Although most of us would prefer to remain blissfully ignorant, over the past few years, anyone who has any contact with the media has been forced to face the reality that there is something not quite right with our world when it comes to its health.
Collapsing ice shelves in Antarctica, unprecedented heatwaves in many parts of the world accompanied by record low temperatures in others, catastrophic wildfires in California, 3 or more closely- repeated “1 in 100 years” flooding events in Australia and the list goes on.
Only those who determinedly refuse to see still think that man is not impacting our world in a way that is far from beneficial, and indeed has the potential to render the Earth unwelcoming, if not uninhabitable, for future generations.
World leaders hold global talkfests, yet a consensus about how to deal with the problem, for that is definitely what is it, is a long way away when some are still struggling with its acknowledgement.
All around the world in National Parks and conservation areas you will find signs saying something like, “Take only photos and leave only footprints”. I believe our first responsibility as human beings has to be becoming aware of our individual “footprint” – that mark that we personally make on the surface of the planet.
As individuals, we can’t change the big picture – the health diagnosis for our planet – by ourselves, but if we all act together in concert, we are, I firmly believe, still able to change the direction of its eventual outcome.
Some like Elon Musk have developed and are pursuing grandiose plans to colonise Mars so that humanity has a bolt hole when we have degraded our planet so badly that we have to leave. But I am still optimistic that right here, right now, we can learn lessons that will make this unnecessary.
While I am not naïve enough to think we will ever completely reach a point where we do leave nothing but “footprints”, my recent visit to Pranporpiang Organic Lifestyle & Farm just outside the centre of Hua Hin, Thailand left me in no doubt that each of us is truly capable of being an agent of change, should we just open our eyes and our hearts. It is a place where they have truly embraced the concept of acting locally while thinking globally. And the best part about it is they aim to spread their knowledge, expertise and passion, just like seeds in the wind.
My guided tour around the farm, conducted by Khun Ong, Chief Marketing Officer for Pranporpiang Organic Lifestyle & Farm, was both memorable and informative. Memorable because while admiring the amazingly long stalks of dill growing in the jungle orchard area, I stood on an ant’s nest and ended up with ants in my pants, literally! Trying to remove them in a polite and ladylike way in mixed company was a novel experience to say the least.
Informative because of Khun Ong’s depth of knowledge about all aspects of sustainable agriculture, organic, permaculture and Smart farming, Eco-Agro tourism and animal husbandry and the engaging way he speaks about his passion. Ong explained the philosophy of the whole endeavour which is soundly based on the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy (SEP) of King Rama IX, the monarch universally acknowledged for his determination to improve the lives of his people through empowering them to embrace scientific principles. Ong outlined how the management team of five at Pranporpiang is currently working hard to achieve the last step of 9 contained in the SEP, where their hard work so far culminates in a business status which allows for sufficiency for the whole community of Nong Pran Puk, totalling around 500 households.
Indeed, the name Pranporpiang means “hunt for sufficiency”, one of the major goals of the enterprise. Khun Ong only this month attended the Genius Agro 360 conference in Chiang Rai to further develop and enhance his entrepreneurial skillset.
Although the farm is on a relatively compact strip of land at just 14,400 sq.meters, what is happening there is a much bigger picture indeed. I was fascinated to hear that the ultimate goal of the project, which has been running for 6 years and has already made significant changes in the lifestyle and sufficiency of the local community, is to build an international school for children from the first year of school to Year 6 level.
Khun Ong firmly believes that if children are taught and embrace sound environmental principals and practice in these formative years, they will develop a social consciousness that will see them finding their own particular path towards doing good for our planet.
Khun Ong’s own path to his present saw him raised in a middle-class family in NE Thailand with the good fortune to have the opportunity to study for periods of time in both Australia and the US. I was not surprised to learn that Ong’s mother had been a teacher which likely accounts for his strong desire to pass his understandings to others. And he learnt from his father that “nothing is easy”. Khun Ong’s father overcame being sent to an orphanage at the age of 7 due to his father’s untimely death on duty in the police force and his mother’s subsequent inability to cope. Through sheer hard work and determination, Khun Ong’s father graduated an engineer despite the hardships of his early life. Like his father before him, Khun Ong refuses to acknowledge “can’t”.
Apple founder, Steve Jobs, talked about his role in the company as “connecting the dots”, an image which Khun Ong says resonates with him when he ponders his role at Pranporpiang. He would like to move the spotlight from himself onto the community which is together making this impressive journey toward a fulfilling and sustainable future. But I believe it may be the glue of Khun Ong’s personal charisma which is allowing his message to be heard, appreciated and implemented by so many. And this is just the story of one of the 5 key individuals who work in co-ordination to guide the success of the venture, to the benefit of the whole community.
For interested people from all over the world, Pranporpiang provides the opportunity to volunteer, live, work and learn on the farm and take that knowledge back to their own home countries and lives. For local families, both Thai and foreign, it is a wonderful place to visit, to see the farm in its daily operation. Sure, there are the standard farm animals to be seen, and some cute baby animals at the moment, but visitors can also learn about how to incorporate sound environmental practice into their daily lives such as becoming a worm farmer or a keeper of a stingless native bee hive, all for just a small investment of time and money.
As an added bonus, Sparrow’s Café is the marketing hub for the whole community. You can buy fresh eggs, with yolks a shade of bright yellow rarely seen, homemade treats such as cookies, fresh coffee in many styles including Vietnamese drip coffee, fresh produce and homemade products such as soaps. Or you can decide to enjoy the farm to fork experience with a full meal from an extensive menu, with both Thai and Western options. We certainly did, though I am still pondering the subtle message behind Khun’s Ong feeding us freshly harvested guava as dessert.
