บ้านแฮด Baan Haet

Continuing our journey into the Isan, we continued north to the district of Baan Haet in the province of Khon Kaen and visited the community of นิคมโนนสมบูรณ.


The community was founded in 2507 (1964), when 460 hectares of crown treasury land was set aside for people suffering from leprosy to live together and try to heal themselves. To begin with there were very strict rules, no-one was allowed to marry or have children. Human nature being what it is however, people did have children and the population has swelled to 3,111. As leprosy has now been eradicated only 1 in 4 of the people in นิคมโนนสมบูรณ have ever suffered from the disease. the hospitals and 'group houses' have been emptied and the villages appear much like any other in the area.

ผุใหญ่สุภาพเลพล, the village head, explains the situation to the CASE team

By regaining their heath, however, the people now face the possibility that the crown treasury department may take back their land. It was this concern that brought the community to CODI to join the Baan Man Kong Chonabot project and to begin negotiating for a long term lease of the land.

พ่อหอมดี (Papa Good Smell), the person who originally contacted CODI, shows us his land. He is able to grow enough rice to feed his family all year round and has space left over to grow vegetables and raise fish and cattle.

วังนำ้เขียว Wang Naam Khio

Moving up to the mountains of Wang Naam Khio, in Nakhon Ratchasima province, we reached the cool air and green hills of นิคมเศรษฐกิจพอเพียง (settlement for self sufficient economy) .


Like นิคมปลูกหน่อไม้ฝรั่งอินทรีย์ in Wang Sombun, นิคมเศรษฐกิจพอเพียง is a 'start up' community which began from a survey by the municipal government to identify impoverished families without land for livelyhood. The municipality contacted สปก (so-pa-kaw), an organisation which supports agricultural development, to set up a project for the people. In 2545 (2002) สปก purchased land for the project (around 4000 sqm per family) and began to train the members. The project was set up to grow gradually, with members joining in groups of 50 each year (so far 3 generations have joined). In 2548 (2005) a delegation from the new community approached CODI and was invited to join the Baan Man Kong Chonabot project.

พี่อำไพ, from the first generation to join the community and head of the commitee which approached CODI, explained to us the history of the settlement and the many works which the community is currently undertaking.

The community have set up 3 livelyhood study groups, one experimenting with growing vegetables, one focusing on raising animals, and one attempting to develop tourism. Particularly interesting is the tourism group's plan to tap into the growing trend of health tourism: 'Come to Wang Naam Khio, ride bicycles in the cool mountain air and eat fresh vegetables, its good for you!'.

The vegetable group has been trialing various crops as well as systems of irrigation and composting.

พี่อัคคี (centre page), from the second generation and head of the tourism study group runs a group of guest houses for those looking for healthier holidays.

The tourism group also runs a kind of open air conference centre. CODI held a conference here for the members of Baan Man Kong Chonabot to exchange ideas and experiences.

The community have also started various other support projects, including a community shop, a micro finance group and a small workshop producing bricks for use in building houses. The brick making technology was developed by Kasetsart University.

The brick making workshop

Some problems have occured with the 'generation' system of adding members in groups each year, members from different generations have tended to stick together and not trust one another. There have been complaints from later generations of nepotism and a lack of transparency from the initial generation.

There is conflict within the community between different generations of settlers.

The community are now looking to move on from livelyhood projects and begin building houses and moving in permanently.

Some families have already established themselves permanently on the land.

วังสมบูรณณ์ Wang Sombun

In Thailand’s Northeastern 'Isan' region, close to the Cambodian border, the municipality of Wang Sombun, in the province of Sa Kaeo, has gathered together some of the poorest families of the district to join in a start-up agricultural scheme, growing organic asparagus.

Lung Gongkaa shows us around the asparagus fields

The project was the idea of the local อบต (office of the municipal government) who conducted surveys to identify those in the district most in need of assistance. The land was given by CODI as part of Baan Mankong Chonabot. The water, roads and electricity was provided by the อบต who also connected the new community with SWIFT. Co, a Thai agricultural company specializing in growing organic fruit and vegetables.

Sprinklers were provided by the อบต

Asparagus, mai farang in Thai, translates as 'caucasian bamboo'.

SWIFT. Co provided the people with seeds and training on organic methods of farming. The people have signed a 5 year contract with SWIFT guaranteeing SWIFT will buy all their produce at a fixed (and by the people’s accounts quite good) price. In exchange the people have to live with plenty of rules imposed by the company, for example, no smoking and no living on site. These rules are intended to maintain the strict organic status of the produce.

SWIFT Co. shows its contribution to the project

The CASE team speaking with Lung Gongkaa

Lung Gongkaa's simple, but sophisticated resthouse

Speaking with the อบต

Many are happy with the money they are now getting, even in the dry season (which is severe in the Isan Region) they can usually make around 500 Baht a day (around 20AU$) which is a lot more than they can get outside.

One of the farmers tells us of her new, more profitable, livelihood

The intention was to give a chance to the poorest . But for most it is not a fresh start. They carry debts from former working arrangments. Debt cycles are a common problem of the rural poor In Thailand (as in other semi feudal rural contexts). The farmer rents land on which to work, he borrows money from their landlords or potential buyers (the only locals with money to lend) in order to purchase new seed, fertilizer and pesticide, which are all necessary to produce enough to make ends meet and service the debts. The landlords and buyers often exploit this relationship with high interests or reduced payment for produce.

Even the most makeshift constructions are equipped with a Thai flag and (in this case home-made) spirit house

Some of the people do not fully trust the new system and continue to work outside as day labourers, disrupting their chances of making a fresh start and forming strong links with their fellow participants. There is a feeling amongst many in Wang Sombun that this artificial grouping of people is not yet a ‘community’, they have, after all, only been living together for the past 3 years. There are practices in place however, such as the common germination of seedlings, which are intended to build stronger relationships amongst the people.

A man packs asparagus.

The people make the most of any opportunity to socialise

In two years time the contract with SWIFT Co. runs out. There is some discussion about what else they could do with their land but most likely they will renew the contract for another 3 years.

A couple of kids go off fishing at the nearby dam