Can Someone Explain The Thai Farmers Mindset

[IsaanAussie]

As this is diverting from the thread I was reading I decided to lift the relevant post and start a new topic. Are we right, we farangs? Are the Thais just lazy? Or are we just chasing rainbows?

Posted Today, 05:26 by SGD

jamescollister, on 2011-03-15 09:17:17, said:

.... If your wifes family is left in charge, no matter how honest, loyal and trustworthy they are, they will do things the Thai way not the right way. Then you will get Thai returns, not good well run plantation returns....

SGD: Ain't that the truth !

Even if you can show them evidence of doing it one way and producing more, they will just put that down to "magic" or other such nonsense and then go back to their way and produce half what you did !

Just one other thing and I read this often that the family will take care of the trees so that after 7 years they can tap and get a share, if they are so keen to tap rubber for 40% they can come here and tap. I am 2 tappers short and am not the only plantation that can;t get tappers. Think hard before you start spending. Jim

Very, very good point. I was shocked at how much was being spent on this facet of production but as usual, they can't be arsed.

... It's not the training or teaching that is the problem, it's the rural Thai aversion to working. They do there rice and that's enough to live so why work.....

Ditto

I have found it very hard to get things changed, or something different accepted. You do it yourself and all is well, while you're doing it. As pointed out above, hand over the reins and it all goes to hell in a handbasket. Why is that so often the case?

Isaan Aussie

[slapout]

Most of us brought up on farms in the real world, were accepting of the long hours working mostly by yourself. In contrast the Thai's are brought in a more social way of working/living. 3 people to do a 1 man job.

We were mechanized enough that we knew that any rainy day would be used to maintain and repair machinery. Again, the Thai's did/do most of the work by hand, so they are prone to relax when the chance arises.

Most of our farms size demanded long hours and the use of all sunlight to stay up with the work on a daily basis. The farm size here is such that the family can almost take turns on the farm.

Now why they refuse to listen to suggestions we may make, "I don't know" Maybe if we made suggestions via the village loudspeaker system with the announcer being the village headman (as normal), they might remember what was suggested.

Those are my thoughts, I have seen a few exceptions for each but so far, I have not met/observed a single Thai has shown to be the exception to all of them.

[krauti]

Hi all,

due to my experience in Thailand I know that Thais do their way. Punctum. But what I can see throughout the country: they are seeking new ways of fertilizing. That's the reason in post here.

I did a lot of tests with a brandnew Nano Calcium Foliar Fertilizer named Supergreen. Contains about 80 % CaCO3, 11.41 % Silicia, 5 % MgO, Cink, Copper etc. In Europe and USA certified in Organic Farming.

Application: 1 kg on 5 Rai. the best results with 3 times spraying (interval between 1 week (vegetables) and 1 month (rice, cassava, sugar cane).

Impact: Particles penetrate through the Stoma (openings on the plant leave) into the leave and is split into CO2 and CaO. Enhancing of photosynthesis due to the CO2. Rest particles remain on the leave. Dew splits this particles in the morning again into CaO and CO2, so the CO2 supply for the leave increases about 40 %.

Calcium is the main driver for root growth as well as for cell growth and cell strengthening. That's probably the reason, bugs are disappearing to the big part, even Mealy Bugs and Brown Rice Plant Hopper.

Results

Veggies: grow faster, pests are reduced due to harder leafes. Even Mealy Bugs and the Brown Rice Plant hopper disappear after about 14 days. Farmers in Kanchanaburi reported, that the growing period of most of the vegetables is shortened about 20 %, meaning, they can sell the products in average about 1 week earlier.

Rice: Tests show a significant improvement of yields between 40 and 60 %

Sugar Cane: Brix enhancement between 2 and 4 points.

Tea, Coffee: significant enhencement of flavor due to increased content of oil substances.

If anyone is interested, please let me know your email so I can send you a test sample. So you can see the immediate impact of this brand new, natural foliar fertilizer.

