Tis the Season for Mosquitoes, fa la la la la, la la la la

[Gaybutton]

For whatever reason, mosquitoes this year have been much more of a problem than in past years and I have been hearing a lot of complaints. I get plenty of them at my place too. They seem to start coming out primarily at dusk, although there are some during the day as well. Nothing seems to work very well at preventing them from getting in. Even people with window screens are getting them. They manage to somehow get in no matter what you do. So, the thing to do is to try to deal with them once they're in.

 

Spray-on insect repellents such as Off don't seem to work for me, but there are a few things that work just fine. If you are having problems, you might want to try some of these things:

 

1. Avon Skin-So-Soft bath oil. That's the best of all. I think Avon makes a mistake by selling it as a bath oil. It's the best insect repellent I've ever used. Not only that, but you don't need much, it's good for your skin, and has a pleasant fragrance. Use it full strength.

 

2. I don't know what you call these things, but the local stores sell a little contraption that plugs into your wall socket. It comes with a small bowl that contains some sort of a fluid, supposedly harmless to humans, that really works. There are several brands. You just plug it in, turn it on, and 5 minutes later there are no mosquitoes to be seen. One or two of them in each room really does the trick, at least for me.

 

3. Lemon grass. You can find it easily in any one of the Thai open air fruit and vegetable markets. It's a very popular ingredient for Thai cooking. It's a long, rigid grass that has a fragrance very similar to lemons, hence the name. You get a bunch of it, twist it a little bit to help release the fumes, and place it somewhere in your room. Mosquitoes are repelled by it.

 

4. Many stores sell a contraption that looks very much like a badminton racket. They work with electricity. Some are battery operated and some have a plug-in wall recharger. They're fun to use. You just swing the thing at the mosquitoes and zap! You not only get to hear the mosquito get zapped, but you get a tiny fireworks display as well. Keep one handy in case all else fails.

 

Maybe some of you have additional suggestions.

[KhorTose]

Two additions to GayButton's great list:

 

1. Mosquito coils---Coils of repellant that when lit, drive mosquitoes away.

2. A repellent that contains DEET. Guaranteed to work.

 

[Guest zzrichard]

If you are invaded by a swarm of mosquitos that just seemed to appear out of nowhere, just turn off your interior lights, turn on the outside lights and open the front and back doors. In about ten minutes all of the critters will fly out towards the available light and your home will be free again.

[Guest lvdkeyes]

There is a gizmo you can buy (several brands) that plugs into the wall and you put a little pad in it. It is effective for 12 hours or so. It works well and there is no odor at all.

[Gaybutton]

Here's a photo of the contraption I'm talking about in my post above. It lasts about three weeks before the liquid is used up. You can buy replacement liquid at most stores such as Big-C, Lotus, etc.

 

[Guest Astrrro]

1. Avon Skin-So-Soft bath oil. That's the best of all. I think Avon makes a mistake by selling it as a bath oil. It's the best insect repellent I've ever used. Not only that, but you don't need much, it's good for your skin, and has a pleasant fragrance. Use it full strength.

 

I've always wondered about that too. At first I thought that it might have to do with the FDA approval process.

 

But now I'm thinking that being a secret mozzie repellent has a certain cachet and is therefore unique branding.

 

[Guest laurence]

Spray-on insect repellents such as Off don't seem to work for me, but there are a few things that work just fine. If you are having problems, you might want to try some of these things:

 

1. Avon Skin-So-Soft bath oil. That's the best of all. I think Avon makes a mistake by selling it as a bath oil. It's the best insect repellent I've ever used. Not only that, but you don't need much, it's good for your skin, and has a pleasant fragrance. Use it full strength.

 

Avon has been shown to be useless in scientific tests, including my own tests. Off does not work for GB because he is to ornery or too tasty.

 

But those repellant coils actually seem to work.

 

[Gaybutton]

Avon has been shown to be useless in scientific tests, including my own tests.

