A very long time ago. The world is still brand new. Isawara, a god, wants to bring some 'practical' animals into the world. He then decides to create the cow for milk and meat, and the water buffalo as extra muscle for the people who will populate the world. He considers it wise to first make scale models of the new animals because he wants to prevent even more strange fellows from walking around on earth!
Lumpy skin disease is a disaster for many small farmers in Thailand. This virus has been on its way from Africa for several years and there is an excellent vaccine for it, which Thailand could have had for a long time. Especially considering that there have been infections in Vietnam, India and China for more than a year.
Get pricked and win a cow in Chiang Mai!
Thailand is busy with the vaccination plan to avert the Covid-19 crisis, but the organization is not running smoothly. Certain groups of Thai society can now register for a vaccination, which will start at the beginning of June.
Reader question: What does a cow cost in Isaan?
Is anyone familiar with the price of a cow. Family in Isaan wants to buy a cow and asks for money. But I have no idea what a cow should cost?
Reader question: What is the selling price of a cow in Thailand?
To pay for my wife's surgery, my family has proposed to sell my cows. It concerns mother cow (7 years old) and daughter (1 year old). Does anyone have an idea what the retail price should be? They told me that the price is not great at the moment. They think 40.000 baht.
Rainy days in Isan (1)
It is still early in the morning, the first daylight wakes Piak up even though the rickety wooden shutters on the small window are closed. He hears the rain rustling on the trees near his house, fortunately not so much that the metal roof becomes too noisy. Takes a look around the small but overcrowded bedroom. The ceiling shows wet spots, the drainage is insufficient to get rid of everything or there is a leak.
A nostalgic feeling in Thailand
This morning I was unexpectedly overcome by a feeling of nostalgia on the way. And to earlier holidays in Austria about 60 years ago. It often rained there, at least in my memory, and there you would see the cows in the streets of the mountain villages on their way to their alpine pastures.
Greetings from Isaan (8)
It is a picturesque building, actually no more than a few tree trunks that function as supporting posts. There are horizontally thick long branches on top of it and diagonally here, sloping from front to back, are another arm-thick branches, on which second-hand iron corrugated plates are nailed, which overhang both at the front and at the back. A kind of low fence has been installed on the side walls, also with thick branches, with a small opening as a gate. That opening is closed with loose bamboo sticks, arm-thick but light in weight. The result is a rickety whole that can still hold up when some heavier gusts of wind arise.
The Thai government wants rice farmers to turn into cattle ranchers. 2022 million baht is available for a first project, which will run until 971. Thousands of rais of rice fields, which are not suitable for rice cultivation due to water shortages, are used to keep livestock. The meat from the cows is intended to generate income for the farmers and is destined for export.
The milk sector in Thailand (2)
As part of the project “Sustainable development of the dairy chain in Thailand” referred to in Part I, a student, Herjan Bekamp, from the University of Wageningen conducted a study on dairy farms in Thailand. He has incorporated the results of this research into a “thesis” entitled: “A study of managerial skills of dairy farmers in Thailand”. Herjan, who grew up on a dairy farm in the Netherlands, has also done research in the dairy sector in Ethiopia …
The milk sector in Thailand (1)
In my story “Dairy in Thailand” from March last, I already told something about milk production in Thailand, this time in more detail and mainly about dairy farms. In this part general information and some figures about the dairy sector, in the second part I summarize a study that a Wageningen student used as a graduation project and finally in part three two nice interviews with Thai dairy farmers. Thailand does not really have a tradition in milk production, …
A rancher in Isan
When we talk about Isaan, we often talk about rice farmers. But in addition to agriculture, there is of course also animal husbandry in the Northeast of Thailand.
In this video, a cattle farmer speaks: Grandpa Sai Somkham from Tha Phra Now. He started with two cows 30 years ago and now owns 10. Every year he sells two cows. They yield an average of 12.000 baht each.
Dairy in Thailand
Nice, you know, the food and drink in Thailand! You really can't get enough offuh …… well, sometimes and especially when you stay somewhere in rural Thailand, you want something different. Rice three times a day is a bit too much and it is good to imagine that as a Dutch person you want to eat something familiar. Just a cheese sandwich for example. Cheese? Thailand makes itself…