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Maizefarmer

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Posts posted by Maizefarmer

  1. If you want to do a proper job of adding ballast to your farm vehicles you should consider PU Polymer foam fill or ballast sealants.

    Both work best in tubeless tyres, but have added benefits of protecting or eliminating punctures, maintaining correct tyre pressure and eliminating heat build up/damage.

    Maybe these guys can help?

    http://www.pneumech.net

    Thats an anti-puncture product primarily, isn't it(?) - we're talking here about ballast.

    Notice how the website makes reference to sealing against punctures through the tread area and the problem with tractor tyres is that it's often the sidewall that gets punctured/slashed by a piece of scrap laying in the field - and a slashed tyre is a tyre that more often than not has to be replaced - ballast or no ballast.

    It works, yes, and its a good product for industrial enviroments/skidsteers ect ect ..... but I'd question it's cost/benefit in tractor tyres.

  2. It is the basis of a chinese new year dragon.......the vent is to help any excess smoke escape during the performance..........the dragon heads are very heavy and require movable support....

    Food cart of sorts

  3. Lets not forget who the real power in Cambodia is.

    It ain't Hun Sen. Behind him is a collegue of his from the Khmer Rouge days - and ethnic Chinese named Teng Boonma.

    Boonma has fingers in all sorts of pies, but the majoirty of his wealth has come from real estate trading (ironicaly in Thailand and Bangkok and to a lesser extent HK and Camboida its self). He dominates both legitimate and counterfeit cigerrete production in Cambodia is is alleged to be a major player on the Thai counterfeit tabbaco brand name market - more than one major tobbaco anti-counterfeiting operation concerning Thailand Tobacco Monopoly brand name fags, had the plug pulled on it during Thaksin's tenure at the last minute - on orders from "executive level decision takers" - which left both TTM and foreign brand name owners (who licensed production to TTM) shaking their heads in disbelief.

    Last but not least is TBM's alleged involvement in drug production/smuggling, according to some authorities (to include the US authorities). Anyhow, however you wish to view TBM, whatever you think of him, there's little doubt his influence in Cambodian politics is substantial.

    My take on Thaksin's presence and survival in Cambodia (what he does and what role he plays) is going to be more about his relationship with TBM, than his relationship with Hun Sen.

  4. Maidong

    As others have suggested, yes, you have been looking at an evaporative air cooler.

    While they do work, their performance is a function of relative humidity.

    wichainburi1's comments are bang on the mark and 100% correct: they are designed to work in low humidity enviroments. The higher ambient humidity, the less the capacity for additonal evaporation. The less additional evaporation that takes place, the less the temp will drop.

    My experince in buying/selecting an evaporative cooler: make a note of models with sufficient airflow for your room size , then check out (on the internet) the manufacturers relative temp drop for given ambient tmeperatures, at various humidity levels - and thats' the real important bit i.e. the respective humidity figure for/@ a given temp.

    While nearly all evaporative manufacturers provide a temp drop chart for their product, not all provide that figure in conjunction with humidity figure/s - in the absense of which, it's worth little more than the paper its printed on.

    You really want temp drop figures "for the following relative humidity % figure", or similar clarification added - and don't forget to check out the model's room size (volume)/air flow(volume) figure as well.

  5. So...the telephone company routinely records the conversations for billing purposes and then, as per tradition presumably, hands all of them over to the government?

    They forgot something in their excuse...

    I think what was meant was that tel billing records (which would identify dialled tel numbers ) are proof that the call(s) took place i.e. that the diplomat in question and the "Thai engineer/spy", a one Khun Sivarak Chuthipong (who is a Thai comm's engineer working for SAMART, contracted to maintain Cambodia's Air Traffic Control system), were in contact.

    In the broader context of the Cambodian authorities monitoring what the Thai mission was up to - standard practise, all (or should that be "most"?) countries discretely monitor diplomatic missions on their soil, to some extent or other - friend and foe alike - at all times, and in times of crisis crank up monitoring even more so.

    In South East Asia no one carries out tel checks on it's citizens & businesses more so than Thailand, through ISOC.

    So - should we be suprized to learn that Cambodia does so?

