Showing 1 - 10 of 17
The many tastes of rice
Life, Thana Boonlert, Published on 10/04/2023
» For several decades, cracked ground in Isan or the Northeast of the country captured the public's imagination. In the 1970s, readers submitted their poems to Satri Sarn, the country's first women's magazine, recounting tales of drought, crop failure and hardship. Some were forced to eat leaves and grasshoppers, not rice, while others who fled their villages in search of jobs in Bangkok were duped or exploited by agents.
An all-too-familiar sight
Life, Thana Boonlert, Published on 21/09/2021
» Torrential rain has recently left many areas underwater. Last month, it caused flash flooding and forest runoff in the northern provinces. Caught off guard, residents climbed onto rooftops as water swept into their properties.
Empire of joy
Life, Karnjana Karnjanatawe, Published on 31/05/2021
» The midday sun is almost unbearable. During the dry season, farmlands crack. Nothing is growing. It is hard to imagine that the area along Highway 2074 (the Buri Ram-Nang Rong road) in Khu Muang district in Buri Ram province can one day become fertile land.
Birding in Buri Ram
Life, Karnjana Karnjanatawe, Published on 18/03/2021
» A series of short high-pitched calls broke the silence and a pair of adult sarus cranes seemed to respond to the calls of other birds.
Sticky situation
Life, Karnjana Karnjanatawe, Published on 23/11/2020
» The rice paddy of Daeng Dee Farm in Lampang’s Hang Chat district turns golden yellow. Within a week, the farm owner Saman Supukkawanich, 55, will harvest a new glutinous rice variety known as the hom naga.
Not so good news
B Magazine, Published on 24/05/2020
» A government minister has floated the idea that rural folks who had left Bangkok following the Covid-19 outbreak should undertake New Theory farming in their hometowns and never return to work in the city. He proposed that the Ministry of Agriculture provide training and appropriate technology to boost productivity. It sounds like good news, but is nothing new. We have heard similar things many times in the past.
What's trending and happening this week
Muse, Kanin Srimaneekulroj, Published on 09/12/2017
» 1. After a dozen years as one of Thailand's premier shopping centres, Siam Paragon is celebrating its latest anniversary with their extensive "Siam The Great Celebration" campaign. It's made up of multiple smaller events set to be held until Jan 15 next year. Examples of the events featured include a pop-up installation from Miu Miu fashion brand, an exhibition of French jewellery brand Cartier's special Cartier Red Box and a Harry Potter-themed "Christmas In The Wizarding World" retail experience. There will also be various special promotions and discounts for shoppers throughout the campaign's duration.
Harvesting a new breed of farmer
Life, Kanin Srimaneekulroj, Published on 10/01/2017
» The Pid Thong Lang Phra Foundation, an offshoot of the Mae Fah Luang Foundation, recently held an eight-day trip for a group of farmers from the southern Yala province, bringing them to Khon Kaen province in the Northeast, where they saw the methods and benefits of King Rama IX's sufficiency economy philosophy first hand.
The struggle to plough on
Life, Published on 14/11/2016
» There are about 10 million rice farmers in Thailand and throughout history farmers have been known as the backbone of the nation. But the long-running, seemingly unsolvable crisis over the price of rice and the stigma of poverty that has plagued Thai rice farmers for decades have driven farmers' sons and daughters to leave the fields to pursue more secure and well-paid professions, often in the city. Life talks to four of the offspring of farmers on why they turned their backs on their families' vocation — practised over several generations — and whether they will return to the fields one day.
From salt to solar
Life, Anchalee Kongrut, Published on 14/09/2016
» If this year's severe drought returns next dry season, Uncle Wai Rodtayoy and other salt farmers in tambon Koek Kharm of Samut Sakhon, known as the country's largest sea-salt-farming area, will see mounting debts.