My project on this visit,was to plant saplings around part of the perimeter of our land. The saplings we bought were very cheap. They were approx 10 inches high,and cost 5baht each. They were bought from a couple of garden centres in Buriram.
I planted them close to my fence about a foot away,and a meter apart. The reasoning behind this is that the trees will be a permanent boundary. In the event that my concrete posts crack or fall over,due to rice working on the other side. I planted over 200 and so far have lost only 5,not bad considering my soil is poor and I have 4 labradors running about.
The trees are very fast growing and can be cut and will sprout again, apparently they last 15/20yrs. The trees are in demand for many reasons,construction,paper and easy to sell. I intend to use the timber myself on other projects,still to be planned.
Some trees are given free to the farmers under a government scheme. They can be seen all around locally,sometimes as a plantation,which are probably sold to the paper mills.They are tall and straight with not many branches,look similar to silver birch.
I have also been told of mahogany trees,which will give a good return if you can wait 15yrs or more. I have done this for practical reasons,not for financial gain, I consider it a bargain at approx 1,200baht plus sweat.