Always on my Mind

Even 7500 miles away from Canada, I’m still thinking of farming.  My first full day in Thailand I arose bright and early to roosters crowing outside of where I resided.  I had been on flights for the past 20 hours and should have slept through anything, but my body still immediately awoke earlier than it wanted, to that old familiar ring – the sound of neighbouring roosters.  Immediately I thought, time for chores, then reality set in that I had no animals of any kind to look after for a while.  So, I laid there enjoying the roosters crow rather than cursing it like the other 364 days of the year!

I had an omelette that morning, from the hens outside my bedroom window, that accompanied one of the many cock-a-doodle-doo alarm clocks.  I had hours before meeting up with anyone or starting my travels for that day so I sat and did what I like to do best in the morning – write.  I people watched, took in the culture, listened to conversations around me that I didn’t understand, drank coffee and wrote anything that popped in to my head.  Naturally, I started writing about agriculture in Thailand because, well, farming is always on my mind. 

The language barrier made it difficult to ask questions, but I asked several.  Agriculture production is minuscule in comparison, but despite such a small proportion, it is still great importance to the Thai economy, since the majority of the population survive and earn a living from agriculture.  It was obvious to me that crop production was the most abundant and important agricultural sub-sector, with good soils, abundant water supply during certain times of year and a tropical climate.  The agriculture in Thailand has successful exports internationally, with rice being the country’s crop of most importance.  I do not know statistics, but I was told approximately ¾ of Thailand’s farmers grow it, making them a major exporter in the world rice market.  Just like in Canada, there were many locals I asked questions to who had no clue where their food came from, but many could give me sufficient information about agriculture, because their lives are so heavily entwined in it.  Other crops grown in the country that I was exposed to or asked about were: sugar cane, fruits and vegetables, nuts, corn, soybeans, coffee beans, tea leaves, tobacco, cotton and cocoa.  There are more, but I know little about how they are grown.  I observed rice grown all over the country and ate it everyday too. Also, coffee beans, I thoroughly taste tested daily!              

The first thing I realized as I started venturing around Thailand was the lack of livestock in comparison to North America.  Rural backyard production seems to be the most common, which I experienced my first day and every day thereafter – roaming birds and swine crossing the streets, in people's homes and greeting onlookers.  Lots of chicken eggs, quail eggs and poultry meat consumed daily.  Beef seemed to have the most shortage and what I did see was mixed with water buffalo.  Not only did I see very few heads of cattle, but the availability seemed scarce  in restaurants and stores too.  Most beef products are imported from abroad.  Although it does exist and has been steadily increasing I have been told, it is hard for farmers in Thailand because of laws and regulations not being fairly enforced, lack of technology and herd health management, and the Thai producers lack of knowledge and ability to compete with overseas markets.   

There are some large dairy companies in Thailand, but I was unable to visit any of these.  When I asked about dairy production I was informed that Thailand has a lot of raw milk production.  We have such different living standards in North America!  More than half of this goes to school milk programs and the rest to the commercial dairy sector.  I saw very few dairy products in Thailand and many people couldn’t answer questions about it either.  I bought yogurt anywhere I could, but mostly went without cheese and milk the whole time I was there, as they don’t offer it in many places.  I was told most Thai people don’t consume dairy products, which makes sense why I couldn’t find it many places!  Nevertheless, the demand for dairy products definitely exceeds the local supply. 

I had high hopes to see goats, but didn’t see any goats at all and did not ask about goats either.  I had assumed they would rove freely like the chickens, dogs and pigs, but assumed wrong.  I missed my goat friends for a few weeks (and sheep, but I didn’t expect to see any sheep there).  Pigs on the other hand, laid beside me as I ate most my meals and awaited scraps.  Besides the backyard swine crews, the swine industry has been on the rise and pork production and consumption has increased drastically.  A local who lived in a hill tribe village in Northern Thailand where we were doing some work, said that over the past decade several large swine farms have gone into production in the countryside.  I don’t think “large” in Thailand is the same as “large” in North America, but still successful and sustainable swine production businesses.    

As for fishery products, well, there are lots of them and I enjoyed this in my food daily, as well!

At the elephant sanctuary, I was able to learn about how they breed and care for elephants. One day, I helped plant a long grass crop.  This is a staple for the elephants and they grow them on site at the elephant camps.  It was neat (but also frustrating) to see how they plan, plant and organize their crops.  The efficiency is extremely different than here at home.  The lack of technology and equipment, which saves a drastic amount of time when we plant anything here at home, was non-existent there.  Most things were done by hand, (including their fertilizer process) and even then, not always in the most productive, time efficient way, but it worked for them.  Planting long grass was much more enjoyable than doing square bales of hay, that’s for sure!  I didn’t tell them that, but I was relieved when I realized it was much less work than hay…(haha)…because I was not mentally prepared to do hay.  I left hay at home on purpose when I hopped on the plane! 

The markets were one of my favourite parts of the whole adventure.  The handmade items, the fresh fruits, bees to observe, nuts, coffees and eggs.  I wanted to buy everything for two reasons: one being to support them just like I would a farmer’s market at home, and two, because there were so many nice things at low prices, but I couldn’t bring everything home.  Our Canadian dollar is worth a lot more than a Thai baht, so a little bit goes a long way for many of the Thai locals.  I learned very quickly and saw first hand how few “wants” they have.  Many do not even have basic needs and the 7/11 stores became my best friends as I constantly bought fresh water (and yogurt!).  Farming seems to give them most of what they need to survive and anything extra is a bonus.  I saw more injustice, poverty and garbage than I did schools, toilets or clean clothes, but I also saw more appreciation, gratefulness, playing outside and smiles, than I ever see in North America.         
​
Mostly, I realized how universal a smile is.  We all spoke the same language when we smiled, even if they couldn’t answer some of my agricultural questions that always lingered in my mind!  The dogs still begged and wanted to be cuddled, the children still laughed and played with whatever they had available to them, the pigs still awaited scraps just like at home and the roosters still crowed.  Those roosters haunted me the whole trip, but alas, once back in the comforts of my old rickety farm house, I haven’t heard my rooster at all.  I have learned to drown that sound out.