#  >  > Living And Legal Affairs In Thailand >  >  > Living In Thailand Forum >  >  Thailand:- Life on the Farm is kind of relaxed

## David48atTD

I always enjoyed reading/watching a peek of others members life in Thailand and maybe it's time to show
a little of where I live.



Sunrise at the Farm ... but all that glitters is not gold. 

Not too much bla bla ... just lot's of images and videos with a few explanations.

My Thai Partner and I don't actually own any land or dwellings, when we are there we live in a typical, 2 story
Thai Farmhouse which belongs to her Parents.

Various comings and goings within the extended Family but it's ...

Thai Mum and Dad, 
their 2 daughters, 
their 4 kids, 
those kids 2 partners, 
myself and my Thai Partner (their 3rd daughter), 
our 2 kids 
and a disabled adult cousin who I've nick-named Miss Quiet.

Next door, another building on the Farm is Grandma, Mum's brother and the other dwelling is Mum's sister and
her partner who is also the brother of Mum's daughter's boyfriend  :Smile: 

All the neighbours are relatives, Aunts and Uncles and, of course, Cousins.

Even though we are only a couple of hours outside of Bangkok, there is no 7/11 within 20, maybe 30 klms and
the Mar n Pa is a 30 min walk if there is no bike handy.


So, we are Fish and Prawn/Shrimp Farmers, below is the Farm and it's various ponds ...




Water is everywhere at our Farm.  
This used to be the main access and mode of Transportation.


Apparently the Klong/Canal is considered to be our 'road'.

Indeed Klongs and access along them is standard around these parts.

This one below is one access option ... after riding across 
the Farm's dirt roads and through a few relatives blocks.


But when it rains, and it rains often, the bike can't be ridden on the Farm's dirt road.
 
This is main egress to the Farm.  Sometimes it's completely covered.
Because of the Charcoal makers trucks comings and goings, it's now much worse then in the vid.
That movie is before kids, so, maybe 5 years ago.
It was the Kings Birthday night, hence all the yellow.



Yes, shock, horror, I ride in the back of a pick-up.  Back then the Farm Father owned the only car.


Because we are so isolated, I might go a week or two before I see a fellow Westerner.
Even at the local TESCO it's not the norm.
I live, eat and shite Thai when I'm at the Farm ... and that's cool.

No Air-Con here, no running water (to speak of), no flushing toilet, no hot water ... well, no showers.

My Thai Partner lived this all her life and she turned out great ... I can also ... builds character.

A down side is I don't speak/read Thai.  I've tried, but my brain isn't wired that way.
When at Uni, I topped my State @ Quantitative Analyses, came away with a Business Honours Degree,
but I suck at Languages.

The upside is that I read Body Language well.  I muddle through.

Also, unlike many on the TD, I'm not the Alpha Male in the house.
I live with a number of Thai Adults and their siblings.
I've learnt 'Thainess' ... I fight it, but, like the Borg assimilation 'resistance is futile'


One of the kids is a Dee and watching her on again/off again relationship with her Tom is interesting.
She has now left the Tom and has a BF and things seem to be working out for her.  She's a sweetie.

One of the other kids dropped out of School when she was 14 to move in with her BF.
I like her also.
Over the years I've learn't and try not to judge, not to compare what we would do in the West 
and overlay that to what we would do in Thailand.  
I'm not perfect at it.
Sometimes my moral compass just says no and I spit the dummy.



Lots more to post, just taking the time to go through the media.

Fish and Prawn Farming next ...

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## David48atTD

Fish and Prawn Farming

Several ways to feed the Fish, depending on the stock feed and the Fish's maturation stage.

Overwhelmingly the Fish are fed by a pelleted commercial stock feed, the cost of which will vary according 
to the feeds protein content.

That is except for Catfish ... they eat almost anything.


^ This is a Lake which the Farm Father rents, it's not like the other ponds.
It's deep and never emptied.
They are being fed powered Bran, the outer husk of the rice grain, cheap.



Walking a pond and casting a pelleted commercial stock feed (below)
Usually used with younger fish.


The man is a Farm worker
Worked for basic lodgings, rice, electic and BHT 8,000/month


The most usual way of feeding.
A mesh net filled with the pelleted commercial stock feed


I'm amused when I read the comments re how 'Dirty' the fish are.
How they are pumped full of chemicals/antibiotics etc.

There is not enough margin in Fish Farming to buy the antibiotics.

On the Farm, if they die, they die.

The usual cause of death or, as we call it, a fish kill is depleted O2 levels.
Oxygen levels drop to their lowest just before the Dawn.
That is for Tilapia, big headed carp, snakefish etc.

As for catfish, they are almost impossible to kill.  
They don't inhabit the same ponds as the usual catch.

What do you do with the fish kill?
Collected, cooked, bottled and salted ... apparently, folk from Isaan love them

Prawns are usually caught every 3 months and fish, about 9 months.

Nets are laid out for prawns in the afternoon and hauled in before sunrise.
They are iced and taken directly to the wholesale market.


^ Prawns being sorted.
From there, straight to the local market.
Pond to your plate in under 24 hours.


^ Fish being corralled before being sorted (below)



We used to take the fish directly to Bangkok's Wholesale Fish Market,
but that meant catching at night-time to be there at dawn @ the Market.



^ Now, the buyers come to us and their team catch and sort the fish.
We are paid @ the Farm Gate.

If it's been raining, the catch is usually delayed till the rain stops the Farm roads dry.
Why?
Because the trucks are loaded to the hilt, tonnes overweight and 2WD utes don't go well on our 
Farm roads which quickly become a mud wrestlers dream  :Smile: 



I've been to a few Farmers meetings.  No-one and I mean no Westerner reports a Farming profit.
It's fun at the small scale, but not financially viable for an income.

There is one guy I know through another Forum who grows and harvests catfish and apparently he does OK,
but he's the exception.

I wanted to work out the RoE for this Farm but drew a blank look when I asked about the Farms financials.

