Money,land And Cows

[The ant]

Looking for help, I have a thai friend living near chaiyaphum. They have no land and maybe only 70,000bht to spend. They want to try and turn over this money and hopfully make some profit. I have heard of people buying in bankok (jeans etc) and selling them up country but know nothing else about it. They have been discussing buying cows and selling them on but they seem to know very little about it and i know nothing. They will try to get information locally and i here. If anyone has any information on price of cows in different areas for buying, selling, age or weight. Length of time they have to be kept (eg:legnth of time before some money can be turned over)any information.

As i say i know nothing so anything could be of help

My only interest in this is that they are good people. Their house is the smallest on the dirt track and i think for the first time they have some money to do something . No she is not my girlfriend or fiance, we were seeing each other for four months after knowing each other for 1 year and are good friends now.

[Morden]

Ant,

Most things that you can buy in BKK are available in the sticks and at a lower price so your friend should think carefully about buying goods for resale. She should check the prices at both ends.

She may be able to rent some land for farming if she's not able to buy. The starting point with farming is to see what the neighbours grow or keep and find out what they pay, what is the cost of growing and what is the final selling price.

Cows can pay well after you've grazed them for a while but they can be expensive to but, too.

Can she cook? Do any of the neighbours have a restaurant outside their houses? Good food is always popular with the locals but the hours can be long.

Search through some old threads here for more ideas.

[STEALTH K3]

When I was out in the sticks I saw a lot of houses with the front part turned into a shop front.

[Rigger]

I am not into cows other than eating them but I think 70,000bht is not going to get them very far. My mate in the village where I live has about 25 head and is always complaining he is not making any money from it so I think the cow thing is a bad idea and they take a fair bit of looking after.

The jeans thing doesn,t sound like a bad idea if they can get them at the right price and if they have a pickup and go from village to village selling them. My wife was think about doing some sort of cloths shop (if she can stay unpregant for a while) as out in the villages there is no such thing as cloth shops well not that I have ever seen and 70,000 bht should buy them a lot of stock to start with

[ray23]

I am not into cows other than eating them but I think 70,000bht is not going to get them very far. My mate in the village where I live has about 25 head and is always complaining he is not making any money from it so I think the cow thing is a bad idea and they take a fair bit of looking after.

The jeans thing doesn,t sound like a bad idea if they can get them at the right price and if they have a pickup and go from village to village selling them. My wife was think about doing some sort of cloths shop (if she can stay unpregant for a while) as out in the villages there is no such thing as cloth shops well not that I have ever seen and 70,000 bht should buy them a lot of stock to start with

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You can get into Thia cattle, but not the more expensive ones, such as Thia French Beef. There just is enough funding for that. Getting the cattle is only the start, you have vet expenses and feed expenses for several years. If I understand correctly, they don't have land. Maybe an agreement can be made to graze the cattle locally. Keep in mind that grazing is not available year round so purchasing of feed has to be taken into account.

You can check out the local cost of buying at auctions in your area. Possible a long tern approach might be to breed the cattle from a base stock.

Retail is a tough road to go, the same stuff is available everywhere.

It's just not easy to make money here unles you are some of the lucky ones that get into the governments nickers. It would appear that monied class take care of thier own and have very few crumbs left over for the poor to work thier way out.

One thing about the resturant idea at least your going to be eating.

I think the idea of looking at the locals and find the thing that is working is a great idea. 70K baht generally is not a lot of money to us, but it is to a Thia. It is encouraging to see that thye are thinking about how to make the money work for them instead of a village party, I wish them all the success in the world

[buadhai]

One possibility. Take the bus or drive into Bangkok and visit one of the clothing wholesale markets like Pratu Nam or Bo Bae. Buy up a bunch of whatever seems trendy and go back to the village(s) and hope for a quick sale.

My GF and her Mom do this now and then, mostly as a lark. But, they do get a good markup and the stuff they select seems to sell OK here in Korat. It's mostly low-end, cheaply made stuff with popular logos or characters on them. The latest batch has a bunch of "Popeye the Sailor" blouses and shirts. I think they buy for around 40 or 50 baht a pop and sell for 99 or 199.