    What's suprizing to learn is that a Thai diplomat was so naive and lax going about contact with the alleged Thai "spy" - it was an almost foregone conclusion that his phone/s were going to be monitored (if not always, then for sure currently because of the circumstances).

  6. Old days - yes, some tyre manufacturers did make use of tube spec'd tyres, but nowadays I don't know of many general purpose type tyres designed for use with tubes ... and as for putting water into tractor tyre tubes ??????? I just can't see the sense in it. Firstthing you;d want to do is change the tyres for tubeless types, but I suppose if the tyre was spec'd for use with a tube, one didn't have much option - but you'd have to take the valve core out though to have any hope of getting enough water through the stem - else you'd be spending all day getting water into each tyre (the 2 holes in the valve core are only around an 8th" inch, if that)

    Tyre balance ........... never used to be a problem as few, if any, tractors could move fast enough for the water to revolve with the tyre. It's shear mass would usualy just cause it to rumble around in the lower half of the tyre.

    But some of the big Fendts , JCB's and New Holland tractors nowadays (with their fancy, but dam_n nice CVT transmissions - god, what I'd be willing to give for a big Fendt 927 or 930 or New Holland T7070 with a CVT box - dream on MF, just dream on old boy ........) are capable of 50 - 80kph (yer - a tractor capable of 50 - 80 kph! - and they're legally rated for these speeds with loads!!!, although I am sure with max loads legal and rated speeds are reduced), I guess tyre balance will at some point become in the not to far future become a real world dy to day to issue for lot of tractors. It's going to take some time for Thailand's "ever so modern" tractor fleet to catch up!

    Still, it's something that has to be factored into the spec, otherwise they wouldn't get plated for those speeds.

    But, setting a tractor up for road haulage/transport type work ain't the same as setting a tractor up for draught work - quite why anyone would be water ballasting for road work is beyond me.

    ... and fo rThailand!! - I don't know of any tractors in Thailand capable of much more than around 25 - 30 kph.

    What will you get out of your typical Series 2 type 66/7610 (by far the most common workhorse sized tractor in Thailand)? - around 15 - 20kph max(?) - no more than that, so balancing for water ballast is not going to be a big issue - anyhow most 66/7610's I know have nicely worn steering hydraulics and axle king pins, so steering "wobble" exists in any case! Front tyre water ballast will just stres the steering parts out even more, spede up the wear and tear and force earlier part replacement onto the owner.

    Water ballest in tyres is good for draught work on fields - and nothing else.

  7. A large part of the overall pest control problem we have in Thailand (I suffered as well through 2009 with an unusulay denser pest problem on maize) has stemmed from the undisciplined usage of pesticides (and herbicides over the last 10 - 20years.

    The consequence - coupled with climatic conditons, is that each time we xperience an explosion of crop pests, we find that we have to use more pesticide. Why? - because many of the pests that trouble rice and maize crops (and in maize it's not nearly as bad as the problem rice farmers suffer - though I have little doubt it will head the same way in due course) have developed more and more resistance to the base/active ingredients used most of the pesticide formulaes on the Thai market.

    What exacerbates the problem even more is the quantity of counterfeit pesticide on the Thai market - especially in rural and small town retail dealers, where both staff and buyers are often not educated enough to identify genuine from fake, and in the case of dealers, a deliberate willingness to stock counterfeit (cheaper to buy, so easier to sell cheaper and yield a high[er] margin - greed).

    Counterfiet is always cheaper - and it's seldom because it's been smuggled into Thailand to get round import duties.

    It's more likely to be cheaper because neither the quality nor the quantity of active ingredient is what it should be - in some cases been little better than a incensed placebo, and in other cases having something complelty different as an active ingredient, and when it does contain the correct type of active ingredient, it's often in a very different concentration from what it should be, or is lacking the stabilisers required to preserve effectiveness and shelf life.

    Pesticide usage and education regards it's usage is a close potential second to climate change, when it comes to the priorities that Thailand's ag sector is going to have to address successfully if it is to deal with the long term changes required by Thailand should it anticipate any success in the future. It is as it stands, the most inefficent sector in the country's overall GDP - almost hopelessly inefficient.

