This is one of our long-term project sites. We in DaLaa, were first introduced to this village, Ban Kok Riang, through a recommendation from one of the Hat Yai University clubs called Backpackers. The club is quite active in organizing activities involving environmental conservation, trekking, and initiating activities with the local communities. Some of these activities they did together with the villagers of Baan Kok Riang were planting trees at Pa Dam Watershed Waterfall and also by the roadsides as well as organizing activities with the kids and adults in the village. Whenever they organize projects in the village, DaLaa will be always invited to join. As up until now, it has been going on for almost 9 years and the university club is still keeping in touch with the community in the village and initiated beneficial projects that support the community.
Mr. Suthep Suwankrajang, host and project coordinator, known as Lung Jaeng, has an interest to produce his own organic food. He himself does not have any agricultural background; however, he took the initiatives wanting to turn his land properties covering approximately 1 hector of empty land into a place where everyone can learn and experiment on non-chemical agriculture. The main purpose for this effort is to try to create a learning space functioning sort of as a working model for the surrounding community members, especially for the new generation, to grow healthy organic non-chemically induced rice, vegetables, and fruits. According to Lung Jaeng’s observation, our societies nowadays are so used to the convenient way of living and buying everything from the market without realizing that most of the food products sold in market heavily contained dangerous chemicals and pesticides, which would eventually lead to severe health problems. Unfortunately, the project initiator started his own plans without having much support from anyone else.
It’s been 4 years that Lung Jaeng started all everything by himself such as growing vegetables and fruit trees which are pineapples, coconuts, mangoes, papayas, aubergines, Chinese lettuce, etc. Moreover, he and his few friends living in the same village; Lung Sian and Lung Chiaw also grow rice for their own families during August-October and harvest during January or February. They have been supporting and coordinating with his initiatives. They always come by for a visit and give Lung Jaeng advice on how to grow vegetables.
Since this project site was promoted in August 2012, we started to host international long-term volunteers there, some Thai participants joined the agricultural and construction work activities, and several short-term work camps and a few weekend camps organized. And today, with help of regular organization of camps, support of international long-term volunteers and visits paid by people who go along with the concept of agricultural self-sufficiency, everything seems to get improved little by little. What have done besides the vegetable gardens is basic construction such as building toilets and digging out well for water supply in order to make the place ready for becoming a learning center in the future.
DaLaa sees this a meaningful project for us and volunteers to be involved in, as well as taking the opportunity to learn about this highly sustainable self-reliant living especially the most crucial during the initial time of the project when there are a lot of work to do and things to get improved around. Moreover, it’s very important to give them all the help and support that they need in bringing about awareness, and in the meantime, build-up collaborations and train apprentices within their own and neighboring communities.
By sending volunteers to work with Lung Jaeng, DaLaa hopes that we can support him with manpower, energy and skills from the volunteers, and also help him to promote the idea of non-chemical agriculture among the villagers.
