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Saman Mit is a farming community consisting of 148 families located 30 minutes outside of Chiang Rai, Thailand. They migrated from the Isaan province 33 years ago when their farmlands were flooded as a result of a government hydro-electric project that dammed the Isaan rivers. Many were left without homes or land to sustain their livelihood. The land they found in Chiang Rai was fertile and well suited for their way of life, but it was too small to support the community.

Acknowledging their plight, the government has recently granted them six square hectares of land to cultivate and develop through their traditional cooperative system of farming. They plan to increase their fish stocks in the ponds, grow trees to sell, cultivate and sell rice, potatoes, and other vegetables as they pursue a goal of becoming a wholly self-sufficient community.

However, to achieve their goal, the community needs to prove to the government that they are using the land wisely, developing it productively, and protecting it from any problems that may arise, such as wildfires or theft.

Through long debate and discussion, the village council has decided that the most effective way to watch over the land’s crop development, while detecting possible problems of theft from outside private farmers, is to build an observation tower. The observation post will be located high atop a hill that provides an ideal purview of all the lands within the 6 hectares of the co-op. The tower will be thirty feet high, built by community members and HELP International development volunteers. The community has come to HELP International looking for a partner to help with construction, fundraising, and business consulting workshops that aim to boost productivity, sales, and land efficiency. 

 

The Saman Mit community approached HELP International about the project, of their own volition. The project is feasible because the community has a plan for building the observation tower and all of the materials can be found in a local store. With our financial and physical aid, and their expertise and plan, we will work together to accomplish the project within a two month window.

 

We will conduct this project under the assumption that: theories of change need to be culturally relative to the context and needs of the community we are trying to foster growth within.

Pim Opetagon, a HELP International country director, found the community, learned of their plight, and contacted them. The very first time she visited the community, they showed her the plans for an observation tower, asking for financial and physical help. They had the plan in place and were waiting only for the funds and help to build it. HELP seemed like the perfect fit as they offered to augment the observation tower with business training for interested community memebers to help manage the surplus provided through the co-op. The HELP team traveled to the community and met the council. They hiked to the proposed site for the observation tower. As they discussed the project, they were impressed with the focus on community and farming to help all. The team has prepared, planned, and will now raise the money needed through Tipping Bucket to complete a succesful, community-driven project.

As HELP International volunteers assist the Saman Mit community in building an observation tower, an important partnership between the two will continue to develop. HELP volunteers will continue to offer financial and business trainings, which will help with the management of the added crop and product surplus. Through this contribution of money and manpower, the Saman Mit community will not only be obtaining an observation tower, but they will also be getting the means by which their traditional way of life—which is sustainable and self reliant—can once again be pursued.

Farmers in Thailand struggle greatly to make profits from their harvests for many reasons such as drought and low market prices for their products. As a result, they must sell off their land to pay their debts. This is a repeating cycle of poverty because they lose their land capital. Building an observation tower in the Saman Mit community will help quell this cycle because the government land that was granted to the community cannot be sold by any individual since it is community cooperative property. The observation tower will provide a way for the community to farm efficiently and productively, allowing them to maintain their land in the years to come.

 

One challenge we anticipate is the language barrier, which can be overcome through our country directors who speak Thai. Another challenge is that the community lies 30 minutes outside of the city, so it will take much time and money to travel there. Money donated to this project will help solve this issue. 

The sustainability of this project is, for the most part, up to the community. Once the watchtower is built, the upkeep and use of it will be left to them. In one year, HELP International’s 2011 Thailand team will return to the community to observe the condition of the watchtower, as well as the development of the 6 hectares of land. They will measure it's success by observing whether or not it helped develop the cooperative land. Though we are aware that this is a qualitative benchmark that is not easy to quantify, we, and the community, feel that the tower's maintanance and use in the coming year will be a determining factor in the land's development. HELP International will not only be able to see the promising results of community land development over the course of the year, but also they will have built a strengthened bond of trust with the community which will allow for future community project development.

 

 

Wirat Promson, a community group leader in the Saman Mit community, is in charge of organizing the observation tower’s construction. He has helped raise awareness to the plight of farmers in his and surrounding communities as they fight against private landowners who continue to unilaterally usurp land from small communities like his.

Pim is currently studying in the Master of Public Administration Program at Brigham Young University. Her emphasis is Nonprofit Management and International Development. Pim received her undergraduate degree in International Relations from Brigham Young University Hawaii. Pim is a native of Bangkok, and has visited Chiang Rai multiple times for work and travel.

Rosemary is a senior at the University of Utah studying English and Journalism. This is her first time in Thailand and working with HELP International.

HELP International's Thailand team currently has 15 volunteers. Some are university students working toward degrees in various areas such as business, premed, psychology, the humanities, and dance. Others have graduated and are working toward higher degrees and full time jobs. All are excited to be living in Thailand as they help the people of Chiang Rai and learn about a new culture and people.