Is Pest Control A Waste Of Money?

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T.O.M.
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Is Pest Control A Waste Of Money?

Post by T.O.M. »

Been here a long time...Have 3 houses (2 rentals) and don't have/never had pest control in any of the properties. And surprise, surprise....my houses are not filled with dangerous critters.
Have few house-gecko's, who take care of the smaller insects inside the house.....Sometimes an ant colony decides to move inside...a spray with insect spray from 7/Eleven solves the problem.
If a the snails take a liking to my plants, I buy a snail-deterrent from the nursery...Problem solved.
Have a lot of wood in my houses....floors, doors and window frames....never had any problems with termites.

Got to think about it yesterday, when the neighbor had a visit from a pest control company....(truck marked with "bio-something"....yeah sure). They were spraying his garden and because of the wind direction half of the 'mist' ended up with me. Saw earth worms and gecko's trying to escape. So the 'Bio-poison' they are using might get rid of some unwanted critters, but for sure it is killing a lot of animals useful for your garden.
Conclusion: IMO pest control is a waste of money and not very environment friendly....
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Re: Is Pest Control A Waste Of Money?

Post by laphanphon »

+1
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PeteC
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Re: Is Pest Control A Waste Of Money?

Post by PeteC »

I agree 100% with everything you say, except the termite issue. If you move into an area with underground colonies you'll find out about it from speaking with neighbors who have been there longer. If they say termites are present in the ground or their houses, you're crazy not to start some kind of quarterly preventive treatment. If a builder has installed tube lines in the house foundation with ports in a few places at the bottom of outside walls, it's safe to say he knows that the neighborhood is in a termite area.

The problem with termites is that many times the damage is done before you realize they have even infested a structure. Pete :cheers:
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Re: Is Pest Control A Waste Of Money?

Post by Nereus »

I have been here a long time, a very long time in fact! I also used to think that because I had not seen any termites then there were none. Until a door frame started to disintegrate, and then the door fell off a bathroom vanity unit. The house has the tubes that Pete mentions, but that did not bother the termites. Maybe they even used them for access!

They are also not bothered by heights. My Condo in Bangkok on the 7th floor had an infestation that destroyed the complete kitchen! Not sure just how they got there, but I believe that they may have been carried in on something else. The Condo management actually provides a free spraying service, but as I am also wary of chemicals, I never had it sprayed. There is a "green" chemical available that is non toxic to pets and other small creatures. There should not be any "mist" associated with spraying, as the chemical works on a residual basis by soaking into the ground or wood work.

If you have a garden a good test is to place a small sheet of thick cardboard down on the ground and leave it undisturbed for a couple of weeks. If they are around they will very quickly start the destroy it.
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Re: Is Pest Control A Waste Of Money?

Post by Big Boy »

I'm the opposite, before we employed pest control, every crack in every floor tile was an ant super highway. Ants are probably my number 1 hate in Thailand. We purchased various 'recommended' products, but still they came. One visit from pest control, and we've rarely seen an ant since - the odd one may get in on fruit purchased from the market, but they don't survive long.

This goes for several other bugs that used to live with us.

We don't have a garden as such, but it is rare to see anything other than flying insects outside of the house either. Additionally, we've had mice/rats move in - a phone call, and they're dealing with the infestation within the hour. Also a termite hill appeared over the back wall - a phone call, and it was dealt with within the hour.

For a wuss like me, Pest Control is the best money that I spend in Thailand.
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buksida
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Re: Is Pest Control A Waste Of Money?

Post by buksida »

Had a similar issue with ants at our place. A one off visit where they applied some kind of gel did the job and haven't seen one inside the house since. I don't agree with the toxic plume of gas that they pump around but sometimes measures do need to be taken especially if you do have an excessive number of ants or termites.
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Re: Is Pest Control A Waste Of Money?

Post by STEVE G »

I've also had the same problems with termites in the garden. A couple of years ago, they started attacking palm trees around the area where we live and now if you look around the area, pretty much the only ones that have survived are the ones in gardens that have had pest control, all the ones that were still growing naturally are just stumps a couple of meters high.
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Re: Is Pest Control A Waste Of Money?

Post by PeteC »

I would bet the farm Steve it's palm beetles and not termites. They ravage all types of palms and kill them. I battle with them yearly at my place and they've killed a few trees. They bore in, lay eggs and they eat the core of the tree eventually killing it. Pete :cheers:


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhynchophorus_ferrugineus
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Re: Is Pest Control A Waste Of Money?

Post by STEVE G »

PeteC wrote: Mon Oct 15, 2018 6:21 pm I would bet the farm Steve it's palm beetles and not termites. They ravage all types of palms and kill them. I battle with them yearly at my place and they've killed a few trees. They bore in, lay eggs and they eat the core of the tree eventually killing it. Pete :cheers:


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhynchophorus_ferrugineus
You could well be right Pete, my partner and a couple of locals look after the garden and I don't get involved in the technicalities, certainly some of the local trees have the sort of damage pictured in your link but I've also seen what I'm pretty sure was termite attack where you get that kind of soil looking residue on the trunk near the ground.
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Re: Is Pest Control A Waste Of Money?

Post by TunnelRats »

Maybe a bit out of topic...
found this little guy inside the house beneath an empty bag, he was not shy at all and made no attempt to escape. Length about half an inch.
unknown_bug.jpg
unknown_bug.jpg (72.87 KiB) Viewed 656 times
Any idea... harmful?

Any comments are welcome

Thanks!
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Re: Is Pest Control A Waste Of Money?

Post by Big Boy »

Beautiful
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Re: Is Pest Control A Waste Of Money?

Post by handdrummer »

If you hit them they stink and they will bite. Probably not poisonous, unless you're allergic to it.
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Re: Is Pest Control A Waste Of Money?

Post by Nereus »

Not sure just what he is doing in Thailand:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinacate_beetle
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Re: Is Pest Control A Waste Of Money?

Post by TunnelRats »

Thanks Nereus, is a migrant as worldwide trends this times... :shock:
But when compare the pics the Mexican have his waistline a bit more dropped... but anyway, thanks for your reply! :cheers:
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Re: Is Pest Control A Waste Of Money?

Post by cheshiremusicman2 »

Does anybody have knowledge of what use is the 'smoking' that pest control companies do. Does it kill mosquitoes or just drive them out of the area for a while, as whenever I see photos of areas that have problems with things like 'Dengue etc' they all appear to have photos of 'smoking applications' in them.
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