Henry Dodd

Thanks for the invitation, I'd love to come and visit when you're back in Thailand!

Thanks for your well thought out reply. Just to be clear, I don't plan on ever making a living off capybaras in Thailand - the capybara cafe would be let's say, a "vanity project", funded with money I could comfortably afford to sit back and watch burn. If I ever do end up with some land for a permaculture project here I'd start off with a few capys to keep the grass down and fertilise the soil and if I can convince any Thais to try my cabybara krapaow and they like it, then I'd think about trying to sell the meat and breeding more for that purpose.

For myself:
The idea is not off the table but I have the advantage that my trees need to grow first to a Capy safe size.
That can be another 4-6 years.
For so long I can do more research.

That fits quite well with the rough timeline I've set for myself so perhaps I'll be able to buy some of your pups if you do go through with this

If other expats in Thailand overwhelm you with positive and motivating vibes, which are better to digest than my words above, ask first how long they are already living in Thailand.

I know how dismally low the success rate is for farang owned brick and mortar businesses here so like I said above, I wouldn't start one here with money I couldn't afford to lose and I definitely wouldn't put other people's money at risk. For now I'll just keep on making money online until I have enough to play around with.

I've had a look at your other threads and what you're doing up in Isaan looks amazing. Wishing you and your wife all the best

Hi See Hes,

I see this thread has been inactive for a while but I'm replying so I'll be notified when you update it.

I was doing a little googling and was delighted to see that another crazy farang has had the same idea of farming giant guinea pigs in Thailand.

It's something I've been thinking about a lot for the last year or so, to the point that my girlfriend now just rolls her eyes when she hears the word "capybara". I like to tease her by pointing out all the nice plots of land with ponds that would make good capybara farms as we're driving around.

Anyway, I can see that your project is more than just a pipe dream and that you've done your research and even have some potential leads for acquiring breeding stock, which is fantastic. I'll admit I didn't think baby capys would be so expensive... I know you can buy them at chatuchak market but I'd never looked into the price. It did occur to me that as a result of their being so few capys in Thailand, the ones you can purchase here may be quite inbred so it's probably better to get your breeding stock from South America.

My reasons for wanting to breed capybaras here are very similar to yours; Thailand with its wet climate and  lush vegetation seems like an ideal habitat for them where they could thrive and breed prolifically, Thai people consume a lot of pork which isn't the healthiest of meats and whose ecological impact can be quite disastrous, so if the capybara trend catches on it could contribute to local food security and ecological preservation. Capybaras can digest cellulose so they're a lot easier to feed than pigs, all while yielding a better quality meat. I haven't been able to find any info on this but one of my thoughts was that they could be fed straw from sugar cane. I know you have to be careful giving them too much sugar in the form of fruit as it can mess up their digestion but perhaps with all the sugary juice squeezed out it could provide a very cheap source of fodder for larger scale farms. The flour left over from coconut milk production could also be good for fattening them up if squeezed into pellets.

I've been fascinated by these creatures since meeting one that was kept as a pet by a shaman near Iquitos in Peru about six years ago. I was amazed at how gentle and tame it was, a lot like a dog really. I later found out that it had got into a fight with a dog and disemboweled it and so the family decided to eat it. The Facebook friend who told me all this said the meat was excellent.

Currently I'm not at all in any position financially to start a permaculture project but it is one of my long term life goals. I'd like to have something up and running by the time I'm 40 (I'm 31 now). I'm based in Hua Hin and my idea was to create a capybara cafe where people could pay 50 baht to feed the animals a carrot and get some photos. There are a lot of tourists here and people seem to have more disposable income than elsewhere in Thailand so I think with a bit of social media promotion it could do well, even if people have to drive a bit to get to it.

I'd like to also suggest that you document this project with a YouTube channel, as I (and I'm sure a lot of other people) would be very interested in watching. Capybaras are kind of a "meme" animal so any videos with capys on the thumbnails are guaranteed to get clicks. You could use the ad revenue and sell merchandise to help fund the business. Check out the Urban Rescue Ranch on YouTube, he has a few capys and nearly 3 million subscribers.

Hope to hear from you soon

Henry