Cheers

Werner

[jamescollister]

Hi all

Here is my take on the subject of Thai verses western thought. We in the west have been brought up on Greek Philosophy [Aslop The Ant and the Grasshopper] where the individual is of most importance The Thais on the other hand live in the Oriental train of thought [ Tao, Buddha etc [ where the family, village ] out weighs the individual. Add to that climate, we of the west had to make hay while the sun shined or you starved in the winter. Then throw in a few hundred years of industrial revolution, where the people where brainwashed to believe that work is the most important part of life and that you must be the best at what ever you do, whether cleaning floors or runing a multi million company.

Went to a wedding yesterday, they had what most western couples could only dream of, they had their own home. Maybe it is just a hut, but it is theirs. No 25 years of mortgage payments where both man and wife have to work to pay.

When I first came here the people believed they were rich. There was rice to eat, fruit on trees, fish in the rivers. No one went hungry. Then the first TV came and Shangri La was lost.

Things are changing, people buy cars etc on payments and now have to work, but not everyone as of yet has joined the race to own things.

As the Buddha says live in the moment. We live for tomorrow, but tomorrow never comes. Who really lives the best life. Jim

[David006]

Hi all

Here is my take on the subject of Thai verses western thought. We in the west have been brought up on Greek Philosophy [Aslop The Ant and the Grasshopper] where the individual is of most importance The Thais on the other hand live in the Oriental train of thought [ Tao, Buddha etc [ where the family, village ] out weighs the individual. Add to that climate, we of the west had to make hay while the sun shined or you starved in the winter. Then throw in a few hundred years of industrial revolution, where the people where brainwashed to believe that work is the most important part of life and that you must be the best at what ever you do, whether cleaning floors or runing a multi million company.

Went to a wedding yesterday, they had what most western couples could only dream of, they had their own home. Maybe it is just a hut, but it is theirs. No 25 years of mortgage payments where both man and wife have to work to pay.

When I first came here the people believed they were rich. There was rice to eat, fruit on trees, fish in the rivers. No one went hungry. Then the first TV came and Shangri La was lost.

Things are changing, people buy cars etc on payments and now have to work, but not everyone as of yet has joined the race to own things.

As the Buddha says live in the moment. We live for tomorrow, but tomorrow never comes. Who really lives the best life. Jim

Nice post Jim..take a while for us colonizing, avaricious westerners to adapt to a totally different mindset....methinks.

OOh have enough money to buy a pint of whiskey or three, go to karaoke ..maybe new Vigo and poodle....5555

Yesterday wife was in the market overheard everyone complaining about the current rubber price dip.."Toyota very upset... people not pay monthlies!!"..hmmmmm maybe can pick up good deal...555

[Smithson]

I've had landowners/businessmen say these days Thais reject physically demanding work. A lot of farm work has become mechanized, generally there is not so much for men to do, so they have grown increasingly lazy. Besides work in the fields, there was fishing/hunting, cutting bamboo, making tools, traps and nets etc. These days little of this goes on and a lot of traditional skills have been lost.

In contrast women still have a similar workload and are very good workers

I don't think there's much chance of changing things. When Thais have hard work, they get migrant labor.

[ETC]

Most of us brought up on farms in the real world, were accepting of the long hours working mostly by yourself. In contrast the Thai's are brought in a more social way of working/living. 3 people to do a 1 man job.

We were mechanized enough that we knew that any rainy day would be used to maintain and repair machinery. Again, the Thai's did/do most of the work by hand, so they are prone to relax when the chance arises.

Most of our farms size demanded long hours and the use of all sunlight to stay up with the work on a daily basis. The farm size here is such that the family can almost take turns on the farm.

Now why they refuse to listen to suggestions we may make, "I don't know" Maybe if we made suggestions via the village loudspeaker system with the announcer being the village headman (as normal), they might remember what was suggested.

Those are my thoughts, I have seen a few exceptions for each but so far, I have not met/observed a single Thai has shown to be the exception to all of them.

It is very apparent to me that real world farmers and thai farmers march to two different drummers, as the objectives are totally different. What we see as their failures, they see as their success. Best to leave them to their own devices and allow the natural order of things to perpetuate itself. I try to spend my time analayzing what I might be doing wrong rather what thais might be doing wrong. Trying to convince a Thai farmer to change something to get a better yield will not make my corn grow any better.

