After making a living as a rice farmer all his life, 46-year-old Wichian Sonchaiying has decided to end his career. He says the financial burden imposed by the government's rice-pledging scheme is too big to bear.
Wichian Sonchaiying, 46, works in his paddy field-turnedbanana plantation in Pathum Thani’s Lat Lum Kaeo district. He has abandoned rice growing after he says the state pledging scheme failed him. Chaiwat Satyaem
The native of Pathum Thani’s Lat Lum Kaeo district said his only option was to turn his five-rai plot of paddy fields into a farm of kluai nam wa, a type of banana.
He hopes he will end up with a better life, though it will mean sacrificing the rice-farming knowledge passed down from his parents.
“Turning my back on my rice farm is the lowest moment of my life,” Mr Wichian said.
He could not guarantee a future for his family if he kept planting rice.
Mr Wichian does not want to end up taking his own life like the other rice farmers who committed suicide between January and February this year.
Their deaths were attributed to delayed payments for their pledged rice under the state's troubled scheme which offers up to 15,000 baht per tonne of paddy sold by farmers.
Selling rice to millers is not a good option because the price will be lowered to between 5,000 and 6,000 baht per tonne.
The rate is too little to make a profit as, on average, farmers have to invest more than 5,000 baht to produce one tonne of rice.
If the rice is sold at less than 6,000 baht a tonne, “why keep growing rice?”, Mr Wichian asked.
Mr Wichian thinks farming kluai nam wa is his best bet to ease his financial troubles.
Bananas are easily grown and do not require much care. The most important thing is banana farming costs less than growing other crops.
Mr Wichian has hired a backhoe operator to dig his paddy field to turn it into a banana plantation.
He is now filling the land with 800 banana shoots. Over the next seven months, the rice farmer will become a banana seller.
Mr Wichian said he also plans to plant papayas on part of the plantation, and in water-filled ditches between rows of his kluai nam wa he will raise 10,000 mango fish.
His dream seems promising. But for now, he has another challenge to overcome: money issues.
Each banana shoot is priced between 10 and 15 baht. The fish cost about 5,000 baht in addition to the backhoe rent worth 20,000 baht.
However, Mr Wichian is optimistic about sales revenue from kluai nam wa. Anything is better than waiting forrice prices to go up.
Farm leaders, who are calling for more help, say Mr Wichian is just one of many farmers forced to give up their livelihoods as the effect of delayed rice payments and falling prices start to bite.