As an aside, before I met my Thai Partner, going back more then a decade, they used to grow coconuts but,
the dreaded coconut beetle stopped that being a viable business.

Odds and Bobs around the Farm next ...

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## Chittychangchang

Interesting thread David, thanks for taking the time to share.

You must have nerves of steel riding the bike on that wall/path.

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## David48atTD

> Interesting thread David, thanks for taking the time to share.
> 
> You must have nerves of steel riding the bike on that wall/path.


Thanks CCC.  It takes ages to compile the media and most of stuff has heaps of the extended family in it
and that's not appropriate for the Forum.

It took me a little while to get used to the concrete path but, I used to be a Motorcycle Courier in London,
so sort of used to being on a bike.

That said, Mum has fallen off her pushie a few times taking the kids to school.

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## toslti

I used to avidly follow your posts on '' the other place'' . Do you allow/tolerate visitors? Beer will be provided.

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## Stumpy

AWESOME stuff David. We have bantered back and forth for some time now after we met on TV a long time ago. nice post.

Thanks for sharing

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## yortyiam

A really interesting thread so far, David, thanks posting it up. As an ex-motorcyclist, I too was impressed with your balance skills!

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## David48atTD

Thanks for all the positive comments.

If the thread gets a bit boring, let me know, I just want to share what's it's like living on a Thai Farm,
with all it's lumps and bumps.




> I used to avidly follow your posts on '' the other place'' . Do you allow/tolerate visitors? Beer will be provided.


Mate, we have actually moved back to the West so I can earn some decent coin and so that the kids can be raised 
under a Western Schooling system.

We only spend a couple of months a year in Thailand ATM and that window has passed for this year.  Next year?

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## Stumpy

How is Life back West David? Hope the little ones are doing well.

After retiring about 2 months ago, I got an email from a colleague wanting to me to join his company back in Calif. Sadly its an Ops Director position like the one I just left and If I was to ever to consider coming out of retirement it would have to be a small start up and my role would have to be some Engineering leadership position.

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## David48atTD

^  Mate, thanks, the boys are great ... I'll sneak in an image/vid a bit later.

---

One thing I used to love about the Farm was the Boat.

Klongs/Canals are such an integral part of life where we live and the boats come in all shapes and sizes.




We have guys with big V8's and you hear them coming from a mile away ... my kids love watching them fly by.
Some are powered by a little Honda 4 stroke and just quietly putt putt by.

We are somewhere in between.  Fairly sure it's an old VW motor.  It's air-cooled.

The shaft design is interesting, long tail shaft, propeller with a guard/rudder underneath it which does 2 things.

Rudder allows the shaft to rest on the bottom of the canal but keeps the prop above it and, sometimes it's 
used as a paddle.

Now they ride bikes to the main road, but before, we travelled by boat.
I shot these after dropping the kids at the road and waited for the songthaew สองแถว to collect them.








However, sometimes the water hyacinth beats you.

This is the area's main Klong ... probably 80 metres wide.





If someone could find a commercial use for water hyacinth, they'd clean up.

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## OhOh

> I wanted to work out the RoE for this Farm but drew a blank look when I asked about the Farms financials.



Thanks for the insight to your life very interesting. How about social life, how or what do the families do?

I gave up trying to estimate how the profit is established for my wife's father's Durian and Rubber farms. The annual Durian sales seem to swing all over the place but they live very much hand to mouth. The children chip in where they can. Little profit means less fertiliser purchased. Little pest spraying chemicals is done.

 They have survived all their lives and Pa gets a bottle of Thai whisky occasionally. Ma gets her lottery tickets. There is always food.

When I produced a spread sheet for my coffee bushes my wife showed it to pa who was greatly amused. The do always know how much a farm for sale produces every year. When I ask to see their "books" they look aghast as such a question. :Smile:

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## naptownmike

Thanks for the videos. There is nothing like being around the water in rural Thailand I love it. I have always wondered how it would be to ride a motorcycle down those cement paths looks a bit dicey.
Seeing this reconfirms my desire to live in the river in my wife's village.

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## Mandaloopy

Really nice thread! Great life you have there!  Something I want to do is rent some land and a house upcountry and live the good life as it were. Now if I could find such a property in Rangsit I would be very happy. Back to the old place of work- pays better than average but hardly close to the top tier stuff and come home everyday to my slice of paradise.  I live in the city center these days- if I could click my fingers and be back in semi rural Thailand I would do it without a second thought.

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## Klondyke

> If someone could find a commercial use for water hyacinth, they'd clean up.


There has been a project for collecting it up to a boat, then used for a composting. I saw once such boat on Payao Lake, with a special rake for that.

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## Hugh Cow

Thanks for sharing Dave. Very interesting.

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## David48atTD

I started the OP with a Sunrise, so I'll start this with a Farm Sunset ...




Since we are generally devoid of mountains, we get to capture the sun from it's first morning's glow 
till it sets.

There are all Sunsets ...



Farm worker silhouetted doing his last rounds for the day.
I think he had just finished the last feed and he's returning to the feed shed.




Over the machinery lean to




Over the Farmhouse




Finally, from the perspective of the Pond



Sunsets are awesome round the Farm, particularly during Winter when it usually doesn't rain.

With all the water to act as a reflective surface, it's not difficult to capture a half decent image.


Even the Birds were heading home



Sometimes it's what you want to express with an image


But the subject (the sun) and it's reflection or ...




... it's silhouette



I've spent many a lovely afternoon sat in a Salsa over one of the ponds sipping a Leo.

Or, with the boys and some of the extended Family at the Farm Father's shed, right bang in the middle of the Farm where 
he sleeps to guard the ponds from thieves.

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## stroller

Brilliant thread, David!



> Prawns are usually caught every 3 months and fish, about 9 months.


No antibiotics for the prawns?

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## David48atTD

> Thanks for the insight to your life very interesting. How about social life, how or what do the families do?


So, our Farm is almost surrounded by relatives.