[XXpate48USA]

Hi all

Here is my take on the subject of Thai verses western thought. We in the west have been brought up on Greek Philosophy [Aslop The Ant and the Grasshopper] where the individual is of most importance The Thais on the other hand live in the Oriental train of thought [ Tao, Buddha etc [ where the family, village ] out weighs the individual. Add to that climate, we of the west had to make hay while the sun shined or you starved in the winter. Then throw in a few hundred years of industrial revolution, where the people where brainwashed to believe that work is the most important part of life and that you must be the best at what ever you do, whether cleaning floors or runing a multi million company.

Went to a wedding yesterday, they had what most western couples could only dream of, they had their own home. Maybe it is just a hut, but it is theirs. No 25 years of mortgage payments where both man and wife have to work to pay.

When I first came here the people believed they were rich. There was rice to eat, fruit on trees, fish in the rivers. No one went hungry. Then the first TV came and Shangri La was lost.

Things are changing, people buy cars etc on payments and now have to work, but not everyone as of yet has joined the race to own things.

As the Buddha says live in the moment. We live for tomorrow, but tomorrow never comes. Who really lives the best life. Jim

The perfect analogy was "The and and the Grasshopper: I.e. Thai's spend thier money as fast as they can when they get some or some extra. There is no thought of tomorrow or next month/year! This is one of the big problems living and ajusting in Thailand. If you are a falang married to a Thai lady and happen to live with her family, you will be always over ridden by the eldest father or uncle etc. Even if you make total sense, your advice will not be even thought about as they see us westerners as people who have recieved our money/pension easily because we have lived in the west where everything(they think) is given or gotten easy.

Have you ever looked at the family vehicle of a rural farmer? and checked the iol?...Black? Do you think that the thought of actually taking care of the mechanical parts might just extend, let alone cost less in the end, to use and drive much longer because it has been taken care of? This is the same method used for living each day. Not to think too much and just get that day over and worry tomorrow about that day! I.e. The ant and the grasshopper".........get used to it and get used to being just the falang that comes in handy for the bills and luxury items you will be required to buy, not to mention the loans that will be needed for fixing the vehicles that you tried giving advice on for longer service...It will make you smile alot when you have to do that! Refuse, and you are stinky and not jai dee. ahhh, it's wonderful not being in charge of your own life, isn't it?

[sbk]

Somebody forgot to tell my Father in law, he is 75 years old and still gets coconuts down despite the fact that he is quite wealthy. In fact, most of the people I know work their butts off. Perhaps its an Isaan mindset where the work is seasonal but in the South its year round and all the people I know work all the time.

[featography]

Thai only know how to work hard,

in spurts.

Farang know how to work smart,

not to mention, and pace themselves.

Edited March 20, 2011 by featography

[chachachacha]

I have found the best way to get Thais to try something different is to let them think that it is them that thought of it. I just get her indoors to plant the seed .She just says that she heard the rich people in Bangkok talking about how they make big money.

Then I just sit back for around 4 wks for them to think up these plans that she has told them. Usually 4wks is enough time to make the idea theirs LOL

[Pops]

I saw some sort of commercial in the cinema recently in which a monk says, (translated from Thai to English): " The heart that knows when it has enough, is the heart that knows real happiness ".

I found this such a beautiful saying and it perfectly describes the difference in Western and Thai thinking.

For us, westerners, it is never enough, we need more, bigger an better.

But do we know real happiness ??

No, we need more and more to satisfy ourselves and come to Thailand to taste real hapiness.

We should be enormously jealous of the Thai farmer you describe, and let go of the bigger, more and better attitude.

We even measure ourselves and others according to these materialistic criteria.

Get your head out of your arse, you're not any smarter or better because you harvest more freakin' rubber then a Thai farmer.

Living is about quality of life.

And keep in mind the saying of this wise monk: " The heart that knows when it has enough, is the heart that knows real happiness ".

