Thread: Rubber trees 101

Well James, for whatever it's worth I gotta 'big house' down south that is proving near impossible to rent, and absolutely impossible to sell, under the current political situation. We're doing short term holiday lets now, but there are no bookings at the moment. I'm lucky though- I've probably got another five years before it's sticky rice and frogs. Good times, bad times. Lets hope for better.

Originally Posted by sabang

Well James, for whatever it's worth I gotta 'big house' down south that is proving near impossible to rent, and absolutely impossible to sell, under the current political situation. We're doing short term holiday lets now, but there are no bookings at the moment. I'm lucky though- I've probably got another five years before it's sticky rice and frogs. Good times, bad times. Lets hope for better.

Strange wold at times, BIL and wife plus kid are back living with us, her family are rich in western standards.
Bought her a 5 mil Baht house in Krabi, pay for 2 new cars, only grand daughter, but BIL wants the jungle, hates Krabi.
Think we may swap homes for awhile.

Got to say a hammock and a rifle living in the jungle ain't that bad, if there is a life to return to.

Originally Posted by sabang

Well James, for whatever it's worth I gotta 'big house' down south that is proving near impossible to rent, and absolutely impossible to sell, under the current political situation. We're doing short term holiday lets now, but there are no bookings at the moment. I'm lucky though- I've probably got another five years before it's sticky rice and frogs. Good times, bad times. Lets hope for better.

Is your house priced to sell in the current market, hand on heart you know it's not, hence it's not sold and not likely to be unless you get bloody lucky and find someone who doesn't know the state of the current market. OK you're lucky in that you don't need to sell or have a mortgage on it, but many Thai's put a price on something that bears no resemblance to the current market and won't sell it for less and seem happy to end up losing it rather than selling it for market price, maybe a face thing, who knows. Good luck anyway.

Originally Posted by buriramboy

Originally Posted by sabang

Well James, for whatever it's worth I gotta 'big house' down south that is proving near impossible to rent, and absolutely impossible to sell, under the current political situation. We're doing short term holiday lets now, but there are no bookings at the moment. I'm lucky though- I've probably got another five years before it's sticky rice and frogs. Good times, bad times. Lets hope for better.

Is your house priced to sell in the current market, hand on heart you know it's not, hence it's not sold and not likely to be unless you get bloody lucky and find someone who doesn't know the state of the current market. OK you're lucky in that you don't need to sell or have a mortgage on it, but many Thai's put a price on something that bears no resemblance to the current market and won't sell it for less and seem happy to end up losing it rather than selling it for market price, maybe a face thing, who knows. Good luck anyway.

Quite true ,As the old adage goes " 70% of something is far better than 100% of fuck all"

^70% of nothing is still nothing...

Originally Posted by ltnt

^70% of nothing is still nothing...

Depends on one's perspective.

Originally Posted by thaimeme

Originally Posted by ltnt

^70% of nothing is still nothing...

Depends on one's perspective.

Quite true Jeff some times nothing is a real cool hand

Coming back from a very pleasant 3 nights in Rayong one could not help but notice the tens of miles of Immature rubbers tree's on either side of the road in an already world wide saturated market(according to this article) one must come to the conclusion that Sadly Thailands rubber farmers face a very insecure future ,I do like the comment at the end about Thailands answer to the problem As rice mountain shrinks, a rubber one rises | Bangkok Post: news

Originally Posted by piwanoi

Coming back from a very pleasant 3 nights in Rayong one could not help but notice the tens of miles of Immature rubbers tree's on either side of the road in an already world wide saturated market(according to this article) one must come to the conclusion that Sadly Thailands rubber farmers face a very insecure future ,I do like the comment at the end about Thailands answer to the problem As rice mountain shrinks, a rubber one rises | Bangkok Post: news

Read the article in the rubber associations site, another London based crystal ball gazer who gets a few bits of info, then makes predictions on hearsay and non existent policies.
GRM has another London based prediction guy saying lack of out put will force prices up.
India is upping imports, their local production is down to a 10 year low, car sales are up, but the US has put tariffs on Chinese tires.

As to the guys bit about the Thai government buying rubber at an inflated price and stock piling, not seen that in real life, just words. Our local government buyers are paying less then the drive by guys.
Markets will decide, lack of tappers and fertilizer will drop even more output this season.

On a brighter note, will start tapping Saturday/Sunday, should have started on last Monday, but not a lucky week, Saturday night is a good luck day for some magical reason.