    Crop production (especialy rice) is laughably low when compared to other Asian countries in the region - and it's set to only get worse if Thai polciy makers and elected officials don't pull their fingers out their <deleted>, enforce correct/safe pesticide/herbicide usage, introduce higher yielding hybrids, strip out the chain of dealers between farmers and the market, mechanise cultivation/production and harvesting, address the issues relating crop logistics, address the social causes that lie behind the ever reducing size of family farms, provide more education oppurtunities for farmers, restructure the financial help that farmers get from central government ect ect ect ...... the problems that need sorting out just go on and on ...........

    Yes - I have drifted off the gouda's original issue (pest problems), but while it's certainly been a problem this last year, addressing it only is not going to sort out the mess that the countrys' ag sector is in.

    The whole "business" needs overhauling if its to stand a chance and be a vaible part of Thailands GDP in the years to come.

  8. I know of a couple of ex-pats (Dutch or German)up around Chang rai who are very very successful flower farmers - air-freighting a couple tons each week to Europe from Thailand.

    They cultivate in hot houses - actaully plastic covered tunnels, and while the flower type you mention is not there only product type, it is one of the top 3 types.

    I drew the public company records about 3years ago - just out of interest to get an idea how successful this operation was versus cultivation of flowers that was not undertaken in plastic tunnels.

    Covered cultivation of veggies has always tempted me, but other than for 2 small non-commercial type plastic covered greenhouses I have and use from time to time (mainly for canteloupe) I can assure you that if the production figures for canteloupe cultivated in greenhouses, versus canteloupe cultivated on plastic covered ridges in open fields is anything to go by, then you can be certain that using them for flowers has to be the way to go.

    The difference in these accounts was substantial: I will have to dig them out again after Christmas if you want the low down detail, but off the top of my head,, after working out as best I could the respective "inputs/outputs", difference in land area used, growing time, and as many of the other costs I could include with a reasonable degree of accuracy (based on my limited experieance using similar greenhouses to grow canteloupes, even if I included a large degree of inaccuracy in the final calculation (and there surely was inaccuracy/ies), I came up with a figure that was something like 350% - 500% more productive and efficent in the case of these guys and their flower growing, versus open field cultivation.

    It is an enormous difference.

    So - can it be done: yes, it can, and using greenhouses has to be the way to go. While setting up and constructing greenhouses is not cheap, they are not techncially difficult to design and/or construct. The 2 small grennhouses I have built cost me less than a 1/3rd what they would have cost if I had contracted one of the commercial co's to undertake it for me. All the materials are avaliable locally,and other than for good quality plastic covering which depending on type and size you may have to import,nothing else will carries any CIF duty. All pump and irrigation fittings are avalible, and even the large panel type heat exchanges found at each end of most greenhouses (used for humidity and temp control) can be constructed from local materials.

    Something else to give consideration to cultivating, allbei in much smaller numbers they will benefit greatly from cultivation in greenhouses: orchids - big potential earnings from orchids.

  9. This whole subject makes me bite my lip: where is the evidence that Thai's as a group of people perceive Westerners as ATM's?

    The only true part in al this is that most Thai's (as a racial, ethnic or national group... however you wish to define them) are all to well aware that by Thai income standards and by cost of living standards (in Thailand) , most Westerners, and some Asians and even more so, Japanese (more so than Westerners i would think), can afford alot more than they can.

    There is nothing stereotypical in this - it's obvious Western (and certain other Asian) incomes by and large give visitors to Thailand a lot of spending power.

    So where/how does the ATM myth arise?

    Well, lets start off by taking a look at the cirumstances and enviroment in which the overwhelming amount of interaction between male vistors to Thailand and locals takes place (and before someone says, "not me, I don't" - I am making a generilisation, I accept it does not apply to everyone):it's in the "bright lights" business, or if you will the bar/night life enviroment - and the extra\s avaliable at such places, should one wish to avail themselves to the extras.