[surayu]

Perhaps its an Isaan mindset where the work is seasonal but in the South its year round and all the people I know work all the time.

For "South" do you mean the predominantly muslim regions of the country? ....just a curiosity :jap:

[transam]

Somebody forgot to tell my Father in law, he is 75 years old and still gets coconuts down despite the fact that he is quite wealthy. In fact, most of the people I know work their butts off. Perhaps its an Isaan mindset where the work is seasonal but in the South its year round and all the people I know work all the time.

Wish my Isaan outlaws were the same, l give them stuff to make life better, they sell it and buy beer.

[ETC]

Somebody forgot to tell my Father in law, he is 75 years old and still gets coconuts down despite the fact that he is quite wealthy. In fact, most of the people I know work their butts off. Perhaps its an Isaan mindset where the work is seasonal but in the South its year round and all the people I know work all the time.

Wish my Isaan outlaws were the same, l give them stuff to make life better, they sell it and buy beer.

I suppose you could look at it as though you did succeed Transam, as being able to afford beer is rarther important to some. At least they did not waste the money on French Postcards, and I do believe beer does have some food value. :jap: 5555555555

[transam]

Somebody forgot to tell my Father in law, he is 75 years old and still gets coconuts down despite the fact that he is quite wealthy. In fact, most of the people I know work their butts off. Perhaps its an Isaan mindset where the work is seasonal but in the South its year round and all the people I know work all the time.

Wish my Isaan outlaws were the same, l give them stuff to make life better, they sell it and buy beer.

I suppose you could look at it as though you did succeed Transam, as being able to afford beer is rarther important to some. At least they did not waste the money on French Postcards, and I do believe beer does have some food value. :jap: 5555555555

I should have said Lou Kou.

[jamescollister]

I should have said Lou Kou.

There may be the real truth, I can't drink the stuff so need more money for beer and Johnny. Jim

[JurgenG]

Somebody forgot to tell my Father in law, he is 75 years old and still gets coconuts down despite the fact that he is quite wealthy. In fact, most of the people I know work their butts off. Perhaps its an Isaan mindset where the work is seasonal but in the South its year round and all the people I know work all the time.

People in the South are generally more rich than Isaan people but it doesn't mean Isaan people are dumb and lazy.

In the village above my house there are a couple of guys that are drunk at 10:00 am but most of the inhabitants are decent folks. There is a lady who learned to cook when working for the local monastery. She has now open her own restaurant that is doing very well. There is this other guy when I first met him had this old Ford tractor, an honest guy, hard worker, always show up on time when you need him, the guy you like to recommend. Now he has two big brand new Kubota and a backhoe. And there is the farmer I first met when his cows invaded my garden. When everybody was selling their land, he was buying. He now owes hundred of rais, some in prime location worth 1 million a rai. And many more ...

I guess it just depends who you chose to associate with.

[billd766]

I live in Khampaeng Phet province near the Mae Wong national park and I have been banging on at my wife for weeks now for someone to bring 6 x 1700 litre ongs (for water storage)from her shop 3 kms to the house and all she says is that every farmer is busy.

Sadly I have to believe her as when I look around people have finished the man saparang harvest and are now busy replanting for the next crop. The same goes for rice and sugar cane.

Sure there are the few drunks before lunch but most of the farmers here are hard workers.

A few years ago when we first moved here I thought of buying a tractor and renting it out with a driver. In hindsight that was a bad plan as I was going to buy a Ford 6600 and now the roads are full of Kubotas and Yanmars with but a few Fords working and a lot more on the side of the road for sale.

Fortunately my wife talked me out of the idea.

The bad news is that if we wanted to farm seriously we would have to hire people as and when they are available rather than when we want them.

Edited March 21, 2011 by billd766

[David006]

We are sooo bloody good us Farangs..we know how to work smart not hard ...yadda yadda...

Seems to me I left behind countries where I was continually working to pay ...Amex/Visa/MC, taxes,rates, electric bill,water rates, wifes new car/jewelry,big mortgage, big holidays, kids school fees...yadda yadda..