Originally Posted by jamescollister

Originally Posted by piwanoi

Coming back from a very pleasant 3 nights in Rayong one could not help but notice the tens of miles of Immature rubbers tree's on either side of the road in an already world wide saturated market(according to this article) one must come to the conclusion that Sadly Thailands rubber farmers face a very insecure future ,I do like the comment at the end about Thailands answer to the problem As rice mountain shrinks, a rubber one rises | Bangkok Post: news

Read the article in the rubber associations site, another London based crystal ball gazer who gets a few bits of info, then makes predictions on hearsay and non existent policies.
GRM has another London based prediction guy saying lack of out put will force prices up.
India is upping imports, their local production is down to a 10 year low, car sales are up, but the US has put tariffs on Chinese tires.

As to the guys bit about the Thai government buying rubber at an inflated price and stock piling, not seen that in real life, just words. Our local government buyers are paying less then the drive by guys.
Markets will decide, lack of tappers and fertilizer will drop even more output this season.

On a brighter note, will start tapping Saturday/Sunday, should have started on last Monday, but not a lucky week, Saturday night is a good luck day for some magical reason.

Best of luck Jim , lets just hope that this present administration handles the rubber problem better than the last one did with rice

piwanoi, personally the government should just stop interfering altogether, they can't change what happens in other countries.
If they want long term results, invest in tire, rubber glove and other export rubber products.
Helping small medium rubber factories to make and export rubber goods is the way to go.
If China can buy, import and process rubber products, why can Thailand produce these same products here.

Know, by the net a guy in India, makes rubber bands, try and get help here to set up a rubber band factory, not a big investment in equipment, help's needed in setting up exports and getting markets.
Small producers can't go off around the world selling goods, takes a lot of money to go and find customers, arrange shipping etc.

Selling on line is good for postal amounts, but money is in container loads.

Originally Posted by jamescollister

piwanoi, personally the government should just stop interfering altogether, they can't change what happens in other countries.
If they want long term results, invest in tire, rubber glove and other export rubber products.
Helping small medium rubber factories to make and export rubber goods is the way to go.
If China can buy, import and process rubber products, why can Thailand produce these same products here.

Know, by the net a guy in India, makes rubber bands, try and get help here to set up a rubber band factory, not a big investment in equipment, help's needed in setting up exports and getting markets.
Small producers can't go off around the world selling goods, takes a lot of money to go and find customers, arrange shipping etc.

Selling on line is good for postal amounts, but money is in container loads.

Spot on Jim , Thaksin tried that with rice and a fat lot of good that did .

Stockpiling just drives the price down further in the long run.

Originally Posted by sabang

Stockpiling just drives the price down further in the long run.

As Has happened with Rice ,as Jim rightly say one Country cannot hope to govern the World wide price of produce such as rice or Rubber , that is unless its got a monopoly which certainly is not the case here .

As has happened with many commodities piwi. They never seem to learn.

Originally Posted by sabang

As has happened with many commodities piwi. They never seem to learn.

This article is a wee bit dated but it shows the depth of the problem here in Thailand with Rice How will Thai Military Government Control Falling Rice Prices? | Oryza

The boys in this neighborhood are still planting rice and growing new rubber trees. What part of sanity did you folks think these farmers are using? Jim's going out on full moon Buddha day to tap. Great Jim, keep up the good work.

Not much choice when all your eggs are in one basket. OZ dollar is now at 75/$1, going backwards just like rubber and rice. I guess the Chinese have had their fill?

Originally Posted by sabang

As has happened with many commodities piwi. They never seem to learn.

They also don't seem to comprehend, less the ideals of stockpiling and manipulation, the basic ideal of a free and open market.

Originally Posted by thaimeme

Originally Posted by sabang

As has happened with many commodities piwi. They never seem to learn.

They also don't seem to comprehend, less the ideals of stockpiling and manipulation, the basic ideal of a free and open market.

How are they being manipulated and by whom ? No one makes these up here plant more rice or rubber , there's no pistol to their heads

Originally Posted by ltnt

The boys in this neighborhood are still planting rice and growing new rubber trees. What part of sanity did you folks think these farmers are using? Jim's going out on full moon Buddha day to tap. Great Jim, keep up the good work.

Not much choice when all your eggs are in one basket. OZ dollar is now at 75/$1, going backwards just like rubber and rice. I guess the Chinese have had their fill?

Simple facts appear to be strictly off limits here in Issan , History shows that many animals died off cos they could not adapt to the changing environment , but hey they was just dumb animals eh

Originally Posted by thaimeme

Originally Posted by sabang

As has happened with many commodities piwi. They never seem to learn.

