在泰北遇見樸門--Meet Permaculture in North Thailand

在泰北遇見樸門 

Meet Permaculture in North Thailand

 2014年的年底去了一趟泰北，為了多看一些樸門的範例，泰國氣侯與作物與台灣較類似(相較於澳州)，期待可以看見更合於台灣使用的方法，在這裡見識到更多是簡樸與自給自足的生活及志工安排學習。

In the end of 2014, I’ve travelled in North Thailand for 2 months to see more permaculture examples there since the weather and crops is much more similar with Taiwan. I’ve learned much more in self-reliance and some good examples of how they manage volunteers.

雨水回收  rainwater collection

內觀中心，不適合住宿的一樓放了很多甕來存放雨水 hundreds of urns for saving rain water in vipasana center

泰皇在泰國有推行自給自足及農業，所以泰國的農業算是非常地發達，在旅程中曾遇見從紐澳(樸門的發源地)來的背包客，他們也說對於泰國這麼多的有機農耕印象很深刻；泰國乾溼季非常分明，對於水的收集與運用也是很注意，一般的水庫也採很多分散式的小水庫，避免集中的大水霸，在很多農田裡，也可見很多小小的生態池，農田除了灌溉外，也很重視保溼，即使只是三個月的短期菜圃，他們還是會以稻草做覆蓋，聽一位住在曼谷的泰國當地人提起，即使是住在市區，他們也有收集雨水的習慣，幾乎家裡都有水塔集雨水與使用雨水。對傳統農耕而言，面對大面積收割完的農田，最快的方式是用火燒，且他們相信這麼灰儘有助農耕，縱使在鄉間看見很多禁止燒田的標示，還是見收割完的稻田一大片一大片地被燒著。

The Thailand king Bhumibol Adulyadej emphasizes self-sufficiency and agriculture a lot in his kingdom. I guess that one of the reasons very developed agriculture in Thailand. Even some backpackers from Australia or New Zealand I met on the way told me how they impressed about so much organic farming in Thailand. Half year nonstopping raining and half year very dry season without raining, that force the Thai people have to use and collect water more efficiently. For examples, there are many household ponds instead of a big dam in big area. Even people collect rainwater in the city I heard from one Thai lives in Bangkok. There’s also very common to have pond in the farm, it’s very common to mulch the garden with straw even for short-term vegetables to keep moisture. But it’s also very tradition to burn the harvested rice farm since it’s the fast way to prepare the land and they believe those ashes is very good fertilizer for crops even though there’re a lot of ban board in the streets.

在泰北的鄉下地區，街上常可看見很多母雞帶著小雞四處走動，早上常可以看見鴨子群們出來覓食，很訝異地是也可以看見很多貓跟狗，也不見狗追雞或追貓，好像動物之間都相處的很好，農家除了善用這些雞與鴨(也能捉蝸牛，可能如此所以即使是較朝溼的山區也沒有蝸牛吃菜苗的問題)幫忙除草與下肥來輔助農耕及食物的來源，也會適當地運用水牛來輔助犛田，山區也養馬早期用來協助運輸(有少數地區有大象，好像以前用來運輸，現在都用在觀光事業上)，農村裡的居民幾乎都備有很多自給自足的基本常識，他們都能輕易地升火煮食、編竹器、蓋小屋，村莊裡互相換工是很常見的，會一起進行很多農事甚至是蓋屋子，屋子的材料也多是就地取材，當然以竹子為最多，他們山區也常大量種柚木，所以也會用柚木，尤其是以柚木葉做屋頂。

In the countryside of North Thailand, it’s very common to see hens walking around with her babies, ducks looking for their food in the morning. There’re also a few dogs and cats in the street.. What amazing is, they are all harmony with each other. I never seen dogs chasing birds or cats, and either cats catch those chicken and ducks. Those farmers not only raise those poultry for food but also for weeding or fertilizing in the garden. They also have buffalos to help them plowing. It’s so nature for those villagers to get self-sufficiency. They know how to maximum use anything surrounding them. They know how to get fire, weaving, hut construction…. It’s also very common for them to work collectively in construction or farming by labor exchange. Surly the material for construction is from local like bamboo. There are also some teaks trees they grew. Not so many teak woods available for poles but a lot of teak leaves available for roof.

teak leaves hut  柚木葉小屋

市場上大量使用香蕉葉來墊菜 Banana leaves to place vegetables in the market

這也是因尚未進入工業化，人類的手工智慧才可以發揮到極至吧(台灣早期也經歷過)，但也因此對塑膠垃圾就沒有意識了，會像處理一般可分解垃圾如果皮之類的東西一般，到處亂丟，目前市場上還有用很多香蕉葉做墊底或其他的沙拉葉來包食物，但塑膠袋也是越來越多，可想見兩年後的樣子。

All those craft show the talents of human-being (it also happened to Taiwan 30 years ago) since it’s just beginning to go industry era. That’s also why people have no sense of how plastic trash pollution I guess. They throw away any plastic trash everywhere like those fruit peels, those composing trash. Now we still could see people use leaves for packing. But more and more plastic bags as well. We could imagine what it’s going to be after 2 years.