Get a raise/big commission cheque ???...get a bigger house,swimming pool, Range Rover for you,BMW for her, up market restaurants now,..holidays??......yes??? .....yes we farangs work so bloody "smart" and we are soooo different...

[cardholder]

We are sooo bloody good us Farangs..we know how to work smart not hard ...yadda yadda...

Seems to me I left behind countries where I was continually working to pay ...Amex/Visa/MC, taxes,rates, electric bill,water rates, wifes new car/jewelry,big mortgage, big holidays, kids school fees...yadda yadda..

Get a raise/big commission cheque ???...get a bigger house,swimming pool, Range Rover for you,BMW for her, up market restaurants now,..holidays??......yes??? .....yes we farangs work so bloody "smart" and we are soooo different...

Oh Dear !!

Western life was clearly too much for you.

[cardholder]

Somebody forgot to tell my Father in law, he is 75 years old and still gets coconuts down despite the fact that he is quite wealthy. In fact, most of the people I know work their butts off. Perhaps its an Isaan mindset where the work is seasonal but in the South its year round and all the people I know work all the time.

Wish my Isaan outlaws were the same, l give them stuff to make life better, they sell it and buy beer.

transam - so it was you who coined that immortal proverb:-

" Give a Thai man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a Thai man to fish and he will steal fish from your pond ! ".

[jamescollister]

We are sooo bloody good us Farangs..we know how to work smart not hard ...yadda yadda...

Seems to me I left behind countries where I was continually working to pay ...Amex/Visa/MC, taxes,rates, electric bill,water rates, wifes new car/jewelry,big mortgage, big holidays, kids school fees...yadda yadda..

Get a raise/big commission cheque ???...get a bigger house,swimming pool, Range Rover for you,BMW for her, up market restaurants now,..holidays??......yes??? .....yes we farangs work so bloody "smart" and we are soooo different...

Oh Dear !!

Western life was clearly too much for you.

It was too much for me. Jim

[sbk]

Perhaps its an Isaan mindset where the work is seasonal but in the South its year round and all the people I know work all the time.

For "South" do you mean the predominantly muslim regions of the country? ....just a curiosity :jap:

Everything South of Ratchaburi is considered the South and it is a mistake on many farangs part who don't understand that large swathes of the South are not Muslim.

[sbk]

We are sooo bloody good us Farangs..we know how to work smart not hard ...yadda yadda...

Seems to me I left behind countries where I was continually working to pay ...Amex/Visa/MC, taxes,rates, electric bill,water rates, wifes new car/jewelry,big mortgage, big holidays, kids school fees...yadda yadda..

Get a raise/big commission cheque ???...get a bigger house,swimming pool, Range Rover for you,BMW for her, up market restaurants now,..holidays??......yes??? .....yes we farangs work so bloody "smart" and we are soooo different...

Oh Dear !!

Western life was clearly too much for you.

I do not see the need for a flame when the person is responding to what many would consider a rather racist comment. the idea that "farangs work smart" is obviously as gross a generalization as the ones that say all Thais are lazy.

[bina]

get back on track;

perhaps comparing specifics rather then generalizations would show the differences and similarities better.

but first, how many farangs have actually worked on farms in their home countries. and btw, there is a huge difference between working a farm and managing a farm. and farm managment is somthing that nowadays is learned/taught. it doesnt come just from knowing how to work on a farm. cost and expense, water prices, world economy, weather, war, whatever-- these are aspects taht nowadays have to be studied, not just 'absorbed' thru the news. most village thai, lacking higher education, will not have the tools to 'manage' a farm the way most farang would because most farang dealing with anyone or anything thai /farming most likely have if not higher education, at least good basic education where more then reading and writing was taught to them. already precious tools.

how many small farms are falling apart in your home countries. how many younger people are willing to get their hands muddy/work in a greenhouse in humidity and heat/do a 3:00 a/m/ milking in freezing cold weather? why would village thais want to do this?