They also don't seem to comprehend, less the ideals of stockpiling and manipulation, the basic ideal of a free and open market.

Here in Issan they chop the forests down ,decimate the indigenous animals ,put fish nets over every field drain with a mesh so small a fucking tadpole cannot swim through with no thought for tomorrows breeding stock , just who's fault is that? their utter stupidity or the Jews and Merkins and capitalism , its often said the working man is his own worst enemy ,this could not be exemplified any better by looking at what goes on right now here in Issan at this moment in time .

^Yup! They kill everything off never adhering to the idea of self sufficiency as stated by Royal Decree, I think they think it means serve yourself first all others must eat grass.

Ask yourself this folks: Why would people eat grubs, cockroaches, lizards, ants eggs, crickets and other forms of insects if life were so generous and there was loads of alternative food sources?

Thai fishing isn't fishing, its a free for all that lasts till the last minnow is dead. Greed is the fuel factor that motivates all things Thai. Its not "native to people living in Issan."

Look at the bottom feeders at the very top of this food chain. That ought to tell you everything you need to know about Thai culture. Nice article on rubber and rice in the BP today...finally spelling it out for all to read, but will not pay any attention to the gluts they have and are creating. Keep Tapping Boys, the price is still dropping. Yea, get mad at the government for not buying the surplus products, that'll show em. Idjuts!

Originally Posted by ltnt

^Yup! They kill everything off never adhering to the idea of self sufficiency as stated by Royal Decree, I think they think it means serve yourself first all others must eat grass.

Ask yourself this folks: Why would people eat grubs, cockroaches, lizards, ants eggs, crickets and other forms of insects if life were so generous and there was loads of alternative food sources?

Thai fishing isn't fishing, its a free for all that lasts till the last minnow is dead. Greed is the fuel factor that motivates all things Thai. Its not "native to people living in Issan."

Look at the bottom feeders at the very top of this food chain. That ought to tell you everything you need to know about Thai culture. Nice article on rubber and rice in the BP today...finally spelling it out for all to read, but will not pay any attention to the gluts they have and are creating. Keep Tapping Boys, the price is still dropping. Yea, get mad at the government for not buying the surplus products, that'll show em. Idjuts!

Yeah Itnt the full article is in my post 1083, however Jim appears to view it as speculation and not really factual in his post #1084 , what I want to know is whats going to happen when all those hundreds of thousands of immature rubber tree's mile after mile I saw on my way back from Rayong to Buri ram come on stream ?

I've seen with my own eyes a fair load of 5-7 year old trees being cut down here locally, and being sold for paper mills rather than lumber for furniture. 10 wheelers nearly every day drive past my house loaded with sawn off rubber trees. At some point soon, the supply/demand thing has got to even out. As for new rubber going in, not much up here, and people are truly daft elsewhere if that is their new crop of choice. Missus was out and about a couple of weeks ago, and where there was a nice 30 odd rai of 7 year old trees, now all gone. replaced with cassava and sugar. Don't think Isaan farmers are as daft as some posters on here like to claim.
And another thing, whats wrong with ant eggs? Ever tried 'em? Got just about every nourishment that a human needs. Re bugs, grubs, and crickets. One day, long after my lifetime the world will have to get round to figuring out how to feed a population explosion, and insects will be one of the ways forward. the BBC ran a big documentary on this very subject a couple of years ago.

Originally Posted by thaiguzzi

I've seen with my own eyes a fair load of 5-7 year old trees being cut down here locally, and being sold for paper mills rather than lumber for furniture. 10 wheelers nearly every day drive past my house loaded with sawn off rubber trees. At some point soon, the supply/demand thing has got to even out. As for new rubber going in, not much up here, and people are truly daft elsewhere if that is their new crop of choice. Missus was out and about a couple of weeks ago, and where there was a nice 30 odd rai of 7 year old trees, now all gone. replaced with cassava and sugar. Don't think Isaan farmers are as daft as some posters on here like to claim.
And another thing, whats wrong with ant eggs? Ever tried 'em? Got just about every nourishment that a human needs. Re bugs, grubs, and crickets. One day, long after my lifetime the world will have to get round to figuring out how to feed a population explosion, and insects will be one of the ways forward. the BBC ran a big documentary on this very subject a couple of years ago.

So in effect that's 7 years of waiting for the trees to produce totally wasted ?, surely the price received for the timber or the promised Government subsidy cannot make up for that?