The Thai Ecoversities Landscape
This year’s Global Ecoversities Gathering brings us together within the hospitable kingdom of Thailand, or as many refer to this realm as, The Land of Smiles. Thailand, neighboring Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Malaysia, is uniquely situated at the crossroads of myriad cultural currents. Being one of the only nations in Asia to never be colonized, due in no small part to its historical openness to diverse ways of being, it has managed to thrive in relative peace for generations. Boasting four distinctly different bio-regions (arguably several more), myriad languages, spiritual traditions and unique understandings of what it means to be human come together here to form one of the world’s most frequently visited countries.
Thailand’s northern mountainous regions are home to several indigenous hill tribes who for centuries have made the conscious decision to live apart from the ways of modernity. As the Lisu (a Tibeto-Burman “hill tribe” residing in the hills of Chiang Mai, etc.) saying goes, “It is good to have clean water, but it is better to live far from the ruler”. Zomia , as this region has been termed by legendary student of anarchy, James C. Scott, is a stretch of ‘anarchist’ highlands that extends throughout Southeast Asia, crossing into India, China, Tibet and beyond. For thousands of years this region has served as home to one the world’s largest in-tact human ecologies, keeping alive both an astoundingly diverse spread of actual seeds from the old world, due to a reverence for wild spaces, and so too myriad cultural seeds of a rapidly dying educational memory of how to live well in a place. Northern Thailand, where many inhabitants still know how to live entirely off the abundance offered freely by forests, continues to remind us that humans can be wild too.
Isaan, otherwise known simply as Northeastern Thailand borders Laos and Cambodia. It is home to some of the country’s most beloved (and spicy!) cuisines. It is also home to some of the most beloved Thai musical forms such as Morlam, a kind of psychedelic, country storytelling modality that drives on the rhythm of a large hand-held bamboo organ called a “khaen”. Isaan has hosted several Buddhist monks (Phra Ajarn Mun, Phra Ajarn Maha Bua, Arjan Chah, etc.) from the Thai Forest Tradition (a branch of monastics who practice in wild spaces in the pre-Buddhist sectarian way) who have significantly impacted Thai Buddhism (and helped to preserve Thailand’s delicate ecology because of their forest dwelling). They have attracted countless followers of Buddha dhamma and established numerous world-renowned temples and practice centers throughout the region as a result. Isaan, rich in culture, food and faith, is, in many ways, the pulsing heart of Thai culture.
The Central Plains of Thailand, due to its geographical convenience, has been a hub for cross-cultural collaborations for a very long time. Just as Thailand’s current political of Bangkok is a cultural melting pot, so too was Siams (Thailand’s original name) second capital, Ayutthaya which flourished as a global center of diplomacy and trade from the 14th to 18th centuries and by 1700 was already home to over 1,000,000 people making it one of the world’s largest cities at the time. The roots of how Thailand became such a hospitable arena for diverse traditions, artistic styles and languages to freely mingle are clearly on display here.
Most people who come to Thailand head straight to the South, and with good reason. Southern Thailand consists of thousands of breathtaking islands famous for their pristine beaches and picturesque limestone spires that shoot dramatically upwards from the Kra Isthmus. Home to the majority of Thailand’s Muslim population as well as to the Chao Ley “sea gypsies” (Austronesian, semi-nomadic, hunter-gatherers), nearly all inhabitants of this idyllic realm make a living, in one way or another, from a life intimately in relation with the sea.
Most Thai people follow the teachings of Siddartha Gautama, the Historical Buddha, who taught his followers to steep all actions in a profound understanding of change and the root causes of suffering, to orchestrate a fine balance between self-determination and community commitment and above all, to skillfully cultivate wisdom and compassion. Due to Thailand’s foundation in Buddha Dhamma, its unique geographical location and famous openness to learning from outsiders, Thailand has always been aware of how other peoples of the world live, how they operate financially, spiritually, ecologically, etc. By not being rigid with its beliefs, allowing themselves to be open to change yet remaining deeply rooted in wisdoms unique to this place, Thailand has been able to demonstrate resilience in several unique ways.