The Farm Father's Mother held a fair bit of land and, on her passing, it was divvied up amongst the siblings.
Some stayed and Farmed their lot, some rent their pond to the Farm Father.

Farm life is really a 7 day a week job.

Socially there isn't much doing apart from visiting the other Rellies.
I'm cool with that.

If I want a break, I head into Bangkok.
Air-con, I can walk most places, food I want, no mozzies, English TV and
when it was available, a quick catch-up with some members from 'that other Forum'.

Plus, many of the fellow Managers (Thai) my Partner used to work with we socialise with.
They speak some English, my Thai Partners ex-work was fairly close by, so a meet-up
after work is often on.
Plus, they are really nice people.
They like me ... they love my boys ... helped, no doubt by the fact that, apart from the Male Manager,
none of the other woman have had kids.


Then you have what the Thai's do ...

If the Farm is dry, then a quick game of Toy lee en ...

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## Chittychangchang

Never seen that before David, look like a Thai version of hop scotch without the hop and the scotch.

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## David48atTD

> Brilliant thread, David!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>  Originally Posted by David48atTD
> 
> 
> ...


I've seen close to 7 years of Farming at the place and no-one uses antibiotics for the Prawns 
around these parts.

A number of reasons why ...

The ponds are about 5' deep and Prawns (shrimps) are bottom feeders.
There would be no effective delivery system.

I've watched a lot of media on other Farms and the large, corporate run ones which only farm
prawns in shallow ponds ... maybe they do, but we don't, nor do any of the Farms around here.

Another reason why also is, if there mortation with the prawn population, it is simply eaten by 
the other animals.

If the Prawns are small and get sick, they float to the surface, the birds get them.
If they are larger, the fish, which co-inhabit the same pond eat them.

The most common disease which Prawns get is called white spot which causes no ill effects in, 
either other fish or humans*


So, apart from no effective delivery method,Natures natural vacuum cleaners,There simply isn't the margins in Prawn Farming to buy the antibiotics. 


* Effect on other species:-  Fin fish are not affected by the disease and are not a carrier of the disease.
    * Risks to human health:-  Prawns infected with white spot disease do not pose a risk to food safety or human health.
Here

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## David48atTD

Thais also fish the canals ...

ALL methods are used.

Some use a line and a rod.

Some are sneeky buggers and slowing travel the canal in a boat and place electrodes in the water, 
stunning the fish, which then float to the surface and are gathered in.

Some use this common method.




And I've seen guys, with a smaller version of this net walking the canal and trying his luck.
He manually lowers the net, waits a while then pulls it, tilts the net towards him and what he
catches he put in a shoulder bag.

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## David48atTD

The canals, like the road, need basic maintenance.

This is the big unit who both dredges and he has some poles as our electric and phone come down the canal.

It's a 2 person crew.  The assistant has a long stick which she lifts the power/phone lines up and down and ... 
when the opportunity presents itself, to grab some tree fruit.





Above ... sometimes we get the guy who just dredges.
He takes great car with his work.
I wonder if he's ever tipped it?

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## Dillinger

Great thread David.

Wheres the nightlife vids? :Smile:

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## AntRobertson

Nice one, missed this thread at the start.

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## David48atTD

Prawns/Shrimps ...

In a typical pond the Prawns and Fish, usually Tilapia live a symbiotic relationship.
The Prawns are harvested usually around 3 months after being released into the Pond.

The day before the harvest, the nets are placed into the pond, under a light bulb which is used
to attracted into the net.



Farm worker setting the nets out.
Pond is about 5' deep and
the slope is quite steep.



> Great thread David.
> 
> Wheres the nightlife vids?


Nightlife ... I'll give you night life!

Sometime after dinner, it doesn't really matter, the lights are turned on.


Apologies for the crappy photo, but it's pitch dark out there and I'm using the 'Fireworks' setting on the 
camera plus the mossies* are biting and sucking like little Draculas and ... there is a live powerline around
the pond and you are tring not to touch that.
The power line feeds the light bulbs.

They stay on all night and come dawn, the power is off and we are up.



^ ... and the harvest begins
Usually 3 days and nights




^ The crabs are never put in by us,
they just arrive.



^  Moving to the next net
There about 20, maybe 25 nets set.
 

I've attended a dozen or so Prawn Harvests.  They are usually low key affairs.
Essentially they don't need me.  the rellies/workers are organised in advance,
until ...

Until, one morning we had a massive storm @ the Farm.  Lightening everywhere.
The dry dirt roads turn to mud, thick mud.

No-one turns up for work except the Farm Father and those he can rally.
Meaning me and the man I call the 'drunk Uncle'.

In a storm you usually get FLASH ..................................................  ....... KABOOM
That morning it was FLASH ....... KABOOM
We wern't near the Storm, we were in the Storm.

Sitting under a verandah I love a storm.  Boom Crash, like an Opera.

But out there, in the storm, pissing down, squelching the mud through your toes.
Oh, I'd plan to wear thongs.  She, who I've learnt knows everything about living on this Farm said ...
_Hun ... thongs won't work, bare feet only_.
Nah, you're wrong on this.
Yep, I was wrong on this.

I got 8, maybe 10 steps before the mud build-up before the thongs maybe weighed a pound each.
So, I had no choice to kick them off and 'go native'.

FLASH ................. KABOOM
FLASH ................................... KABOOM
FLASH .... KABOOM

Fuck ... that last one was close.


The prawns _had_ to be harvested.

Unlike the pretty vids above, this morning they were dead.
Why?
In a storm, the O2 levels drop drastically.

Unlike the Prawns which are caught, iced and their metabolic rate reduced.
Dead Prawns attract about 1/2 what their iced cousins do.

I earnt my keep that morning and, early on in our relationship gained a little respect that morning.

---

mossies*

Never underestimate the power of the humble Mosquito.

Come sundown, I am dust.

I get the first opportunity to throw 4 litre ice-cream buckets of cold water and attempt to bath myself.

Then, a bee-line for the bedroom and it's beloved insect screens.

