rickudon

I will bring some back with me in a few months then. 100 baht? Sold! I will even give then a good soak in bleach first, if you are worried ....

Certified rice varieties ..... most 'new' varieties WILL produce larger yields than older varieties. They also often require more water, fertiliser and more pesticides to achieve this. So the farmer buys the better, more expensive seed to get the bigger harvest, but he also spends more on chemicals. If he gets it right, he will probably make more money. If he doesn't, he makes less. The seed and chemical companies never make less ....... Or he can use his traditional home saved seed, plough a bit and throw in some manure. He gets less rice but his input costs are a lot lower. And no pesticide residues with luck.

Hottest and driest in 10 years in Udon. Yes, it is the dry season but you should average 2 days of rain a month here. In 4 months, one day. Only put a jumper or jacket on one night (New years eve) and early one morning all winter. A statistical outlier, or the start of the future climate?

Why not solar powered?

So Thai social welfare priorities - kids 2000 baht a month, OAP's 600 baht a month. Why not just open the soylent green factories now.

I dug up and repotted last years rose bush in the new year, fertilised and pruned. Lucky for me it came into flower yesterday! It;s the thought that counts .......

Yes, Thai farmers are not the best educated/ Those results were from a sandy loam soil and a clay soil in Thailand. Only read the abstract, but matches what i vaguely remember from my days in MAFF. Obviously it is a generalisation, as would depend on soil type, temperature and rainfall, but as i described later, insidious pollution does a lot of damage to the environment, often at levels it is very hard to detect. And suing the guilty parties? Try proving it was THEIR application of herbicide, You have to sample up every tributary, ditch and farm field upstream of you first, fantastically expensive and usually with results not conclusive enough for a court of law. try doing that in Thailand ..... Sorry, an extensive ban is the only way. Like with visas, we all suffer due to the acts of the inconsiderate people.

There are 3 issues with Paraquat. First, it's direct toxicity to people who use it (an issue in Thailand due to poor adherence to usage instructions). The second is contamination of crops on the sprayed land (also in part due to negligent usage). The third is it's resistance to degradation, the half-life of Paraquat in soil is about 90 days, this means the land is contaminated for a long time before it is gone and also any runoff can contaminate water resources far away. Fish are quite sensitive to paraquat and also aquatic plants more so (in the UK, i used to fish in a lake which had a golf course built next to it, where they sprayed herbicides, Within 2 years all the lilies were dead and even after remedial work would not establish again 10 years later). It is this insidious damage which is the worst. In some areas in the UK, you could not irrigate some crops (like tomatoes) with river water because the herbicide levels in the rivers damage the crop ....

I do not find the application for the marriage visa extension too stressful, actually these days done in half the time of 5 years ago. And you only pay when it is accepted by the IO. Yes, they are strict on all the petty rules, but if something missing or not quite right you just bring it in later or next day, no problem. And only costs 2,000 baht a year. I know that some officers can be pretty nasty but at Udon not an issue (was in the past when at Nong Khai, apparently). Now try doing a visa application for your wife to the UK if you want stress and an empty pocket!

Does not agree with my experience in Udon. I live in a village just outside the ring road and i could count the number of nights the temperature fell below 20c in January on one hand. Have had some nights when the minimum was over 24c. Have had to use the AC some nights. I have a maximum minimum thermometer. Temperature now has already been above 28c at midnight sometimes! 8 years ago the winter minimum temperature was rarely ABOVE 20c. Used to use a quilt back then, this winter never used more than a thin blanket and most nights not even that. And as for rain .... last wet season was pretty wet, but ended a bit early and only rained once in the last 4 months (about 80% less than normal).

The British Embassy just want to know when you are dead so they can stop your pension ........ This is the fee table .... https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/768508/Consular_Fee_Table_Order_2016_v2.2.4_updated_3_Jan_2019.pdf The services they do provide are somewhat expensive. Certifying a document is only 25 GBP, nearly all other documents and affirmations are 50 GBP. If you need a consular officer to do anything else (if they agree) it is a mere 150 GBP an hour plus costs !

A slight diversion, but i was at the Udon Immigration office last friday and asked on what they will want next year (I am on marriage extension). Was told 400,000 baht in the bank for 2 months OR income via 12 monthly deposits, from abroad, of 40,000 baht. About what i expected them to say. Two issues for me with income option, firstly some months not in Thailand, why would i send money? Secondly, if doing an interbank transfer, costs me about 600 baht a month more than getting it direct from an ATM with my credit card (apart from the ATM gives me on demand). I could use Transferwise but have had issues with them previously so not to keen on RELYING on them. So these issues make the 400,000 in the bank more attractive as it would be more? reliable, and save me about 7200 baht a year. That would offset the interest i lose by parking the 400,000 baht in Thailand. Then i can continue using the ATM. That works for me. If on retirement and needing 800,000 baht then maybe not so attractive. But do your sums, may work out for you. Now the issue is do i send 10,000 GBP now or after Brexit in the Autumn? A real crystal ball job!