Quote Originally Posted by jamescollister
What took 100s of years in Europe will be done in 20 here, that car is worth 10 rai of good rice land. When the car and the land are gone, the land will be owned by the big players and the family will have to get jobs. No more hammocks, no more lazy life, 50, 60 hour working weeks, living in a concrete box near a factory in some city.
Reading this paragraph almost makes you cry. Gone in 1 generation and nothing and nobody can or will stop it. My BIL had to sell off his 13 water buffalo this year due to lack of feeding areas and their normal free range ways of traveling to the richest area for fodder. His entire family cried when they sold them off. He simply couldn't afford to keep paying other farmers for the grazing of his buffalo on their fields.

He's now invested in land and rubber trees. He thinks that the rubber will supplement income from his rice and other vegetable crops in bad years. He is one year on now and has lost 100 trees so far due to drought. Hard working guy and will not let his family down.

We're moving up there next month, October and will begin our build. We bought 4 rai from a farmer who had his land in the bank for loans. He paid off the bank and had some left after and planted Lum Yai on about 6 rai on a different parcel of his as well has build a new house and one for his son on what he got for his land from me. Nicest guy and works his ass off night and day.

We were allowed to purchase his land as my wife and her family are part of that community. If you are an outsider you cannot buy the land from locals unless they all collectively approve of the buyer and his intended use.

As bank notes come due as you stated, more and more of these farmers will no doubt go tits up and be forced labor in some factory in Thailand. A real shame. A national catastrophe in my thinking. The next generation also don't want the farmer way of life and are deserting the fields for taxi jobs in Bangkok or other big cities.