there are less and less thais coming here (israel)to work that are willing also to do that back breaking type of work , for peanuts. they have become choosier. pickier. prefer cowsheds to greenhouses. orchards to citrus plantations (the payment is per box). on the other hand, they have not yet got the means or the cultural push to go for higher schooling and professions. so the middle limbo is 'hang out and do nothing', an other circle that must be gotten out of........

there is a small group of thais studying here in a agri-college in the negev, but surprisingly enough (or not), they are all from families with enough money to send them to study, and they will most likely run farms but not do a lot of the daily work. they are not subsistence farmers but large farm owners. they are here to learn greenhouse/irrigation methods that can be applied to thailand. the mindset will be thais that have come to learn, and will bring back knowlege and apply if possible.

the change over from agricultural as it was to technoagriculture (westernized style)will not happen overnight, and most farms will not make the changeover. most moshavim here didnt manage to make the change over. the children of the super hard workers here dont want to work hard. they want easier faster money. and the small farms are run inefficiently, just like in the old days, with waste, and at a loss. the banks here are claiming more and more farms due to these reasons among others.

as for the 'drinking lao kao' analogy: ask my husband what he thinks of some of the sons of farmers here while he's busting his balls in the grape vines/cucumbers/apples. the sons and daughters of the farmers come to work late, take a million ciggie and cell phone breaks, sit down, complain that is too hot/cold/wet/dry/sun...

and i can hear a million old timers from here, the 'work is a way of life' contigency, mumbling " when we were young, we worked from dawn til dusk' in the winter we could take time off if it rained, but these youngsters, they dont know how to work. they just want big fancy trucks, fancy clothes, go out to party late and then cant get up in the morning, and complain after one day of hoeing...' the sad thing is i hear myself saying the same thing... my kids although they all work and have worked from age 13, my son in the orchards for instance, they prefer to go out and party, sleep late, and if the crop is going to rot on the trees, "we should get the thai workers to come and pick the apples. they do it better and faster then us anyhow."

bina

israel

[jamescollister]

Bina you are so right about the managment part. I do rubber which is not really farming, more oil wells that you grow. I spend more time on this magic box watching commodity, futures, oil prices, car sales numbers etc than I do on the plantation. Knowing when or where to sell is more important. In the words of Kenny Rogers, you got to know when to hold them and know when to fold. Think over the coming years [if I don't sell up] the buying and selling of others rubber will be of more importance to me than what my trees produce. Very few Thai farmers have internet access and fewer still would have the English skills to take advantage of the world of information that we take for granted. Jim

[swissie]

We are sooo bloody good us Farangs..we know how to work smart not hard ...yadda yadda...

Seems to me I left behind countries where I was continually working to pay ...Amex/Visa/MC, taxes,rates, electric bill,water rates, wifes new car/jewelry,big mortgage, big holidays, kids school fees...yadda yadda..

Get a raise/big commission cheque ???...get a bigger house,swimming pool, Range Rover for you,BMW for her, up market restaurants now,..holidays??......yes??? .....yes we farangs work so bloody "smart" and we are soooo different...

Well, the wording may be somewhat strong, but doesen't it hit the point ? Aren't we entangled in this maddening "bigger, faster, higher" folly? A good part of the folks in the US have to hold down 2 to 3 jobs, just to stay in the game (Europe going the same way!)

Is this life? (life quality?) And we all know that the wheel will stop turning, the closer we get to exhausting the earts resources. The new big player in the game (China), will accelerate the rate of exhaustion of raw materials dramatically.

So I take no pleasure in the fact that Thais are more and more also being sucked into the "bigger, faster, higher" syndrome. The Bangkok Elite and the in-crowd, is fully embedded within the "bigger, faster, higher" circus. Inevitably, this radiates throughout the country. (Most TV-Programs originate from BKK anyway.)

I suppose, the relaxed lifestye that persists in rural-aeres of Thailand will eventually give way to the "bigger, faster, higher" evangelium. Sadly.

Cheers.

[IsaanAussie]

There have been some excellent points raised here. I would like to offer an observation from my village. Firstly it is fairly typical of the area, 50 odd houses and less than 200 residents and a like number living elsewhere. There are only 4 or 5 "base" families.

