Rubber Farming in Khao Na Nai

Did you ever wonder where rubber comes from? I know I never did.

But, for some people, actually almost all people in Khoa Na Nai, rubber is the life-blood of the community that provides families with a better quality of life in an area where few other opportunities are available. In Khao Na Nai if you ask someone what their profession is they might laugh at you, because unless they are standing in front of the local barber shop, selling food at the morning markets or repairing motorcycles, they are a rubber farmer. In Khao Na Nai you cannot go anywhere without seeing rows of rubber trees lining the roads. Every single home is accompanied by a plantation. It is after all the most lucrative way to use your land. Coffee is a close second. However that is not to say that rubber is enough to provide for a family by itself. Therefore, all those fortunate enough to own a large plot of land in Khao Na Nai utilize every square foot to its full potential.

A perfect example is Pee Kai, a resident of Khao Na Nai for over 30 years, (and also my host) controls around 3 acres of land. One acre is reserved for rubber trees (or yang pa ra, a word you can't help but learn while living here) and since they give off such an acrid, sewage-like smell they are located far away from the new house. Despite the distance there is always a hint of that pungent odor hanging on the breeze. But, that is not all he uses his land for. He also grows bananas, durians, jack fruits and mak (a gross, chewable nut-like thing that many people apparently manage to enjoy). There are two cat fish ponds in the back that are restocked and fished every six weeks or so. In the pond a lily pad-like water plant grows to ensure that the stagnant water is replenished with oxygen and gourds grow over head to offer shade to the pond. In the large open space beside the house coffee is dried and when coffee is out of season mak, which falls out of the mak palms lining the house, is dried. The backyard consists of an outdoor kitchen, six large concrete reservoirs that collect rain water and a personal land fill (there is no garbage pickup after all). The water in the reservoirs can be pumped into the house for showering, flushing the toilet and doing laundry. The shower, by the way, consists of a large plastic barrel and a scoop in a fully tiled room with a drain in the corner. There is no hot water, but who cares, it's 35 degrees outside, who needs a hot shower. The toilet is also ingenious in its simplicity; a toilet bowl and a scoop to flush. This all goes to show that in places where you can't afford to waste space, you don't. Also, having a pig that hangs around the house is a great way to get rid of any left overs (thanks Dam).My point is you can be successful by employing every inch of land you have. This is an excellent lesson for us in North America where the aesthetic of wealth has long been derived from the ability to leave space unemployed. The 'lawn' for example exemplifies a space that's utility is sacrificed in favor of uniform, green uselessness. Not only this, but it creates more work to retain this aesthetic than it would putting it to better use. I suppose redundancy is more chic than backyard industry.

Toto, now in grade 9, has his first summer job farming rubber

Those who are not fortunate enough to have land, on the other hand, lead very difficult lives and have very few career options. They can work at a shop, sell food from the side of a motorcycle mounted stall (which are an amazing sight) or help farm and process rubber. These people cannot afford to build a home and must instead live inside of a raised thatch hut that offers very little protection from mosquitoes and the mid-day heat. Most other homes have tile floor, which provide some comfort from the sweltering sun.

Pee Mun shows me how its done

Back to rubber. It comes out of a tree that you must cut everyday to ensure a constant flow. The cutting is done in the mostly in the early morning when temperatures are cooler. The cut is made on a slant that leads down to a small drip that guides the liquid rubber into a small cup for collection. Once in the cup it begins to harden. The result is hundred of rubber balls about the size of a large grapefruit. These can either be sold to a processing plant or cleaned, combined and flatten into large mats at home. One load of around 400kg of rubber (around one months worth from a small plantation) will win you $1000US depending on the going rate.

The sun rises as the work is almost finished

The implications of rubber farming on the community are mostly beneficial, but it does have its drawbacks. Given that it is so lucrative a profession many children in the community do not look past it to seek other forms of employment nor do they see any better opportunities available to them outside of their immediate surroundings. The result is that many young boys do not take their education seriously. As was pointed out to me by a local teacher, they see their parents making a comfortable life by farming rubber so they just want to do that. Many boys in Khao Na Nai will drop out of school after grade 9 and never persue further education. Unfortunately, up until this year, the local school did not offer classes beyond grade 9, which meant that students would have to commute to another town to study. The local school has just opened a grade 10 program and will open grades 11 and 12 in the following years to help encourage education. Although it may not seem like a problem as long as children have a life-long career waiting for them, there are very high rates of illiteracy in the community as well as a need for more skilled workers for the community to advance. Fortunately, many of the girls from Khao Na Nai express desires to travel to Surat Thai for college and to fill important roles as teachers and doctors. Although the core of the community and culture will be preserved by the rubber farming boys, the future development may now be in the hands of the girls.

 

Don't forget, it's not going to cut itself, so lend a hand (it's not easy by the way)

In order to shoot these photos, I woke up with Pee Mun and Toto at 6am and went with them to their nearby rubber plantation where I was immediately put to work. I split my time perfecting my rubber tree cutting skills and capturing some of these amazing images. We finished work at around 7:30am and thankfully headed back to the house for coffee.