It works beautifully for me. Once, on a trip to an area where mosquitoes were rampant I brought along the Skin-So-Soft. I was the only one not getting bitten. I was there for three days. I literally had people lining up to use it . . . each night. People who used it were not getting bitten. People using anything else were getting bitten.

 

Scientific or not, it sure works for me. I suppose, if it doesn't work for you, then individual body chemistry may have something to do with it. But I swear by it.

[PattayaMale]

Does the Avon product have DEET in it?

[Guest]

There is a gizmo you can buy (several brands) that plugs into the wall and you put a little pad in it. It is effective for 12 hours or so. It works well and there is no odor at all.

 

I had one of these in Pattaya & it did not seem to discourage mozzies. The result was several bites overnight.

 

Placebo?

 

[Gaybutton]

Does the Avon product have DEET in it?

No.

 

I had one of these in Pattaya & it did not seem to discourage mozzies. The result was several bites overnight.

Of course. When you have something that works, there's always someone who comes along to tell you that it doesn't work. What I use, as I said, works quite well for me. I'll still get bites every so often, but without using it I'd get a hell of a lot more bites. What reason would any of us have to recommend something if it doesn't work, at least for us?

 

If you know of something better than the suggestions we've written, or if you have a better idea, I'm all ears.

[Guest lvdkeyes]

When you have something that works, there's always someone who comes along to tell you that it doesn't work.

There seems to be a lot of negativity from some people about everything. The gizmo I use I first encountered in Sri Lanka. Every evening just before dusk the hotel staff would come around and put in a new card when they would turn down the bed. When I found them here I bought two, one for bedroom and one for living room. Believe me they work if I remember to put a pad in each one.

[Guest]

There seems to be a lot of negativity from some people about everything. The gizmo I use I first encountered in Sri Lanka. Every evening just before dusk the hotel staff would come around and put in a new card when they would turn down the bed. When I found them here I bought two, one for bedroom and one for living room. Believe me they work if I remember to put a pad in each one.

 

I'm not intentionally trying to knock everything you guys say, just reporting my user experiences, as you are.

You find these things work. I was using the devices with the blue tablets & got quite a few mozzie bites in the middle of the night, so I was not satisfied with the performance.

 

It's quite conceivable that the blue tablets on sale in Thailand & Sri Lanka are different to the ones I got in the UK.

Also, my experience was just that -an experience, not a controlled scientific experiment. I'm probably not alone on this point, although you will have much more experience of using these things.

 

Ultimately, Thailand has a dengue fever risk & malaria can occur elsewhere in SE Asia, so I'd like a more effective deterrent & am grateful for the alternative recommendations.

 

I did wonder if the contents of the blue tablets were merely a repellant, which might not discourage mozzies already "trapped" in the room. However, the life systems site states their tablets contain, Bioallethrin @ 4.23%. This is classified as a pesticide, which by definition should be killing the pests.

[Guest fountainhall]

For years I have used a roll-on repellent called "Jaico Muggenmelk" which I have only ever seen sold in Thai pharmacies. It's made in Belgium, says it's 'guaranteed for 7 hours' - and certainly works for me. The one drawback is that it smells a bit - but you can always spray on a little cologne to mask it.

[atri1666]

For years I have used a roll-on repellent called "Jaico Muggenmelk"

I also use jaico (can buy here in germany) but better works now "Perysan" with natural lemongrass-oil or "Zedan" roll on

[ieb2004]

Where in Thailand can you get Avon Skin-So-Soft bath oil?

[Gaybutton]

Where in Thailand can you get Avon Skin-So-Soft bath oil?

In Pattaya, on the street that leads into the parking lot of the Big-C at Sukhumvit-Pattaya Tai, there is an Avon outlet at one of the shop houses, close to Sukhumvit.

 

You can call their main office in Bangkok at 02 717 3300. They'll be able to tell you additional locations at which it can be purchased.

[atri1666]

I also will try Avon Skin-So-Soft bath oil in june - i ordered online to send to my home.