How many mossies?


... and that was just in a few minutes.


Anyone got a recipe for fried mossies, I could fill my boots.

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## OhOh

Excellent keep it coming. How about the odd "disagreement" how are they handled? How many other foreigners in the vicinity?

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## David48atTD

> Excellent keep it coming. 
> How about the odd "disagreement" how are they handled? 
> How many other foreigners in the vicinity?


Last one first.  Well, there are no other foreigners in the vicinity.
I live, entirely immersed, in 'Thainess'.

If I didn't leave the Farm, because of it's isolation, I see no-one (Westerner).
My local TESCO isn't 'On Nut' where there is a strong mix of Nationalities.
Sometimes, off in the distance, I might see a white face ... but I don't gravitate
towards it.

Within the immediate and extended Thai Family I am universally accepted (well, tolerated at least), 
even though I'm not married, but the arrival of our children has cemented the bonds.


The Boys are adored by the extended Family. 

Also I know that I seem to accepted by most, liked by many and probably even loved by a few.
Within my Thai Partners Family, specifically her Father and his siblings there is one Leader, we call him the Boss Uncle.
So some reason, him and I get on great.  We don't talk at all, but through gestures and body language we have a laugh, 
and more then a few beers.
That acceptance maybe does have a trickle down effect ... don't know.

Plus, I've worked hard on tolerating their 'Thainess' and they have come closer to understand
my Western thinking.
As in they listen politely to my opinion, then happy carry on doing what they were doing  ::chitown:: 


_How to handle disagreements?_  Another time.  I wish to maintain my happy mood  :Smile:

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## David48atTD

Pond to Plate ...

For some reason, we don't eat many of the fish, maybe because they are only caught every 9 months.
There are a number of the ponds at the Farm and they are harvested for Prawns every 3 months so, every
week or two there is a catch going on somewhere.

Prawns ... I get to enjoy every week or two.

Below was a good catch ...



Prawns dancing in the net.

We were up before the sun and this is about the 20th net we've hauled in, the second last one on the Pond.




This was the last haul of the morning.  We always start and finish @ the Salsa (right of photo).


From there they are washed and iced and onto the back of the truck in big blue Barrels 
and, by 7am at the wholesale Prawn Market, about 25 mins away.

There a video of them sorting and grading overleaf.


But, not all of them make it into those blue Barrels.  Some are given to those who helped
in the Harvest as part payment.  Some are whisked away to be consumed at the Farm.




^ This is how I love them.

^ For variety, sometimes with a Salad and a little Mayo ... or just with a sauce of some sort and Rice.


Below.
We also sometimes grow the larger Blue Claw Prawn, and they are below ...






BBQ'ed in a tradition method.






Anyone Hungry?

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## tomcat

...thanks for the thread, David: however, a supermarket is as close as I want to get to a Thai farm...

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## armstrong

*sala

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## Chittychangchang

Making me hungry now, bbq prawns..will have to try one day.

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## Dillinger

^

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## tomcat

...^a vision of hell...

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## jabir



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## David48atTD

.
Time to do a few more ...

Being a Thai Farm, there's no latest sat-nav guided Massey Ferguson, but there is machinery around which 
you may not see on other Farms.

One thing we have heaps of are the big, single cylinder diesel motors with massive flywheels which drive the aerators.



^ The Farm Father is a dab hand at fixing most things, being it a wheel bearing 
on my car or rebuilding one of those big, single cylinder diesel motors.



^ These antiquated beasts are usually in sheds





^ They power the aerators, which are vital to both providing oxygen to 
the pond and stirring the water so that the layers don't stratify.




Then you have the water transfer machine.  It both feeds/fills/top ups the pond and drains it when it's harvest time.
It works on the ancient Archimedean Screw principle ...






^  So, it usually uses a small car engine, mostly 4 cylinder, diesel.  It powers the screw water pump through a series of 
universal joints.

Because we are pumping from an outside source, there are bags on both ends of the pump, so that we don't import an 
unwanted fish species.  One of the worst is the 'Doctor Fish' ... don't ask me where it's name came from!



^  We are just pumping from one of our ponds into another, so no bags to filter and catch and unwanted aquatic creatures.
The white in the pond is not 'a chemical' but bi-carb of soda to balance the PH of the Pond.  Cheap and effective. 

Note also the green LPG cylinder.  The gas is added (I don't know how) to the fuel mix and apparently it makes it cheaper and more efficient.
some cars used to run a diesel/LPG mix.  Read about it here




^ An extended photo showing the process.




^  They are also self propelled through a series of drive belts and steered by the jockey wheel you see above.


Every couple of years the ponds need reshaping but we aren't big enough to own a D3, which is about the size 
of the Dozer the Farm hires.


Undoubtedly, the machine which gets used the most, almost on an hourly basis is the humble Farm Bike.



^ In the morning during a prawn harvest.




^ Transport for the Farm worker to get instruction from the Farm Father



^  Yeh, Yeh ... I'm coming!




But the Farm Bike is more then just a work beast. When it's not being used, 
it's parked outside the Farmhouse ... and something the boys just love to 
clamber over.  But, most of all, they like to ride it, everywhere and anywhere!









Yeh, I know you would never do this in the West but 
Life on the Farm is kind of relaxed.
the pure joy the boys have in taking turns to ride on 
the tank while the other one sits on the seat ... magic.
(I'll take this one down after a little while)

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## tomcat

...this thread is a learning experience: many thanks, David!...

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## naptownmike

Yeah very cool. I love those old single cylinder engines.

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## Norton

Brilliant thread David. Thanks.

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## terry57

Really brilliant thread mate. 

Not my cup of tea but top respect to you eh.

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## Little Chuchok

> There has been a project for collecting it up to a boat, then used for a composting. I saw once such boat on Payao Lake, with a special rake for that.



They also use it to make furniture.Some of it is very cool.

Great thread David!

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## David48atTD

.
So, speaking of dogs, every Farm had their pack of dogs.

