Cabbages & Condoms

By Amanda Sangeetha Thomas

The Cabbages & Condoms Resort Nang Rong also known as C&C Resort, is an establishment by the Mechai foundation. The Mechai Foundation is part of The Population and Community Development Association (PDA), which is a non-profit organisation that was founded in 1974 by Mechai Viraraidya to promote family planning in Thailand especially in the rural areas of Thailand. Today, PDA is the most diversified NGO in Thailand. 

Cabbages and Condoms' Restaurant

PDA dates back more than thirty years to Khun Mechai Viravaidya, who, some of you may have heard speak not long ago at a TCCC luncheon. He has earned respect throughout the world for his humanitarian work in the area of the prevention of HIV/AIDS and for improving the quality of life in thousands of villages in Thailand. Since he established PDA as a grassroots organisation in 1974, Khun Mechai’s vision has never wavered. His aim was to complement the efforts of the Thai Government in promoting family planning in areas where knowledge and access to services were scarce. Trained residents of villages and urban neighbourhoods were recruited to provide information on family planning, including the supervised, non-medical distribution of oral contraceptives. Between the 70’s and 2005, the number of children per family decreased from 7 to less than 2, largely because of Khun Mechai’s efforts. Today the organisation is one of the country’s largest networks, monitoring 11,000 villages through 18 centres in 15 provinces.

View of the lake

Restaurant Deck

After addressing the immediate family planning needs, PDA expanded its activities to include primary health care, HIV/AIDS education and prevention, water resource development and sanitation, income-generation, environmental conservation, promotion of small-scale rural enterprise programs, gender equality, youth development, and democracy promotion. Most recently, PDA has aggressively approached the problem of rural poverty by empowering the poor through the Village Development Partnership, which establishes a community-owned Village Development Bank for the purpose of microcredit. PDA’s involvement in the areas of Health, AIDS, Family Planning and income generation and poverty reduction has created significant change and helped the local people in the Buriram Province.

Wooden condoms (actually our room keys) =)

A statue at the restaurant ground.

We are spending three days and two nights in Buriram at the C&C Resort Nang Rong, Buriram. The experience here is different from staying at Bangkok; here we are one with nature, with natural surrounding that is calm and fresh, sceneries full of green, and the sound of flowing water.

Each of us were split into 2 to a room, except Shanaz who got a room to herself. Our room keys are shaped in the form of a condom, the rooms are furnished with the usual furnishings 2 beds, a dresser and bathroom.

The sign says it all.

The restaurant that is within the resort grounds has very naturalistic elements to it; it has a wooden structure and has a deck that overlooks a lake with a fountain in the middle. The walk to the restaurant is very calming as we walk through paths filled with plants and at night it is dimly lit to give it a very serene atmosphere. The food served is freshly cooked and extremely delicious.  

Mechai Viravaidya

Both the restaurant and resort were created to provide financial support for the Population and Community Development Association (PDA), Thailand's foremost nongovernmental charitable organisation. Money spent at this resort contributes to rural development, education and scholarship, HIV/AIDS education and environmental protection.

Amanda Sangeetha Thomas, 21 currently pursuing majoring in Communications and International Studies, suffers from sleep deprivation.

From Buffalo to Dragon

By Melvin Shawn D'Silva

The face of Thailand is Bangkok; a bustling city with high-rise buildings, traffic jams, and entertainment. The country is determined to ‘leap frog’ in development status to become a developed, first-world nation. However, that is only one side of Thailand; the other side has many underdeveloped rural areas. The main source of income of these rural areas is from agricultural development which is also the biggest export of the country. However, the gap between the urbanization between the city (Bangkok) and the rural areas – like Buriram – is quite large. This includes aspects of education. On that account, Mechai Pattana School is successfully minimizing that gap with its unique school model.

Mechai Pattana School is located in the rural area of Buriram, Thailand. Buriram is one of the poorest parts of Thailand. The school’s motto is to create a generation of honest leaders who will improve rural Thailand. The school is founded by Mechai Viravaidya, an activist greatly known for his foundation of poverty eradication. The school is funded by Birds and Bees Foundation. It provides academic education which is the same as the public school of Thailand. In addition, it also provides environmental protection education for the whole village. Equally important, it promotes philanthropy, integrity, democracy and gender equality.