[RamdomChances]

Ant

As a general rule of thumb expect to pay about 1000 bhat per month for normal thai cattle. i.e a 6 month old 6000 bhat, 12 month 12,000 bhat ect for imature cows, when mature it depends on weight. That is just a very rough guide

Tell them to not even think about raising cattle, if they want to get into it, just buy, keep for about 3-4 months and sell. I've been told by a few people that if you do it right you can get 1,000 bhat a month profit form the cows. I think this is a bit high personaly and the people telling me that did'nt fully think about their costs.

Looking after cattle this way you dont graze them just keep them in a pen , you need to feed them concentrate food (about 160 bhat a 30 kg bag)about 4 kg a day say about 20 bhat. Then they will have to eat hay or grass, many small holders just cut grass form the side of the road this season which is viable if you only have a few cows hay is 20 bhat a bail at the moment (varies from 10-25 bhat depending on season) more if you are just buying a few bails at a time. They will eat about half a bail a day say 10 bhat. So thats around 35 bhat/day to feed them or 1000 a month. This is too high to make any real profit IMO allthough I'm estimating a bit on the high side. It can be reduced by , cutting your own grass (dont graze them as the point is to put weight on they dont get much exersice) and substituting "baged" food with various farm products they need to be fairly high in protien though, "lamb" a by product from rice production is quite good and "man sampalang" usually just refered to as "man" is good and can be bought for around 2 bhat/kg in season. We use "fang mak" hay silage which is about 9% protien (baged about 18%) but is cheap enough that we can give it on a unlimited basis (less than 1 bhat/kg).

I dont do beef but dairy, the feeding stratigies are about the same though (apart from dairy getting about 8 kg of bagged a day) I know lots of people doing beef and have been looking into it for myself (as well as dairy). My plan was to buy about 5 a month turning them over every 3 months to start, still on the drawing board though, probably better off buying anonther 10 dairy.

Vet bill should be negligible, inject Ivormec when they buy (worming/parisites) They can inject themselfs or get a local farmer to do it or a vet (about 20 bhat) buy the medicen for around 800 bhat/bottle 1cc/100kg body weight injected subcutainsly (under the skin, usually in the neck. I still cant do this myself so we get a vet to do ours)

They ideally need to look for 12-16 month bull's not to fat as the idea is you fatten them up, obviously pay less for thin bulls, which they should be able to buy for around 12-15,000. If they have'nt a pick-up delivery will be extra (about 500/bhat/head) bulls put weight on quicker and are a bit cheaper than cows.

With the margins being so small, it is very difficult for a first timer to make decent profit out of cattle as you need to get the buying and selling prices spot on, transport is going to come out as well and you need to get the feeding right. They should be a local "talad nat wua" cattle market it worth going a few times to check out prices

A small shop is probably a better option depending on their location. My mother-in-law has one (well medium shop ) average mark up about 15 % they should be able to set it up and stock it for 70,000 so even selling 1000/bhat a day they should get 150/profit minus electricity, fuel ect. My mother-in-law turns over about 5,000 a day, but she supplies to some of the smaller shops as well.

RC

Edited August 27, 2005 by RamdomChances

[phibunmike]

Ant,

Most things that you can buy in BKK are available in the sticks and at a lower price so your friend should think carefully about buying goods for resale. She should check the prices at both ends.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

- although the concept of "not available here" does seem to be a selling point - my GF bought some T-shirst at a market in Singapore (not the cheapest place!) and sold them for a (small) profit in the village. Althought the profit was too small IMO, I support her entrepreneurial spirit, and am encouraging the next venture.

[aletta]

The fashion at the moment is all Mickey Mouse and anything with him on will sell out.

[NextStationBangkok]

A smart investor do not invest everything in one business. So, you can invest 30 % in agriculture related and rest in business. Even if you buy a glass door fridge you can sell some beers. If you want to start a business look for quality goods other wise you will get a bad name and your business will be dead quickly. Sell good things for less profit, you will be benifit in long run. All the best.

[chico]

Ant

As a general rule of thumb expect to pay about 1000 bhat per month for normal thai cattle. i.e a 6 month old 6000 bhat, 12 month 12,000 bhat ect for imature cows, when mature it depends on weight. That is just a very rough guide

Tell them to not even think about raising cattle, if they want to get into it, just buy, keep for about 3-4 months and sell. I've been told by a few people that if you do it right you can get 1,000 bhat a month profit form the cows. I think this is a bit high personaly and the people telling me that did'nt  fully think about their costs.