Should you stray onto what they considered 'their territory', they would quickly let you know.

But, akin to the Lord of the Rings, we had the Lord of the Dogs ... one Dog to rule them all.

Moo Moo  (yes *Dillinger*, must be a common Thai name for a dog)

Now, I'll start by saying I've never owned a Dog in my life.

But this dog ... wow man, what a dog ... this is how he looked at me ...





He was special.  
When ever we went for a walk, he knew somehow and was there leading us ... like a security guard.

He walked with confidence and swagger and the others just shyed away from him because, most likely 
they had all tried to fight him ... and lost.

Sadly, Moo Moo is not with us anymore, he passed, as good as in my arms.
Mann, I miss him.


While we are on animals, while we don't get scorpions this far south, we still have a collection 
of creatures.


Just out back of the kitchen ... here here



We don't often take Westerners to visit the farm, but two of my best friends were in Thailand 
and they happened by.

I was chatting with them and confessed how worried I was for the safety at the place, 
dangers were everywhere.

The place is surrounded by water and the boys can't swim ...

knives in the kitchen, lots of knives, chemicals in containers, neighbours dogs .. the list was endless.

Remember these are my first children.  My friends said _David, you worry too much.  We were the same 
with our first born, but we settled down after that.
_
About 1/2 way through the visit, while we were enjoying a cold Leo in the Sala (thanks *Armstrong*) they 
confided ... yep, you wern't exaggerating ... the place is a OH&S disaster.

We had given the boys a 10 week swimming course when they were two ... useless.


While Life on the Farm is kindof laid back ... sometimes it's also muddy ... very muddy.


Extended Family member with a blue claw Prawn/Shrimp



Nephew - good Kid

   
Farm Father Farming

I've reached my photo limit, so continued below
.

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## David48atTD

^^ ^^^ thanks gents.

*With Farm comes Family* and a few images which hang with pride in the hallowed halls ...


Farm Father receiving an award from the Royal Princess



Partner receiving her Uni Degree from the then Prince, now King of Thailand.
Only time I've ever seen her in heels.  Apparently she borrowed them for 20 mins


*Food*?  I can't/won't eat a lot of the stuff that gets presented on the dinner table for the family.
Sure, prawns, but cooked, not raw.  I don't eat offal.  I also consider chicken feet as offal!
Really spicy.
But stuff like Larb Moo, I'll devour.

So, I get a bit of special treatment ...



God love her.  Sanok and a touch of love.


Not much for entertainment round these parts, but sometimes the local Temple has a show on.







Is the Farm a part of me?  Well, I know some of me will always be the Farm.

After a pond was emptied it dries for a few weeks, it's safe to walk on ... almost.

I'll let the pictures tell the story.


Looks solid enough


One shoe


It's down there somewhere ... still in the pond till this day



So, to the last media ...

When I was a wee lad, I grew up in the City but spent a lot of time on the Farm where my Mum grew up, 
and loved it.

That's the sort of lifestyle we would like to afford the kids.
City savvy, but understand the struggle and joy of Farm life.

At the end of the day ... it's all about the Kids 


Their cousin can teach them to fish ...

But, if there was one video that encapsulated what the Farm offers in terms of wide open spaces and 
stuff they could never do in the West.

The Boys wern't even two when we captured this.  
STRONG ... that thing would weigh more then me!

They love me taking them for a push ride on the Trolly.

So, I'll leave you with the Boys just have some Fun at the Farm




Life at the Farm is kindof relaxed, sometimes a slog and sometimes, just good fun.
.

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## tomcat

...loved the vids...probably wouldn't love the farm...

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## GracelessFawn

Awesome Thread.  Thanks for sharing.

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## OhOh

Can't see the Moo Moo picture. All dogs go some day and it hurts. I'm sure there are many Moo Moos running around the village today. Persevere with the swimming lessons, but kids are tough, they bounce bank from many setbacks. The firstborn is always a challenge, numbers 3 and 4 just pop out and join the gang at the table.

As said by some here, beautiful life. Available to all that desire it. Good luck today and every day in the future.

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## Chico

David you should keep this thread updated,I'm sure many would appreciate the life you and the family have led over the years.

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## David48atTD

> David you should keep this thread updated,I'm sure many would appreciate the life you and the family have led over the years.


I will when I have some related media.

One day, when time permits, I'll do a full low down on the Farm.

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## ootai

David
Great thread thank you!
I couldn't help laugh about you and wearing thongs (flip flops) wherever there is mud.
I have broken a few myself.
What I use now is scuba diving boots, these allow me to walk wherever I like and the water doesn't worry them and they protect my feet from the sharp shit in the mud in the paddies.
I try and get the ones with a hard sole, I seem to remember they call them reef boots.

Thanks again for the thread.

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## Loy Toy

For some reason I have missed this thread until now.

Has to go down as one of Teakdoor's best threads ever.

Well done David.

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## fishlocker

Nice read. Someday I may take the time to do a decent thread on what brought me to TD. 
I recall BLD doing a thread on gold mining in Lao. Great stuff. I feel  we just may have to take the plunge again. I've never been to Luang Prabang. Thanks for keeping the fire burning. 



The Fishes

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## See Will

Cheers for the Story David48atTD,


as a rural countryside boy from Germany I was living from 2005 -2011 in a small Village between Kalasin and Mahasarakham and it was for me the Point to come back after I will stop my offshore carrier in the next 2 years.
Momentary Pattaya has just the better infrastructure regarding calls from customers who wants to have you on the carpet max 24 hrs after notice.

I just hang off at home with my small backyard Aquaponics, my Wife, Nephews and two dogs in Pattaya and just getting more and more an antipathy for this growing City. No trust, no real smile, no real laughing just hunting the coin is here what's all about.

I remember these years at father's house and miss it so much. The morning speech from the monk over the loudspeakers at 5am that giving the same relaxing and laid back feeling like the Sunday morning church bells in my Parents Village.
The Birds that start singing, no screaming Motorbikes and humming traffic noise, just silence you can see hear and feel.. 
That morning yek yek of the passing by old woman with her Buffaloes at 5am when she goes to the feeding grounds.. 