    And what counts in this business enviroment? - the size of your wallet and how much can be extracted from it in as little time as possible - after all it's not exactly an enviroment one associates with personal morals and ethical accounting/business practises, now is it. The avarega eThai hooker as as much respect for the average punter as they have for her (and again, yes I accept that there are no doubt exceptions in this as well, but as a generilisation I think the above is a pretty fair overview of the nature of the business and the respective attitudes participants have [for each other]).

    Is it little suprize folk come away with less than complimentry attitudes about the girls and/or the busines overall (?) - it's reciprocal.

    BUT - the bright lights enviroment and the girls that work in it actually account for a very small percentage of all girls in Thailand, and even smaller percentage of Thai's overall when looked at as a group part of the overall group of Thai people. Actually, most Thai girls wouldn't be caught dead in a PatPong or Pattaya beach bar, let along work in one.

    So why is it Thai's as group are branded with the ATM myth?

    Because as I said above, not withstanding the small group within Thai's overall from which this impression perhaps justifiably arises, it is that socio-economic group of Thai's which has the most exposure to tourists/visitors.

    Funny isn't it how such a small group of people can have such a profound effect on the perception others develope of a whole country and it's people.

    Having said all that, it would niaeve to state that the ATM perception is limited exclsuively to this small group of Thai's.

    Nope, it is not - you only have read TV to know that their many folk who have had unfortuneate experiences when it comes to money matters and Thai's. Examples of such often expressed on the forum are experiences folk have had in dealing with their Thai in-laws (though a large percentage of that goes back to the "bright lights" origin of the relationship), but also in doing business that has absolutelt nothing at all to do with "bright lights" folk e.g. house purchases, getting ripped off in business dealings, car purchases .... and I could go on and on......

    No question about, there seems to be a lot of it going on, and each time folk come away feeling they were ripped off, or treated as if they were nothing other than a limitless pot of money into which folk could dip when they wanted for whatever they wanted ... the "ATM perception".

    Does it happen here dissproportionately so as compared to other countries with high ratio's of ex-pats to locals and the amount of business conducted between the 2 groups. Yes - I think there maybe some truth to that. But let;s understand how this comes about.

    First and foremost, is the failure of ex-pats doing "business" of any sort in Thailand to understand the rules & Regs (the law if you will), how to go about things the right way, failure to get independent and unbiased advise, and last but not least: failure to conduct basic due-dilligence.

    Why - why does it happen in Thailand as much as it does? Good question - language and culture has to be part of it i.e. failure to communicate. For example, much of what we see and understand as corruption is not perceived by Thai's as corruption in the sense Westeners see it. Doing business successfully in many parts of Asia (and this is a bigger issue in places like China and Vietnam - amongst other South Asian coutnries) involves backhanders and under-the-tables fees - paying the middel man a slice of the cake. Giving the man who effected the introduction a 10% slice of the cake for no more than making an intro, would be considered by many Wessterners as "taking the cake" - to Asians in these countries (including Thailand - ignoring the exact percentage figure), it is part and parcel of doing business - it is accepted practise, part of establishing relationships, and if followed through with by both parties is usualy both remembered and contributes postively to establsihment and maintence of that relationship for many years to come.

    The above example is perhaps not a very good one, but it serves to illustrate what I feel is a failure on the part of many folk doing "business" in Asia i.e. a failure to udnerstand how to go about things, when & when not an under-the-table/bribe if you will/ get out jail free card payment is acceptable and when it is not - and how to handle the matter overall. In short: a failure on their (i.e. the ex-pat's) part to appreciate situation in which thsi sort of thing arise, and see it in any other way than with their own set of culturale values.

    Lets take the transport sector as an example: traffic cops are endlessly pulling over trucks day and night, and taking small amounts of cash from truckers to ensure the journey goes well and they are not unduly delayed. You can choose to co-operate or not co-operate. Those who co-operate (and I am one of those who do) can pre-pay on a monthly or quaterly basis - and for that you will get a small discreete sticker or some other similar mark that you stick on your truck (in my case it's the 2 old Scania trucks I use to move my tractors and forgae harvester around the North east each season to plough fields and harvest maize for other farmers). When stopped I (or my driver) will produce all the usual documentation and indicate to the traffic cop where the sticker is placed, which he wil duely "inspect" to ensure it's up to date, and then let you go on your way.