Looking after cattle this way you dont graze them just keep them in a pen , you need to feed them concentrate food (about 160 bhat a 30 kg bag)about 4 kg a day say about 20 bhat. Then they will have to eat hay or grass, many small holders just cut grass form the side of the road this season which is viable if you only have a few cows hay is 20 bhat a bail at the moment (varies from 10-25 bhat depending on season) more if you are just buying a few bails at a time. They will eat about half a bail a day say 10 bhat. So thats around 35 bhat/day to feed them or 1000 a month. This is too high to make any real profit IMO allthough I'm estimating a bit on the high side. It can be reduced by , cutting your own grass (dont graze them as the point is to put weight on they dont get much exersice) and substituting "baged" food with various farm products they need to be fairly high in protien though, "lamb" a by product from rice production is quite good and "man sampalang" usually just refered to as "man" is good and can be bought for around 2 bhat/kg in season. We use "fang mak" hay silage which is about 9% protien (baged about 18%) but is cheap enough that we can give it on a unlimited basis (less than 1 bhat/kg).

I dont do beef but dairy, the feeding stratigies are about the same though (apart from dairy getting about 8 kg of bagged a day) I know lots of people doing beef and have been looking into it for myself (as well as dairy). My plan was to buy about 5 a month turning them over every 3 months to start, still on the drawing board though, probably better off buying anonther 10 dairy.

Vet bill should be negligible, inject Ivormec when they buy (worming/parisites)  They can inject themselfs or get a local farmer to do it or a vet (about 20 bhat) buy the medicen for around 800 bhat/bottle 1cc/100kg body weight injected subcutainsly (under the skin, usually in the neck. I still cant do this myself so we get a vet to do ours)

They ideally need to look for 12-16 month bull's not to fat as the idea is you fatten them up, obviously pay less for thin bulls, which they should be able to buy for around 12-15,000. If they have'nt a pick-up delivery will be extra (about 500/bhat/head) bulls put weight on quicker and are a bit cheaper than cows.

With the margins being so small, it is very difficult for a first timer to make decent profit out of cattle as you need to get the buying and selling prices spot on, transport is going to come out as well and you need to get the feeding right. They should be a local "talad nat wua" cattle market it worth going a few times to check out prices

A small shop is probably a better option depending on their location. My mother-in-law has one (well medium shop  ) average mark up about 15 % they should be able to set it up and stock it for 70,000 so even selling 1000/bhat a day they should get 150/profit minus electricity, fuel ect. My mother-in-law turns over about 5,000 a day, but she supplies to some of the smaller shops as well.

RC

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Lucky you, if you get those prices in your area!

In Isaan, between Burirum and Surin, they pay between 1.000 and 3.000 for a one year old calf, don't even want to buy mothers, that's what people in our village get offered.

interesting enough, there is a small market at about 6km, every saturday, prices there seem to be a lot higher.

maybe people in the village just need to get someone to buy from outside the area?

I might add, that we personally don't have cows, got it just from talks within the village.

[RamdomChances]

Ant

As a general rule of thumb expect to pay about 1000 bhat per month for normal thai cattle. i.e a 6 month old 6000 bhat, 12 month 12,000 bhat ect for imature cows, when mature it depends on weight. That is just a very rough guide

Tell them to not even think about raising cattle, if they want to get into it, just buy, keep for about 3-4 months and sell. I've been told by a few people that if you do it right you can get 1,000 bhat a month profit form the cows. I think this is a bit high personaly and the people telling me that did'nt  fully think about their costs.

Looking after cattle this way you dont graze them just keep them in a pen , you need to feed them concentrate food (about 160 bhat a 30 kg bag)about 4 kg a day say about 20 bhat. Then they will have to eat hay or grass, many small holders just cut grass form the side of the road this season which is viable if you only have a few cows hay is 20 bhat a bail at the moment (varies from 10-25 bhat depending on season) more if you are just buying a few bails at a time. They will eat about half a bail a day say 10 bhat. So thats around 35 bhat/day to feed them or 1000 a month. This is too high to make any real profit IMO allthough I'm estimating a bit on the high side. It can be reduced by , cutting your own grass (dont graze them as the point is to put weight on they dont get much exersice) and substituting "baged" food with various farm products they need to be fairly high in protien though, "lamb" a by product from rice production is quite good and "man sampalang" usually just refered to as "man" is good and can be bought for around 2 bhat/kg in season. We use "fang mak" hay silage which is about 9% protien (baged about 18%) but is cheap enough that we can give it on a unlimited basis (less than 1 bhat/kg).