Externally earnt money is flowing in and new houses are being built by the "gone away to work family members". The wealth gap is expanding and I can see tension building up in this small community. It is most noticable between the more well to do households where petty jealousy and Big Face is becoming ulgy competition to have the biggest and the best. Like the modern life competitive virus of the large cities is infecting the village. The ridiculous part being these new houses are effectively empty, just idlely filling up the available spaces in the village waiting for their owners to eventually come home.

Inside the community on a daily level though, rather than compete, threats are being issued. One guy who has, as long as I have been coming here, has fulfilled the money lender role and supplied broken rice for the elderly without food, is now telling people "If you dont buy from me (or sell to me) dont come here to eat anymore."

It appears that the few hard working people that haven't yielded to becoming more materialistic, are now being squeezed out of their easy going lifestyle. Sucked into this spiral of whose side are you on question.

On this occasion I would be extremely happy to proven wrong as I can see the very fabric of this village community spirit being torn apart. Available labour is diminishing and aging. Family groups polarised. Just who is going to help this year with the chili harvest and the rice planting? The younger people simply do not have the time to come home and help anymore. More money appears to be the only answer to getting the harvest in, yet the crop prices are unlikely to rise.

I can only guess that this reverses and puts more pressure on the external income earners to fund the extra costs.

So the thought I offer is this. For all the pressure that corporate farming is putting on the small landholder's viability, it is the growing materialistic nature of the younger generation that is the immediate threat to the existence of small village life. Perhaps ultimately "come home to what?"

Isaan Aussie

Edited March 23, 2011 by IsaanAussie

[bina]

the problem is that i dont see who the external mone earners are going to be; israel is weaning out thai workers and bringing vietnamease, lao, and sri lanka workers, so by two to three years from now, there will be half the amount of workers (old workers go home, very few new workers come in from thailand)... jsut met a group of 30 vietnamese working with friend of hubby's in large dairy cow shed.

hubby has seemed to lost all interest in cassava, peppers and subssistance living, at least in thailand, for the moment. here he is back working in agric. again (vinyards), but earning a minimum wage, and my budget from kibbutz, that is still subsistance level in reality, but we have the kibbutz owned apartment, and several perks that help us with quality of life, if not in cash. therefore , he also cant help his family in korat; non of his sisters except one wants to farm, parents are too old to farm, only one sister is farming and her husband is the family drunk. the kids of the sisters are all teenagers or younger, and so far, not advancing in life, but slithering away in the direction of 'viroon-ism'... and wasting money. i dont see them hand planting peppers in the near future. if we could have financed mechanical means of helping them out, it might work, as oldest sister is hard worker, but getting water to the fields is a main problem, maiantining irrigation, harvest, etc... non of us have the capital.

some of the family land is laying to waste (getting a break from agriculture, another way to look at it), maybe 'rented' out, since no one will work it. we have decided we are not goign to do long distance managment as hubby has not got the patience for it. my feeling is that soeng seang will annex his village eventually, more stores, gas stations, etcs as people drive through to the local dam /nature park, or on way to korat. more and more cassava factories. by the time we get there, if ever, farming as a way of life will surely not be a viable one.

poor guidance by the agric. advisors (hubby claims they suffer from corruption, and only help large farms, they come once, blalbalba, and never come back but that could be the bannork habit of not following up on their own. hubby being example of not pushing for things from is employer, but just waiting for them to happen, which it wont - new work shoes, method of transport, etc).

thailand is so similar to israel in so many ways (not politically) in behavioral patterns, moving from agriculture to industry in an exccelerated fashion; middle east/bannork mentality; old generation being very very different from younger generation - the difference between my parents and me are not great; the difference between my husband and his parents is huge, rather like the difference between my ex and his parents- old time kibbutznik and 'new' westernized modernized generation. the inability to incorporate new fangled methods and machines to old time lifestyles. stubborness of the farmer. farming is for those with patience. nowadays people want everything faster.

not mind sets really but changes in lifestyles, attitudes, and potential

bina

israel