger concrete through better curing
3. structure tied together for less cracking
then you might want to reconsider.
The difficulty in getting large distances between load bearing structures is in constructing strong enough structural members to span the distance....building strong enough verticle supports (columns or walls) is usually not the difficulty. Consider that you want an 8 metre by 8 metre sized room....you could either build a load bearing wall all around or you could put columns all around. You could put columns at the corners only (they would require very large footings)...or you could put columns every 4 metres (the footings would have half the area of corner only option)...or you could put columns every 2.67 metres...or every 2 metres...or every metre...you can put them as close together as you want....eventually the columns are so close that they are actually constructed as a wall. At any rate building the columns or the walls does not change the size of the free span area which is 8 meters square. But...consider the beams needed to support the floor above or the roof....they will need to be rather large for this long free span but they will need to be the same regardless of whether they are supported with columns or a wall. I have never done a cost breakdown for column vs. wall support but it seems like if it was cheaper to do the wall then Thai people would do walls....their always looking for a way to save money and they almost universally use post and beam construction.
Curing concrete can be done adequately using post and beam construction....just keep the concrete wet...keep it shaded...its really not that big of a deal to do...you just have to do it....most Thais won't but on my projects they do....
Having the entire structure tied together.....with post and beam you have that...as to cracking...I don't know about this one....I don't really know if a load bearing wall will have less or more cracking tendency than post and beam...with good footings of adequate size you really shouldn't have appreciable cracking....if building a basement in Thailand I think I'd go with post and beam with reinforced poured concrete infill walls.
Chownah
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I"ve never used neem oil and don't know where to get it....try farm supply stores...the one I like is located as follows:
When coming into Chiangrai city from the south on the "superhighway" just before you get to the first light...about 50 metres before the first light......you can pull off the road and onto an access street or drive which parallels the main road and dead ends quickly very near the traffic light. There are about 4 businesses on this little frontage street...one sells agricultural supplies. They sell garden packets for seeds and also larger quantities...all different kinds of poisons....rat poison in tablet form....small utensils...hose.....fertilizers in bulk and also in small garden size bags....sheet plastic....poly pipe......I like these people so I thought I'd do a little advertising for them.....so.....for all your agricultural needs just go to these nice folks....it is likely that they either have the neem oil or know who might.
Chownah
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Yep, cause and effect.....you get a military dictatorship running a country and now you see the effect!! wonderful....simply wonderful.
I blame the dictatorship for disrupting the democratic process and restricting political freedom....when you do those kinds of things you get bad reactions...the political situation we are in now is the bad reaction....maybe PPP will be able to straighten itself out...maybe not...but you can't expect democracy to be destroyed in a country and then for it to instantly be running smoothly....heck in Thailand I think it would be hard enough to get anything democratic going even without military dictatorships interrupting every few years!!!!....but...I really wouldn't know because this military dictatorship is not an isolated incidence...it is not the rare event that happens once in a century nor even once in a decade...it is an ongoing method of disturbance engineered by the elitists to keep power away from the people....and I might add that Sondhi L. is one of those elitists....the elitists are those who think that the people's place is to support the elite and their elitist ideas....Sondhi L. does not believe in the rule of the people...he believes in the rule of HIS people....feudal attitude.
chownah
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Interesting bit in the other thread about how if PPP execs are banned, it could leave Chalerm as Prime Minister....
Yes indeed....I'm sure glad that the military dictatorship straightened out the country...those army guys have done so much to help the political situation yes indeed....see what a wonderful outcome we have now....wonderful....simply wonderful.....
Chownah
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I got a bit excited when I first read the headline "Noppadon: Govt won't tolerate activists' movement"....then when I checked out more fully what Nappadon had said I was reassured by his comment, "However, the minister says that political gatherings can be held, but under the constitution and in peace."....so.....if he is to be believed (some people do and some people don't) then this is just right thing.....political gatherings can be held as long as they are done lawfully.....that is a good policy....that is what the laws call for....it is good that Nappadon is stating the he will uphold the law.
Chownah
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The overwhelming margin of victory for Rosana, a staunch and original opponent of Thaksinocracy, could be interpreted to mean that people in Bangkok would like to see the Senate act as a truly independent body.
I think that have a truly independent senate would be a good thing....it is also a very difficult thing to accomplish....having military coups does not help to bring about a truly independent senate....having some of the senators apponted does not make them independent of those doing the appointing...and being elected does not make them independent of the constituency which did the electing.
I think that perhaps the only thing that can be done is to educate the Thai people about the benefits of having seperation of powers as a major part of Thai governmental system...and by in some way developing the ideal that the seperation of powers is more important than partisan interests....I think one of the main problems in Thailand is that partisan interests is the highest ideal (maybe the ONLY ideal) for government....this is probably all that most Thais have seen.
Chownah
Rice, Second Annual Crop
in Farming in Thailand Forum
Posted · Edited by chownah
MrPaddy,
The first thing you need to do is to ask around your location and find out how deep the water is in the wells during the dry season....it could be anything from two metres to two hundred metres....this is really the first thing you need to know before you can make any plans about types of equipment or acreage (raiage?) to be covered. Did you post where your project is located?
Solar and wind can be used to pump as much water as you want...there really is no limit except for the money to pay for it...
Chownah