The school serves as a life-long learning centre for the student and the community. The students are molded to be individuals strong in values for the future. The whole school is built using bamboo. The roof at the entrance of the school is designed like a buffalo and it symbolizes ‘stupidity’. Upon entering the school, the students will cross a dragon designed bridge symbolizing knowledge. The whole idea is that people walk in the school leaving behind their ‘stupidity to obtain ‘knowledge’; and then they walk out into ‘stupidity’ again (Because the more one knows, the more one doesn’t know). The next day however, they would walk back in to learn more things –which symbolizes ‘Life-long Learning’. This school is not restricted to young students but to people of all ages in the village.

The bridge that symbolizes the 'dragon' and 'knowledge'.

There are about 90 students in the school, chosen not only by their academic performance, but also their behavior. A student weak academically although hardworking, or comes from a poor family background, may be accepted, screened from case to case basis. The students do not have to pay school fees in monetary terms but through community service. The student is required to ‘pay’ 400 community hours per year, and their family is obligated to plant 400 trees. The community hours include growing vegetables in the school, teaching in IT hubs which are located in the villages and many more.

Much more interesting is that the school also becomes a hub for community building. Environmental protection education is also provided by the school. In the Agricultural Demonstration Farm, techniques of growing vegetables and fruits are shown. One example is the lime that harvests during off-season. These limes are then sold at a higher price due to market demand. This would then contribute a greater amount of income to the family and the community which paints a part in poverty eradication. Likewise, the farm breeds animals and insects which are also in high demand in the market.

Local herbs being grown in the garden.

The school is also sponsored by big business players. The computers in the IT Hub in the school are sponsored by Microsoft Corporation. The swimming pool which is currently in construction is sponsored by the toy company Hasbro, Inc. Furthermore, the school furniture is contributed by IKEA International Group.

The students produced by the school are confident and well rounded. They greeted us with warm hospitality, palms together, when we arrived. These students are thought to bring back what they learn from school and apply to their on-going family business. Of even greater appeal is that they are given the knowledge and skills to run their own business. It is not surprising that these kids may not want to stay back and carry on their family’s agricultural business, to find a better paying job in the city. Although the school and the government encourages the students to stay in their village in future, nobody forces these kids to stay. With the education movement for poverty eradication, Thailand may in future face a drastic change in their economy, lifestyle and culture.

Us and people from the Mechai Pattana

Melvin Shawn D'Silva, 21 is currently pursuing a double degree in Communication and Marketing, and living his life out to the fullest

Nong-Ta-Kem Village: Herbal Medicine Centre

By Catharine Tanara

Herbal Medicine has incerasingly become an important commodity to a majority of the world’s population. Herbal medicine is no longer considered as conventional, unreliable ways of treating diseases. It has been an alternative option that many will choose to prevent and cure diseases. According to the global survey data from 1997, about 119 plant-derived compounds of known structures are currently used as modern prescriptions drugs, such as aspirin. With its abundant botanical resources, herb processing is one the main incomes of Nong-Ta-Kem Village to support the economy of the country.

One kind of herbs that is used to make balms

Nong Ta Kem village has become a learning center for the economic sufficiency program for the people and villages who have interest in agriculture. In growing herbal plants, Nong-Ta-Kem has several herb experts to come and train the local people. They encouraged the villagers to grow herbal plants as household income generation. The herbs are used to produce balms, powder toothpaste, and various health supplements and medicines, especially for high-blood pressure as major illnesses in the village are high blood pressure and headache. These products are then sold to visitors, and also to the general public in the district. 

More than 10 kinds of herbs are planted in the village. The herbs are processed by the villagers themselves, such as drying them under the sunlight before being further processed in the Nang Rom hospital. Nong Ta Kem herbal medicines are available in forms of capsule, and balms. They are made through the modern medical technology that has been recognized with its quality but still retains the traditional herbal processing method that has been passed down for generations for as long as 25 years.

Herbs that are already processed into capsules are put in bottles

The major part of profit gain is largely from the herb production by the hospital requests. Besides, the income also depends on corporate groups and foundations that invest on the production, and visitors who are interested and passionate about traditional and organic medicinal aspects of such supplements. Other than that, the marketing of Nong Ta Kem herbal medicine relies on the direct-sell system, where customers from other districts may call directly to order and upon their requests, the products would be sent via mail to their residences. 

Barrels used by the villagers to collect the herbs they plant

On top of that, herbal medicine production has become a Village Development Program (VDP) model for poverty eradication in the village. It assesses the needs of the community and empowering the rural poor. This ensures that no matter how small a business it can be, as long as there is perseverance and hard work, villagers will still be able to be self-dependent but at the same time able to contribute back to the society, whether directly, or indirectly.  

