Phattalung Rice Harvesting Season

February 13, 2011 - It's that time! This is my family (Yodraj) harvesting rice.

This year was very difficult for everybody in Phattalung due to a large monsoon that struck the village three months ago. Many crops were destroyed and as a result rice has become scarce. Usually they would sell the rice until it ends up somewhere overseas, but this year they will have to keep majority of it in stock so they can feed themselves until next year.

Seeing this made me feel really guilty about not finishing my plate of rice and I will make a bigger effort to not waste a single grain!

In addition to rice, my family also culvitates/harvests rubber trees, various fruit trees (papaya, coconut, rambutan, durian, etc), and cassava roots (tapioca!). This means the boba in your milk tea could have came straight from here!

I notice the farming culture has been dying down a lot with the younger generation. My grandparents had 8 children and none of their offspring have had any more than 2 children. This generation (which includes me) are more pushed to gain a proper western education and our ancestral farming techniques are not being passed down. Instead, cheaper labor is hired from outside while the (educated) children act as the managers or find work in the city.

I'm not sure what is to happen in the future but I feel blessed to be able to see my family with the ability to still plant seeds. Phattalung is the most self-sustainable place I have ever visited in Thailand and I hope it continues to stay this way for a while!

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Travel & Events

Tags:

• Phattalung
• Rice