    To me thats an "insurance policy" of sorts - in more ways than one - it saves me money and it saves me a lot of other hassle as well - I may have a broken light on one of the trucks. In Europe or the USA if stopped with a mechanical horse/ trailer with a load at night a broken light I was not aware was broken would not be an excuse - I'd still get the fine. In Thailand. I will be asked to get it fixed, and I have no objection to getting it fixed. the problem arises when this payment system to smooth the way is abused by both truckers and cops e.g. the trucker who is using the system to avoid having to replace those worn tyre's on his truck. he knows he can now get away with it till the very last moment - and in the process to hel_l with the safety of other road users. Thats when the system breaks down and no-one benefits. ..... and I can think of a dozen similar and comparable examples i.e. understanding when it's appropriate and when it's not appropriate. By the same token, if the truck driver fined in one province for overworn tyres, he's open to another fine as soon as he gets stopped again after crossing the provincial boundary. I have an issue with that, and I think most truck owners drivers would. It somehow isn;t right that if stopped on a journey for a worn tyre, fined and permitted to carry on, that you can then be stopped again a 100 miles up the road and fined again. Why not just take the truck off the road - surely if the situation warants repeated fining (on the same journey) it warrants been taken off the road(?) The point I am making, is that the pre-payment system is used by the cops in these situations to ensure that if you are fined once, you won't be fined again on the same journey.

    The argument I suppose one could reply with is that you shouldn't be paying anything to cops in the first place. Fair enough, but my reply to that is that I don' think it right the cops should be fining drivers every 100miles or so (or whenever the cross a provincial boundary) for something that you were pulled over and fined for earlier on the same journey- which is otherwise what could/would happen.

    And there is another way of looking at this: it's my experience with respect to the above, that I have been treated no differently to how a Thai in the same position is treated. The fact that I am a "farang" or that the truck is farang owned has never been an issue. I understand the system, and I work with it when I think it can be justified, and in an odd way it;s also my experience that Thai cops "appreciate it" (for lack of a better word) when they see you understand the system and work with it.

    In summary: yes there are certainly examples cited from time to time,and quite rightly so, of ex-pats been taken advantage of and abused when it comes to fiancial matters. But many of these (and other) instances are examples of been ripped off which could just as likely have happened anywhere else under the same set of cirucmstances i.e. the intention of the other party to take advanatge of your naievity, and your failure to do your homework and due-dilligence before getting yourself involved. What makes it so much more likely to happen in Thailadn is the culturale/lanaguage and communication gap thats exists here versus similar examples in other parts of world where it is (or would have been) so much easier to ensure or the t's were crossed and the i's were dotted.

    Do your homework and do your due-dilligence - make sure you understand exactly what the rules & reg's are before buying that house, before buying shares in that business or getting invovled in a buisness proposition - take independent and unbiased advise from a paid professional. the apparent laxity with which one can often go about bsuines sin Thailand is all the more reason for exercsing extra caution.

    'nuff said.............

  10. lannarebirth: Another way that it's done if you don't have this fitting is to just take the tire off and run over the bead with a pickup or another tractor, break the seal, fill the tire with solution (just water in this country), and pump it back up again. Never done it myself but that's what the farmers tell me.

    All in all though, guess it's not commonly done here?

    ...................??????? bloody hel_l thats complicated way of going about it - if you don't have the fitting finner describes, go about it like this:

    1. jack the axle up (to take the weight off the tyre - obvious)

    2. unsrew the core from the valve assembly - so the air is let out

    3. estimate how much water you intend to put into the tyre at at this level along the tyre bead, insert a tyre lever.

    The tyre lever will serve 2 purposes - it permitts ambient air [pressure] to bleed while water is been put into the tyre and serves as a visual guide to the water level in the tyre i.e. when the water level reaches the the height of the tyre lever it will spil out.

    4. now unscrew the core out of the valve

    5. connect a hose (with reducer as the hose ID is more than likely going to be much larger than the valve stem OD) to/over the hose stem (secure it with a hose clip).