Even my Tinnitus is gone when I sit with my coffee on the terrace wall and father sits opposite, has a smoke and staring along the empty road.. 

And when we started we started into the cane field, no clock told us that it was just us getting started. 

Lucky me, the Mossies don't like me much and its only a few times I got bitten but it seems the Thai Food is the recipe behind it.

I am more than looking forward to return to me beloved countryside..

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## NamPikToot

> I am more than looking forward to return to me beloved countryside..


I have a threshold of about 5 days in a city then it starts getting to me, born and raised in London but cannot stand the place now - like you i like the quieter life - i can travel to the big smoke for a fix if needs be. You are spot on on the pace of life, i wake at 5am in the UK or earlier and do the same in Thailand - usually watch the cows get walked past on their way to graze, get all the chores done before midday and then the rest of the day do whatever. The people are more genuine and not just about money.

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## tomcat

> The people are more genuine and not just about money.


...unfortunate generalization...

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## See Will

> ...unfortunate generalization...


Sometimes like everywhere in the world, meet the wrong people and they will sit on your pocket.

In Thailand countryside you will mainly meet people who ask like: "I don't know what to eat today" and unfortunately that is Thai lifestyle. They not ask you for an arm and a leg but for a 100 Baht to sponsor they next scran.

many Farangs complain then with the words, "its all about money and yes", its true. 

But only you are usually never in the situation to ask for a return as soon you are broke. 
Real Thailand is a permanent taking and giving as helping within the community, one neighbor has found some money 5 neighbors eat, then the neighbor has no money anymore but somebody else has found some money and so on and on. 

And because a Farang usually has always money they will ask a Farang (or Mia) more often without bad feelings. 
And that's the clash of the cultures. (or real country life)  

hence the expression of many Thais: "I have to *find* some money"

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## tomcat

> hence the expression of many Thais: "I have to find some money"


...any falang in a storm...

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## HuangLao

> ...any falang in a storm...



A treasure trove to be found.

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## David48atTD

The annual migration to the Farm is on.  First, me Lady and the Rugrats and I'll follow on later.

This part is less about 'the farming' and more about the Farm life.

So, if Family life is not your bag, not much here for you.

For me, it's essentially that the Boys don't forget their Thai Culture/Language, where their Mum came from, the Rural Lifestyle, the Freedom and constraints of living on a Thai Farm, etc, etc.

So, every journey starts with a beginning ...



The bags containing their Bears, Tablets, Headphones and snacks for the Flight (no frills airline).

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## David48atTD

Plenty of room to kick a ball about ...

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## David48atTD

An early morning Bike ride ...

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## David48atTD

Or a Sunset ride/walk/feed the fish/prawns/shrimps ...




And that sunset over the Ponds ...

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## David48atTD

The Farm doesn't have many, well, to be honest, no luxuries.

No running water, there is a drip feed which is collected in Urns buckets for the toilet/shower/washing etc.

So 'no running water' means no 'warm showers'.  
If you want warm water to shower with, you either boil the kettle on the gas stove or do, what I have done in past visits, put out a bucket in the morning and by the evening, some warmish water.


It's actually my 'safe' when I'm not at the Farm.
If I leave stuff out, the Family simply use it all.
So it's a lid on, cable tied and my stuff inside.

The Thai Family don't thieve ... just 'appropriate' stuff  :Smile: 

---

So, with no running water, it takes a bit of planning to fill the Farm Swimming Pool.


My two Boys, middle and right.  The boy on the left is Eye's child, she was pregnant @ 15
None of my business, Eye is a distant relative.
Relative chain is My Partner-> her 1/2 Nephew-> his 1/2 sister (different fathers) -> Eye -> her son
Meh ... passes for Family in these parts.

---

The other way to cool off at the Farm is the local Indian Ice-Cream guy.

He cycles an extraordinary distance to service the Farm.
Not expensive and the ices are still cold.
Our personal MrWhippy!


Don't know who the small child is ... there is always different folk at the Farm.
I used to asked ... don't much anymore.
But, be sure, everyone is taken care of ... someone would have bought her an ice-cream.

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## David48atTD

The water level at the Farm is the lowest that I can remember.

Our little Klong soi is dry and the main Klong behind us which connests is just puddles.

The Boys have always been into Dinosaurs and we told them that the here, the gold and black lizard (if I remember the translation correctly) is a lizard Dinosaur.
Well, they like the story, and it's probably not to far from the truth.

Rarely do you see one so close to the Farm House, usually we spy them crossing the Farm road.

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## fishlocker

Aww, that's sweet.

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## David48atTD

There has been a new Temple built, so an inspection was in order.

I've never seen so many little statues/bowls in a row!





Plus, we knew Royalty was also attending as they found Luigi's Scooter parked and couldn't resist a wee trial  :Smile:

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## fishlocker

There is this 12 inch lizard that lives on our rafters...Tell me it ain't Dill. 
Just kidding, they call it a gopgey. It calls out a number of chimes each night just before sundown. The folks count along with the lizards chimes and revere them like gospel. It is kinda fun to count along with this thing. Just glad I never woke up next to it.

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## David48atTD

Lastly, for now, what I do appreciate about the simplicity of Farm Life is the social integration between family members.

Sure, there are Tablets and a TV ... but there are board games and impromptu fun.

Below everyone, well, about 1/2 the Family are playing Bingo.  Good for fun but also the boys get to practice their Thai numbers.
They can count to 20 no problems, but have to think after that.
Bingo reinforces that skill.

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## David48atTD

This game, first I've seen it is a combination a Thai movement and Rock/Paper/Sissors (RPS).
If you win the RPS you get to jump as far forward as you can.

The eventual winner was heading to the MiL's Bedroom, had the other one won ... he was in the Loo.





That's it for now.

Maybe some more later when I get sent some Farm related content, or arrive there myself in about 3 weeks time.

