Nakhorn SriThammarat

Nakhorn SriThammarat is the second largest province in southern Thailand and the location of my last set of field visits. As I had never been to south Thailand before (I know, shameful), I was pretty excited.

I had grand plans for Nakhorn SriThammarat. Really grand plans.

Unfortunately, it is the rainy season. From the time I climbed off the plane to the moment I climbed back on it six days later, it rained. Well, except for the hours of 6 am until about 8:30 am. Sometimes it was hard rain; sometimes it was soft rain; sometimes it was sideways rain.

Anyways, the weather made it pretty darn difficult to take nice pictures. Also, I had planned on spending a few days after my research was over traveling in the area, but the rains put a stop to that.

The area is beautiful. The mountains are a short distance from the beaches. Everything is green. You'll just have to take my word on it. Every time I got in a decent place to take a picture, the rain ruined it. I intend to go back someday and take all the beautiful pictures I meant to last week.

Here are a few pictures I did take:

The provincial capital was on the overland trade route which connected the Gulf of Thailand and the Indian ocean. As such, it was supposedly the place where Buddhism entered Thailand. Wat Phra Mahathat Woramahawihan, one of the most sacred temples in Thailand commemorates this fact. It supposedly houses a relic (bone piece) of Buddha.

The night I went was the Wisaka Buja Day (spelling?), or the day commemorating the birth, death, and enlightenment of Buddha. Thus crowds had turned out at the temple, despite the rain.

They would light a candle and walk around the temple 3 times while reciting Buddhist prayers. It is called Wian Thian.

People were also lighting candles to commemorate the Prince and Princess of this area who brought Buddhism here from India (notice the model ship behind them). I don't know if that story is true; it is just what some bystander told me. I wasn't going to take time to stand in the rain in the dark and read the plaque in Thai.

 As usual, my field visit included some farmer meetings. In this one the farmers were discussing finances for their water user organization.

Here I am visiting a water storage tank with the president of the local water user organization.

One of the main crops in the area is palm, used for palm oil. You can see the fruit of a palm tree here. The fruit can be harvested about every 15 days from the trees. It can then be processed into palm oil or bio-fuel. It is a high-value crop for farmers in the area. 10 rai (about 4 acres) can yield over $450/month, which is a lot for a Thai farmer.

It's all well and good until you consider the amount of chemical fertilizer and pesticide involved, much of which drains into the water supply. Not to mention the decimation of forests and rice paddy fields to plant palm plantations. I'm very pro-farmer, but the practices involved in palm farming cause me great concern. The province boasts numerous landslides in areas where forests have been cut to make way for palm and rubber plantations. Also some villages I visited cannot use their water supplies anymore due to chemical runoff. But that's another story.

 During one of the brief sunny mornings, I became acquainted with the sport of bull fighting. Unlike the Spanish version, no people are involved. Two bulls are put in a ring where they fight until one flees, signaling its loss. This bull was out for his morning exercises. Apparently he has won 3 fights recently, which has increased his value greatly. You could buy this bull for about $20,000. Yep. Same price as a car.

Bull trainers keep one or two bulls at a time. Once they have won a few matches, they sell the bull.
I wasn't able to watch a match (thanks, rain). Someday.

I enjoyed my time in Nakhorn SriThammarat, and I look forward to visiting again someday. During a dryer season.