Catharine Tanara, 20 is Communications and International Studies major who loves a challenge and food marathons.

Diary Entry - Day 5

By Nandhini Radhakrishnan

After being in the hustle and bustle of Bangkok, the city that never sleeps, heading to Buriram was a rather refreshing experience for all of us. Having seen only the Mechanai Pattana School, Cabbages and Condom Restaurant and the convenience store nearby, we were pretty excited to explore and discover more of Buriram. The day started with us waking up excitedly for Breakfast, where we were spoilt for choice with a buffet of toast, coffee, tea and more authentic Thai dishes, such as pork porridge and fried rice, delighting the rice lovers. 

Thai local explaining the benefits of the herbs in Nong Ta Kem Herbal Medicine Centre

After filling our tummy, we headed to Nong Ta Kem village, where we visited the local herbal medicine centre and we were introduced to the Village’s Bank Manager who explained the dynamics of the system in place. The village has 125 families totaling the number up to 759 villagers. The villagers adopted the sufficiency economy model, introduced by HM The King, where villagers will engage in activities such as agriculture, live farming where they grew vegetables and flowers and breed poultry and cattle. These efforts are part of the rural development efforts to allow the farmers and villagers to be self-dependent in an effort to balance the economy.

He also explained that the Village Bank, consisted of 90 committee members, supports such entrepreneurial efforts by lending out money for those wishing to start up their own businesses. All you need is two guarantors and you can borrow up to ten times of your current savings at an interest rate of 1 Baht per 100 Baht every month. A successful business model, which is the Herbal Medicine, where natural herbs are grown and processed to be contained in capsules, which can then be used to cure dizziness, high blood pressure and alleviate menstrual pain.  In the midst of the presentation, we were given fresh coconuts by the Thais and all of us were rather touched by their warmth and friendliness towards us.

Towards the end of the demonstration, we looked at their Herbal medicine shop, where some of us bought these natural herbs and honey. Soon after, we headed to the area where the herbs were planted and the poultry were reared. We also got to see the IT Hub, which was a room comprising about 30 computers, where the locals could browse the Internet and use the computer. They were given a manual to aid them in the process, which was rather interesting.  After visiting the IT Hub and farms, we headed to the local market, where the Thais were selling vegetables and fruits, which were grown in their gardens. This was a refreshing outlook on the concept of markets as the line of production and sale were the same.

IT Hub with computers - Microsoft is a Partner of Mechai Foundation

Local market selling organic vegetables

Shortly after, we headed back to the Herbal Centre where we were treated to a sumptuous meal of mushroom tomyum soup, fried vegetables, stir fried vegetables with pork, Phad Thai and it ended off with a fresh serving of Dragonfruit and sponge cakes. Many of us were overwhelmed by their warmth and their desire to give us multiple servings, even though we were on the verge of feeling bloated.

Being intoxicated by food coma, we headed to Nonh Ta Kai Village, where we went to learn about the process of silk making. After a 20 minutes drive from Nong Ta Kem village, we reached our destination. We were introduced to the process of silk making, where the more daring ones tried the boiled silkworm cocoons. Last I heard, they tasted like peanuts. We got to see the process of silk making and one of our travelers, Catharine, boldly took the challenge to weave the silk, as one of the Thai locals demonstrated the method. After learning and watching the process, we headed back, where some of us decided to get scarves for our mothers and sisters, having decided it’s probably the best gift for them.

Later that day we headed to Sayamha market, one of the markets, where local produce was sold. The market, was clean and sold fresh local produce, so much so that live fishes, eels and frogs were sold. Walking along the aisles of the market, we were greeted warmly by the locals, who were often inquisitive about our country of origins, as they couldn’t place a finger on where we could be from, given that races as diverse as Indians, Chinese, Sudanese, and Maldivians were walking together. That was an amusing part for all of us as we explained where all of us were from. After grabbing some local delicacies and the ever-so thirst quenching Thai Iced tea, we headed back to the hotel, where we rested before going for dinner at Cabbages and Condoms Restaurant where we treated to a sumptuous meal of Deep-fried fish served on special Thai chill sauce, mixed vegetables, chicken soup and longan as desserts. With a full tummy, we are all ready for a good night’s rest to prep us for tomorrow and not to mention the awesome Spain vs Portugal match tonight!

Nandhini Radhakrishnan, 20, is a double degree undergraduate majoring in Banking and Finance/Communications and minoring in Journalism.