這次到泰北大多以志工的方式到幾個農場「學習」，是的是「學習」而不是「幫忙」，一方面真得停留的時間不多，能真得幫忙的也是很有限，另一方面這裡的志工性質與我過去所認知的也有些不同。
Mostly I "learned" in the farm as a volunteer  while traveling in  North Thailand. I prefer to use the word "learn" than "help" because I don't think I can help them a lot in such a short term and also the meaning of  "volunteer" here is a little bit different from what I know before.

很多人可能覺得這裡的志工工作比較有趣，志工常常可以進行一些他們有興趣的工作及實驗。其實很多較重覆或有時間壓力的工作場主有可能會另外顧用當地人更有效率地完成工作，且一般像我們這種短期志工都得付一些食宿費用給場主，所以場主們比較沒有壓力。不過這樣志工的心態也常會以學習為優先，有些人對農場的幫忙熱忱度就少很多了，比較失去所謂 “志工”的意義，倒比較像是學生或實習生。

Many people feel volunteer tasks in North Thailand are much more interesting, it seems volunteers could start any programs they like or do a lot of experiments to learn something they are interested in. But  the hosts might hire local people to finish those boring or urgent tasks instead and volunteers have to pay some money for stay normally. In the other hand, more people volunteer here with the mind of learning than helping. 

這次參觀了幾個農場、村莊、樸門教育中心，主要是潘亞計劃(Panya Project), 盼盼(PunPun)有機農場, 沙海南農場(Sahai Nan),  快樂療癒之家農場HHH(Happy Healing Home)，也有到清萊的美思樂及象山(Doi Chang)村莊走走，在能源的自給自足通常比較困難且成本太高，所以通常還是依賴外面的系統來供給，只有小部份的場主有做微發電系統電量僅供很必需時使用。

I’ve visited several permaculture educational centers, farms and villages this time. Mainly Panya Project, Punpun organic farm, SaHaiNan  ,Happy Healing Home, and also went to ChiangRai Golden Triangle Region to visit Mae Salong and Doi Chang Village. For electricity, it takes too much money and effort to make it ourselves and mostly depend on outside resource instead. But several of them use very simple way to get very limit electricity supply for necessary







在此回憶與分享如下，去過的朋友們也歡迎幫忙補充與糾正，希望可以激發出更多的示範：
Now I try to recall and  share those visiting as following links, welcome all adding and correction. Try to inspire more ideas and more good deeds with all those sharing,

Panya Project   潘亞計劃   
致力於全世界樸門種籽的培養，旺季每天都有20位以上的志工，很嬉皮風
It's a permaculuture educational center with more than 20 volunteers from all over the world everyday in hot season, and very hippie style here 
More 更多按這裡


PunPun 盼盼有機農場   
自然建築的學習及種子保存計劃很有名，給合了幾個人一起進行此社區計劃，希望示範一個不用太多金錢及技術就能達到自足自給簡單生活的社區，也提供了很多很多相關課程
It's very famous for nature building learning and seeds saving. Several people started this community together to reach the demostration for self-reliance and simple living with very limited money and low technique. They offer a lof of educational events in the fields as well.More 更多按這裡

SaHai Nan permaculture farm沙海南樸門農場
新開始的農場，對於剛開始要試著過簡單及自給自足的生活的人來說是一個很好學習及鍛鍊的地方，用最簡單的方式來開啟自己自給自足的生活。
It's a new farm, it's very good place for people just start to try simple living and self-reliance.You could learn a lot of practical and simple way to start it. More 更多按這裡

Happy Healing Home organic Farm 快樂療癒之家有機農場    
一個能以蘭納文化的方式學習到其自給自足的簡單生活方式。場主Jim主要提供此場域，讓志工們在此以更簡單及自給自足的方式生活及學習，共同分享及修行。場主多才多藝，無論是野外求生、自給自足、佛學、太極、音樂、蘭納文化、廚藝....都具足這些知識且非常樂於分享。
To learn simpling living and self-reliance by Lanna way.The host Jim offered this place for volunteers to learn, share and live by simple living.
He is very versatile with a lot of knowledge in surviving, self-reliance, buddhist philosphy, thai-chi, music, Lanna culture, cooking.... and loves to share as well. More 更多按這裡

Mae Salong美思樂  
位於清萊金三角地帶，一曾為國民政府軍隊在泰國的難民村，很多阿卡族及國民黨孤軍後代，在這裡雖然無法見識山林耕作的典範，但這裡的人民因曾歷經苦難，對自給自足的很多生活技能及人與人之間的互助是很值得學習
In ChiangRai Golden Triangle region, used to be a refugees village and a lot of "Koumingtong lost army" descendants & Akha tribe people here. Even though it couldn't be a good hill farming demo, but we could learn a lot of surviving skills and how people working together here. More 更多按這裡