    6. turn on the tap ... and wait till the water reaches the tyre lever, at which point it will of course start to spill out.

    7. turn water off, and pull the tyre lever out the bead/rim.

    8. take the hose off valve stem and screw the core back in

    9. pressurise with air - and do not exceed manufacturers pressure limit - which in many cases with water in the tyre can be given as a lower PSI/bar figure.

    There is lot to the care of tractor tyres - the tyre is what puts the power to the ground and it's the air pressure in the tyre that determines how the tread "works" and transfers that power. If the pressure is to low the tyre is quickly ruined and you land up using far more fuel than is needed to any job. If the pressure is to high, again, the tyre is quickly ruined, and again, you'll land up using far more fuel than is needed to do a job. Wrong tyre pressue can add 50% to both fuel consumption and time per job in extreme cases, but even as little as 15% - 20% will soon start to impact your bottom line!!

    I'll write some notes up over the Xmas weekend and binna can pin the thread at the start of the Farming in Thailand sub-section.

    Tractor tyres are not cheap in Thailand, and while the Chinese are making headway into the Thai market now with one particular brand-name, my opinion of the tyre is thatit;s not worth the money spent purchasing it.

    I have cut a number of them up: the side wall thickness (side wall thickness and flex is to the tyre integrity what the tread is to the tyres grip) is substantially thinner than any of the Western brand-name tyres, there is little thought given to the tread design/layout, reinforcement braiding set into the vulcanised rubber profile is dismall, and the compound used in manufacture has around half the abrasion resitance than do any of the Western brandnames.

    This of course explains why Chinese tyres are so cheap, but it turns out in most cases to be a false economy - the treads wear out far earlier than a Western brnadname tyre, the sidewalls are substantially weaker and if they puncture in many cases where you could have saved the tyre through repair if it were a Western brandname, the Chinese alternative will have to be binned, and as I said in the note above, tread design is poor.

    In many cases you are better off sourcing a used Western brand name tyre, if you cannjot or do not wish to invest in a new one. Nothign wrong with a used tyre, so long as it has sufficent tread and has no sidewall damage. Avoid any used tyre with a sidewall repair and less than around 25% - 30% tread, but other than for those 2 points, many used tyres can represent both a big saving over new and will last longer than many new Chinese manufactured tyres.

  11. Makes sense in certain circumstances

    Main advantage/reason: unsprung added ballest i.e. addded mass = added traction - putting it into the tyres means the axles are not having to carry the extra weight and keeps the centre of gravity low, and in the case of a large tractor with duals on that added water can be as much as a couple tons.

    Another reason: adjusting front/rear weight distribution - putting water in the front tyres adds ballast and helps keep the front wheels on the ground when doing draught work (pulling a big plough).

    How much to put in? - not more than around 50% - 75% max by tyre volume: more than this and you will start to loose side wall flexibility in the tyre, preventing the tread from spread ing correctly and quickly destroying the tyre - but each tyre type/spec wil come with manufacturer reccomendations so take note what is said.

  12. I'm confused...

    the OP stated at least 2 times that the amount of money the family want from him is 14,500.000, not 14,500,000

    it makes a huge difference where you place the dot and the comma's, and which notation you use.

    I would have paid the fourteen and half K, as it seems the price for life lost in LOS

    Typo error ..........correct, there is no extradition treaty between Thailand and Aus - David McMillan (who escaped from Bang Kwang) is now based in Aus for that very reason.

  13. Sunfarmer

    Your comments regards the problem(s) facing farmers at the natural resource level is indeed largely one associated with irrigation and water.

    However, some additional points need to be kept in mind to put this into perspective – and it’s a perspective that simply was not appreciated at the time of construction (of the canal and water storage system n the NE of Thailand), as it is understood and appreciated today.

    The NE of Thailand has a canal infrastructure as good as it can get, as well as an excellent water storage capacity. The problem is, if you haven’t got the rainfall in the first place then no matter how sophisticated the storage and distribution system is – it just ain’t going to work.

    The storage and canal infrastructure that Thailand invested in, in the NE was before the changes we are experiencing now climate were understood (and it’s not getting any better)– you just have to go visit the canal and dam facilities in the dry season: the canals are dry and the dams are low – and for what it worth, was also before that sleeping giant net door called China, started to wake up.