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## Neverna

> For me, it's essentially that the Boys don't forget their Thai Culture/Language, where their Mum came from, the Rural Lifestyle, the Freedom and constraints of living on a Thai Farm, etc, etc.


Quite right, Dave. Being bilingual helps a lot in that, IMO, but in another thread you posted something along the lines of your boys understand most of the Thai they hear but can't speak much Thai. I've always believed that each parent speaking their own language to their children from an early age goes a long way to ensuring the children can both speak and understand the language of each parent, as the kids have a need and desire to communicate with their parents, and comunicating in both languages is not a problem for them. How is it your boys can only speak a little Thai, Dave? Is your home an English language only environment?

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## fishlocker

Well it could be worse...That's why there are rooms downstairs for you guys.

Who is buying Snubbs ticket. 

I'm bogged down at he moment but how about next year we do a go fund snubbs. I think that would be cool and as long as he is not a hottie from the Philippines it just may fly.

Like my old lap top....

Cheers. fish.

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## David48atTD

> Quite right, Dave. Being bilingual helps a lot in that, IMO, but in another thread you posted something along the lines of your boys understand most of the Thai they hear but can't speak much Thai. I've always believed that each parent speaking their own language to their children from an early age goes a long way to ensuring the children can both speak and understand the language of each parent, as the kids have a need and desire to communicate with their parents, and comunicating in both languages is not a problem for them. How is it your boys can only speak a little Thai, Dave? Is your home an English language only environment?


Nev, EXACTLY what you proposed.

"_I've always believed that each parent speaking their own language to  their children from an early age goes a long way to ensuring the  children can both speak and understand the language of each parent, as  the kids have a need and desire to communicate with their parents, and  comunicating in both languages is not a problem for them._" 

I only speak English to them and my Thai Partner speaks 99% Thai to them.
The Boys understand the Thai, but reply in English, to both of us at Home.


Before the Boys left for the Farm, we tried, as best we could to get them to reply to Mum in Thai.
Limited success.

We try, but don't force.  Let it come naturally ... with some prompting.

Oh, they are also, for some unknown reason, also learning French, at School.

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## fishlocker

Good point Nev, When our son was in kindergarten the principal called us in to have a word... Seems he ( our son)would ask the teacher for the key as he went for the door. 
Baffled by this they contacted me and said your child upon leaving the room wants the key. 

It was then I had to explain that the kid is bilingual and he is saying he is heading for.....the crapper.

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## Mendip

This is where we went wrong... my wife spent many years in Oz and speaks near perfect English, and we speak English at home. Even at her school, Thai is taught as a foreign language and all other subjects are taught in English (apart from Chinese). Consequently my daughter's Thai is very weak. 

We're trying to rectify this now with my wife speaking Thai, especially when I'm away at work, and daughter's Thai is coming on fast.

Looks like your boys are having a fantastic time, btw Dave!

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## fishlocker

Key means dookey in Laotian. Min means stinky. I once worked with a man named ....never mind but his name to me meant stinky shit.

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## thaiguzzi

Great posts and pix David, thank you.
Threads like this make a visit to a Thai centric forum a pleasant place.
Re, my 14 y/o boy - triilingual, 
mum talks to him in Lao, he responds in Lao, 
teachers talk to him in Thai, he responds in Thai,
 i talk English to him and he speaks English back to me.
His only fault is his written English is not up to scratch compared to a similar aged Brit.
But it will get there.
His step sister is just finishing 4 years of Uni and her written and spoken English is pretty good.

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## OhOh

Good to see your growing family again, the kids look healthy, inquisitive and happy. I hope you and your girlfriend are similar.

You mentioned there is a lack of water, presumably that has affected the farming?

Some questions.

How old are the prawns when harvested?

Where do you get the new prawns from? Are the younger prawns left in the pond, eggs and juveniles or are eggs purchased from a "breeder"?

 Do you have various ponds with prawns of differing ages?

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## David48atTD

^  Mate, give me a couple of days and I'll bring that info together for you.

I've got to chase up details.

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## fiddler

Really enjoying this thread. 
THanks for sharing your life. 
I lived and worked on farms. It's hard. 
Up early, work all day.  Eat good, sleep good. 
But yeah, not a lot of social life. 
Keep it coming.

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## David48atTD

^  Thanks Mate, appreciated the comments.

I think was have both done some similar adventures.

Not the extensive hike you did but tracked some of the Sarek National Park in Sweden
in the Jokkmokk Municipality.  Loved it.  Many fond memories.
Did it during 2 Summers and two separate areas.

---

This photo below combines 2 things about the Farm.

Firstly, the Boys have a great time pretending to the Dozer Driver.

But also, it's part of the life-cycle of the pond.

Every few years, longer if the harvests haven't been good, the ponds get re-profiled with a dozer.

The earth banks slowly get eroded though the wind action and the waves as they lap at the edge, plus it smooths out the bottom of the pond as the fish dig nesting holes.

It takes about 9 months from fingerling to a saleable harvest, drain the pond, let the floor dry, pray for little/no rain and hope the local dozer is available when you are ready.
So, it takes 10 months to a year to see the sight below.


Great fun for the boys.  They are shirtless because it's hot in Thailand ATM?

At a rough guess, the white bags you see stacked on the pallet to the right of the push-bike most likely bi-card of soda.
It's used to neutralise the ph as the pond becomes acidic over the years.  All that fish wee.

The next stage is below.  It's a photo I nicked from earlier in this thread but you can see 2 things.
The distinct white swirls of the Bicab on the pond walls (the the floor before the water) and the method of refilling the pond.

The interesting thing for me if the fuel.  It's an old diesel car motor but the is an LPG cylinder attached which mixed with the deisel and creates a far more efficient burn/efficiency.

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## David48atTD

You can see the work completed in the background.



BTW, that's their Granddad snapping a shot on his samsung A5 phone, a  gift from my partner as I bought her a new one a while back and she's  gifted it to her Dad.

He's proud as punch with the boys.