I dont do beef but dairy, the feeding stratigies are about the same though (apart from dairy getting about 8 kg of bagged a day) I know lots of people doing beef and have been looking into it for myself (as well as dairy). My plan was to buy about 5 a month turning them over every 3 months to start, still on the drawing board though, probably better off buying anonther 10 dairy.

Vet bill should be negligible, inject Ivormec when they buy (worming/parisites)  They can inject themselfs or get a local farmer to do it or a vet (about 20 bhat) buy the medicen for around 800 bhat/bottle 1cc/100kg body weight injected subcutainsly (under the skin, usually in the neck. I still cant do this myself so we get a vet to do ours)

They ideally need to look for 12-16 month bull's not to fat as the idea is you fatten them up, obviously pay less for thin bulls, which they should be able to buy for around 12-15,000. If they have'nt a pick-up delivery will be extra (about 500/bhat/head) bulls put weight on quicker and are a bit cheaper than cows.

With the margins being so small, it is very difficult for a first timer to make decent profit out of cattle as you need to get the buying and selling prices spot on, transport is going to come out as well and you need to get the feeding right. They should be a local "talad nat wua" cattle market it worth going a few times to check out prices

A small shop is probably a better option depending on their location. My mother-in-law has one (well medium shop  ) average mark up about 15 % they should be able to set it up and stock it for 70,000 so even selling 1000/bhat a day they should get 150/profit minus electricity, fuel ect. My mother-in-law turns over about 5,000 a day, but she supplies to some of the smaller shops as well.

RC

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Lucky you, if you get those prices in your area!

In Isaan, between Burirum and Surin, they pay between 1.000 and 3.000 for a one year old calf, don't even want to buy mothers, that's what people in our village get offered.

interesting enough, there is a small market at about 6km, every saturday, prices there seem to be a lot higher.

maybe people in the village just need to get someone to buy from outside the area?

I might add, that we personally don't have cows, got it just from talks within the village.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thats seriously cheap mate, unless they are just a sack of bones. 1000 bhat here and you would be lucky to get a new born calf, at 6km away why dont they take them to market, even if they have to pay someone with a pick-up. The prices I quote might be a bit high but are just a "rule of thumb" (I'd look to but 14-16 month for around 10-12,000). If those prices are real, it would be worth sending a lorry down and buying 20 head.

[eljeque]

Pigs. Yes, that's right, Pigs!!! My friend's ex is in Surin and does just fine with pigs.

Piglets are cheap

Feed is cheap.

Sell them at 70 kilos in 6 months.

I cannot remember the numbers, but talk to some people in the area and see if it fits your needs. NOw, the one thing about pigs is that they stink, and that you will need to clean away the pig shit or move the cage every week.

Sorry that I cannot remembr the numbers, but check around up there and it should look worth doing, as long as her neighbors do not mind the smell. I would invest in them, but I am Jewish and it wouldn't be right.

[bannork]

Pigs.  Yes, that's right, Pigs!!!  My friend's ex is in Surin and does just fine with pigs. 

Piglets are cheap

Feed is cheap.

Sell them at 70 kilos in 6 months.

I cannot remember the numbers, but talk to some people in the area and see if it fits your needs.  NOw, the one thing about pigs is that they stink, and that you will need to clean away the pig shit or move the cage every week.

Sorry that I cannot remembr the numbers, but check around up there and it should look worth doing, as long as her neighbors do not mind the smell.  I would invest in them, but I am Jewish and it wouldn't be right.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

feed for pigs is not cheap unless you use vegetable-leftovers from markets or food shops, the concentrated pig feed is expensive and you have to mix that with rice bran which you have to buy as well.

Have a morning market stall, 5am rising, and feed the pigs the remnants left over at midday, the pig shit, once dry, can be shovelled into a fishpond, to feed bla nin.

[Heng]

Looking for help, I have a thai friend living near chaiyaphum. They have no land and maybe only 70,000bht to spend. They want to try and turn over this money and hopfully make some profit.

Keep whatever current job they have and loan their funds out at 3% interest per month, under contract + power of attorney to transfer title to the lender upon default. Fortunes have been made from much much more modest beginnings. It all depends on whether they can save and reinvest what they make and live frugally.

Clothing in Pratunam and Bobay works well too... it's that pesky transport cost between Bangkok and Issan that's a minor pain, but still quite workable.