    In short: the investments made to support rice farming (all the area is good for really), were made against a background of circumstance that were not what they are today, and neither were they anticipated.

    But, even if they were, I’m not sure they could have been accommodated for.

    Let’s look at Grameen Bank’s micro-finance and why there is such a low rate of default.

    G/bank makes it’s microfinance available to borrowers – whatever the idea, so long as they satisfy the due-dilligence requirements – and one of the reasons why it’s lending is as successful as it is, is because it does undertake due-dilligence - relying to a large extent on the ties between family members, and the inter-community bonds amongst it’s clients as part of the loan risk assement (the theory been that if a borrower has strong enough ties to the area and community, they are not likely to be going anywhere). This method of risk assessment features more prominently with Grameen Bank than it does with the big name clearing house banks – after all, many of its clients don’t have credit records of any sort to start with.

    The social and economic structures in places like rural India and Bangladesh, are such that this can be an effective risk assessment methodology.

    In addition, the opportunities and diversity in these communities is very different to the “like for like” conditions to be found in NE Thailand. As well, it should not be forgotten that the population density is so much greater in those countries than it is in Thailand.

    So what’s my point? – well, it’s a theory – and I’d appreciate the benefit of your expertise and knowledge in commenting.

    The microfinance model that Grameen is so well known for, is a model that is suitable for the places and the communities that live in them. By contrast, the above characteristics are very much “weaker/more diluted” in the NE of Thailand i.e. the local economy and turnover potential which supports the Grameen micro-finance model on a local level in the above countries, just does not exist in the NE of Thailand.

    I'd like to hear what you have to say on the above.........

    The problems facing Thai farmers are easy to quote (corruption, education, oppurtunity, water, land ownership, farmgate prices .... ) and on and on we could go. To discuss them in any meaningful way will keep this topic going for weeks.

  14. The 220v/3amp molded/stamped on the plug fitting is normally the plug manufacturers rating for that plug and nothing to do with the light manufacturer - who purchases it to use on his Xmas light production line, because 220v/3A is the closest standard AC type plug (and the therefore the cheapest!) he can get to what he needs

    But 660 watts is not likley to be what your Xmas lights will be drawing (i.e. 220v @ 3Amps) - they will almost certainly, as givenall comments, be drawing siginificantly less amperage - if only because high wattage Xmas light arrangements are unusual because of the way they are used (e.g. Xmas trees) and the heat they produce. Chances are if they are the flashing string type lights common on Xmas trees, it's quite poss they'll be using not much more than around 200 - 300milliwatts (i.e. not even 1Amp - millAmps at most!).

  15. Speculation regards SPK/G land is never ending - open any Thai paper on any day and you;re sure to see some or other editorial or comment about it.

    The law is set in concreate - Samak (Bangkok mayor around 2003 if I recall correctly), Lek Pai, and more recently, Thaksin (while he was PM), all attempted to push through legislation during their time, that would make the changing of names on SPK/G land doc's easier and more flexible - and all failed by the 2nd reading.

    I can't see it happening, at least not for the foreseeable future - to do so would risk pricing poor farmers out of the market - potentialy political suicide.

    SPK/G rules are national (they apply to all parts of Thailand) - to detail it all here would take up a few pages (search the farming in Thailand section for "Sor Por Kor" - lots of notes come up). In short its agriculture land that is transferable within in family (e.g. father to son/daughter, husband to wife ..... not 7th cousin once removed, or uncle so and so ......) , and usualy only on the death/retirement of the lease holder, but like most rules & regs in Thailand, lots of way to skin a cat and this land changes hands/names on a regular basis - so long as the name change is never challenged, you should be fine, but if it is challenged for whatever reason a few years down the road you;re hardly likely to have much recourse.

  16. Theres a couple good granite quarries between Saraburi and Lopburi - with on site sawmills: they'll cut/grind and polish for you, and its a lot cheaper than ordering to size through a retail shop - just that you'll be limited in colour and grain selection to whats avalible form the quarry.

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