Doi Chang Village 象山村
位於清萊金三角地帶，曾為一片鴉片田，人民以賣鴉片維生，1983年泰皇給予40顆咖啡種子之後，他們開始改種咖啡，咖啡樹得種在森林裡(尤其是夏威夷果樹下)，所以也恢復山林，除了咖啡外，亦有果樹可採收，村民可維生且生產咖啡後的廢棄物可作農耕，這些阿卡族的生活水準及文化自尊也都有所提升，甚至他們可以有自己的教育與社會系統
In ChiangRai Golden Triangle region, used to be opium cultivation and slash-and-burn horticulture here. Started from 40 Arabica coffee seeds in 1983, they work so hard to grow trees especially Macadamias trees. They cultivate the coffee under the canopy of shade tree. Now with a diversity and healthy forest, people also harvest a lot of  good quality coffee cherries. The waste of coffee could be used for vegetable garden. Now those coffee industry raises 8,000 people within eight hundred families. And it helped those Akha people raise the standard of living and self-respect. They even can establish their own education and society system.More 更多按這裡

其實不光只是在農場裡頭，在泰北的街上或住家常常就可以看見合於樸門設計原則的好例子。

Not only meet permaculutre in the farms but also could find a lot of examples fit permaculture principles in the street or anywhere in North Thailand.

這裡很多傳統的建築物就是採干欄式建築(高腳屋)，這是他們的祖先透過觀察與互助所累積及傳承下來的結果，泰國屬溼熱的國家，且雨季常下暴雨，這樣的高腳屋，可以避免地氣與潮溼及增加通氣，也避免雨季時的積水的困擾；尖屋頂亦有利於排熱氣，有時門牆上也會做給鳥休息的腳踏，

A lot of traditional Dry column construction, that from all their ancestors long time “observe and interact” experience. Thailand is very humid and pouring rain a lot in the raining season. The constructions like that will increase better air circulation and prevent the damp underground as well. That also less upset while flooding. The pitched roof  is also good to take the heat out. 

傳統尖頂高腳屋tranditional dry column hut with pitched roof

內觀中心--尖屋頂的干欄建築，很多可遮陽與通風的簡單材料 it's one vipasana center with pitched roof dry column consruction. And a lot of simple material offering shed and good air circulation.

建築的材料也是可以隨時拆解與拼裝的，甚至也考量輪椅坡道

The materials are easy to move anytime. And some of constructions include wheelchair ramp.

看見非常多當地人的巧思，像是樸門設計原則裡的看見每樣東西的多功能，及各東西的功能連結

A lot of examples of Functional Interconnection, multiple functions, redundacy

屋子裡廁所上方特別裝了通氣網，且上方有些空間且有連接到戶外，熱氣與臭氣就會由此被抽出，就不用裝風扇了

The net (there’s a space up there go outside)  on the top of toilet to get the heat and smell up out. And no need fan here

廁所結合大自然可去臭味 Toilet with nature to move the smell

當通風用的也可來晾衣服 the place for good circulation with some lines for drying clothes

他們可以把竹子當繩子、編織成各種器具及傢俱、地板、牆面、屋頂及美麗的裝飾等
They could use bamboo as strings, a lot of weaving like baskets or furnitures, make into floor, wall, roof and for decoration......

美麗的大門

Beautiful bamboo gate

	Nice bamboo door in the adobe house此泥磚屋的門用竹子編得很不錯

竹子作地板的方式也可以應用在屋頂上The way to make floor from bamboo also could use it for the roof

也可以拿來當牆 That also could be used for the wall
  

也盡量沒有廢棄物 no waste as they can

在當地買椰子，他們會在上方敲出一圈縫來以便放吸管喝椰子水，喝完後也便於拿起上殼，方便我們以湯匙取出椰肉 (我們在台灣往往只在椰子上戳了個洞，僅喝椰子水而己)

Coconuts sold on the vendor always help to knot one circle on the top for us to take juice and coconut meat (In Taiwan, we only take coconut water with a straw and throw away all the rest.)

 

另一種椰子，他們會把週邊的殼削一層，我們可以自己輕易地破殼取椰汁與椰奶
They sale those coconet with thinner shed in Thailand. People can easily break the shell andntake the coconut meat and water.

可看見很多椰子殼的產品，如椰子殼容器，但那對一般人來講比較不容易做，椰子殼拿來種植物就比較容易上手 There are a lot of coconut shell products in Thailand like bowls, plate, soap holder... But that's not easily for us to make. That's much easier for us to make it into plants plot instead.

機車與其他的承物處結合 Scooter could take so many stuffs with another container or device

咖啡廳旁的大樹，可以變成咖啡座 The big tree on the side could also be very good seats in the nature.

其實不只是泰國，我們的生活中早己有很多這樣的例子了，泰北之行結束了，回到台灣也讓自己的生活更能自給自足及簡單。
Surely not only in Thailand, there're already a lot of examples in our daily life.Finsih the traveling, try to be more self-reliance and simple living after coming back Taiwan.

劉雅琪 Iishita'
Jan 2015