Apologies for the emojie ... not added by me.  Came on the Line photo.

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## katie23

Thanks for the pics, dave. Your boys have grown up do fast! I remember seeing their pics as naughty toddlers with the baby powder all scattered in the car.  :Smile: 

Re: language, yes, it's important to learn it at an early age. I speak English & Filipino (Tagalog), and studied some German later (lived in Europe). I also know a few words /phrases in Vietnamese. I could've been brought up trilingual, but as a kid, I was lazy to learn my mother's language. For those who don't know, I have a Viet mom & Filipino dad.

I spoke Filipino with my dad and mainly English with my mom. My parents spoke English with each other. My mom didn't speak to us in Viet bcos I think she wanted us to learn English well, since it was used in school. When I was in college, she taught me some Viet, but both of us grew frustrated, bcos it's tonal and a hard language to learn (just like Thai). Looking back, if I was more diligent, I could've picked more of it. I believe that to learn another language, one must start young. (Of course there are exceptions and one could indeed learn a 4th or 5th language with diligence). I have some colleagues whom I consider trilingual, bcos they speak English, Filipino (Tagalog) and another dialect like Cebuano, Ilocano or Kapanpangan. 

I had a friend - her kids (10 & 12 years old at the time) spoke 4 languages. They spoke Mandarin/Chinese with mom, Russian with dad, German in school and English with us foreigners. Amazing kids - good manners & well behaved! Kids are indeed "tabula rasa" when it comes to languages. 

P. S: AO's kids are trilingual, I think he's mentioned: English, Thai & Chinese/Mandarin. It's great!

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## Mendip

Dave, a question... but first a small pedantic point! Those sacks are probably sodium carbonate. We have a sack at home to raise the pH of our pool when the water gets too acidic. Bicarbonate of soda, or sodium bicarbonate is a slightly different chemical compound, also known as baking soda.

As you know, I have a small pond at home. I've never considered the pH of the water before. What pH are you aiming for? Is approximately neutral ok? I'm going to test our pond pH when I get back home, but I'm sure it must be very acidic being so overcrowded with fish.

Also, do you know if it would be ok to add it to the water while the fish are in there? Any harmful effects on the fish?

Enjoying this thread, for the pond stuff and also reminds me of how quickly my daughter adapts and joins in when we visit her Thai side of the family.

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## David48atTD

Yep ... those _those sacks are probably sodium carbonate_.

Things get lost in translation  :Smile: 

Being a Business Man and having a leaning for Business Plans, I once asked to have a casual gander 'at the books'.

Blank stares abounded.  There is nothing.


As for what 'ph' we are aiming for ... you expect too much rigor in the Farming lifecycle.


I thought, one time that I'd get a pool PH Tester kit ... then one of electronic PH testers.

Meh ...


A little background on the ponds.  Farm Farther runs most of them.  He's efficient.  Stocking rates at near capacity.
Farm Mother runs 'her' pond' ... minimum spend, low productivity.


O2 saturation is more important then PH

---

How to apply the _sodium carbonate_ to your pond.  Add gradual amounts to the waterfall so that it well mixed.

I'm sure that won't be a problem.

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## David48atTD

> Good to see your growing family again, the kids look healthy, inquisitive and happy. I hope you and your girlfriend are similar.
> 
> You mentioned there is a lack of water, presumably that has affected the farming?
> 
> Some questions.
> 
> How old are the prawns when harvested?
> 
> Where do you get the new prawns from? Are the younger prawns left in the pond, eggs and juveniles or are eggs purchased from a "breeder"?
> ...


1/ _Good to see your growing family again, the kids look healthy, inquisitive and happy. I hope you and your girlfriend are similar._
Thanks.  Yep, we have a good life, not high tech, focus on teaching the Boys in and out of the classroom.


2/ _You mentioned there is a lack of water, presumably that has affected the farming?_
Yes and no.  The fish are on a 9 month cycle.  That is 9 months from fingerling to harvest.
Usually you drain the ponds to catch/harvest, so water only really becomes an issue when you need to refill them.
Occasionally you top up the ponds if there has been no rain for an extended period.

After reworking the pond with the dozer, the Farm Father will have to refill his pond and he will have to wait till the klong has water in it again.
He can pick his cycles though as he has several ponds he rents from his Brothers who were gifted the 
land from their Mother but choose not to live on the farm.


3/ _How old are the prawns when harvested?_
Fairly close to 3 months. The prawns are harvested differently to the fish, no need to drain any ponds.
So, with a 9 month growing cycle for the fish, you get 3 prawn harvests for 1 fish harvests.
Essentially, the sale of the prawns every 3 months provide cash flow to buy the fish food and the fish
are the money crop.
That said, they also provide some very tasty meals.


4/ Where do you get the new prawns from? Are the younger prawns left in the  pond, eggs and juveniles or are eggs purchased from a "breeder"?

Yes, we go to a breeder.  When I get some time, I'll write up the visit I took to their facility.
Really old video below, but reproduction doesn't change much.



From wo to go in the Phillipines
 Probably one thing of note is the size of the Prawn that this video  deals with is much larger then the common white Prawn the Farm grows out  to Harvest.
 The above Video was produced by SEAFDEC

 The Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC) is an
autonomous inter-governmental body established in 1967.




Just how tiny are these little suckers?
 You are looking at (apparently) a couple of thousand!



You buy them in bags ... several at a time.




They literally thrown into the Truck.  Doesn't seen to affect them.
Because of the many loaders they are 'counted' into the vehicle.




Filling up the Farm Truck




But 'heat' is their enemy.  It's a good hour's drive from the Hatchery to the Farm so shade cloth
is placed over the bags and then wetted down.


5/ _Do you have various ponds with prawns of differing ages?_
No, not usually.  The ute load above of baby prawns was used in 3 ponds.
Prawns/Shrimp are bottom feeders so once they are released into the pond, you don't seem them 
again until they are harvested 3 months later.

Hope that covers it  :Burnout:

----------