King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX) was a bit of a renaissance man. He spoke several languages, knew how to farm, how to perform and compose American Jazz music as well as traditional Thai musical forms, understood various methods of land management, economic infrastructures, religious views (was even a fully ordained monk for a chunk of time), etc. Coming of age in the first half of the 20th century, he could see how capitalism was rapidly changing the world. So too did he see how economically poor most Thai farmers were. He knew that if Thailand was going to keep up with the shifting landscape of world relations, it would need to adapt in new ways. Yet, so too did he rightly observe that to uproot his people entirely from a dependency on community and land would be foolish. Thus, he created a developmental approach called the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy (SEP), inspired in part by Buddhist philosophy, founded on three interrelated components (wisdom, moderation, and prudence) coupled with two essential underlying conditions (knowledge and morality). In a nutshell, as summed up by the United Nations, “At the individual and family level, the SEP means living a simple life, living within one’s means, and refraining from taking advantage of other people.”
Over 23,000 villages in Thailand have SEP-based projects currently in operation. Some of these projects have blossomed into nationally and internationally known “eco-villages”, ecoversities, unschools, and the like, yet furthering Thailand’s ever-evolving adherence to resiliency. Let’s briefly explore a few.
Wongsanit Ashram, located in Nakorn Ayok, not far from Bangkok, was founded by a group of nonviolent activists who were actively involved with the uprisings in 1973 and 1976 in Siam. Guided by Sulak Sivaraksa, a well-known social thinker often referred to as the Gandhi of Thailand, their vision was to create an alternative, spiritually centered community aimed at empowering activists to wisely serve society. Although they work closely with INEB (The International Network of Engaged Buddhists), persons from all religions and walks of life are welcomed here. Their practices are aimed at increasing one’s understanding of themselves and their interrelation with the greater world at large, including the earth. Through learning about food systems, alternative economic systems, natural building, and mindful living in general, Wongsanit Ashram has helped empower thousands of people from around the world to return to their own communities (or create their own!) with the skillsets proven to help communities thrive in more sustainable ways. Watch this beautiful YouTube short about Wongsanit made by the Global Ecovillage Network to learn more.
Pun Pun Center for Self Reliance
Located in Chiang Mai, Pun Pun is a 23-year-old farm founded by Jon Jondai, a charismatic and internationally beloved pioneer of regenerative livelihood who found much of his inspiration from time spent at Wongsanit Ashram. Pun Pun is a fully functioning ecovillage (home to nearly 30 people) whose focus is primarily placed on the saving of seeds, recognizing that over 90% of the world’s seed stock has gone extinct in the last 30 years due to catastrophic modern farming practices. Additionally, Pun Pun works collectively to continuously learn everything from natural building, appropriate tech, organic farming, raising children in traditional ‘village style’ ways, to how to make biochar, reusable menstruation pads, sourdough bread, household furniture, etc. Their approach is not to master anything per se, but to have fun trying everything, and share struggles communally. They regularly host groups from around the world to share their “Life is Easy” approach to rightly accessing the four basic human needs of shelter, food, medicine and community. Recently they have been expanding their effort to educate and empower rural farmers throughout Thailand through their work with the Common Seed Social Enterprise, a national collective of seed savers. Watch Jon Jondai’s viral YouTube talk about simple living.
Panya Forest
Not far down the road from Pun Pun, is an agroforestry ecoversity inspired by the teaching of Sioux Seed Saver, Martin Prechtel who reminds us that it isn’t enough to only save heritage seeds, “The culture of those people whom each seed belongs to must also be kept alive along with the seeds and their cultivation. Not in freezers or museums but in their own soil and our daily lives” (Co-founders Ramphai Noikaew and Gregory Pettys, have worked closely with indigenous communities around the world for decades. Through these exchanges they have come to realize that just as seeds are endangered, so too are the myriad ways of seeing the world that sprout organically forth from song, art, music, dance, hand-spun cotton, etc.). And with so much war going on in our world today, Panya has become a place for regenerating the study of peaceful living by creating immersive comings-together for the retelling of forgotten stories of origin, embodied myth, ritual farming, and well-tended-to spaces for the expression of both grief and praise. Their goal is to simply aid in creating the right conditions for ancestral memory to re-emerge through contact with land and other bodies so both land and humans might symbiotically heal, together. Currently they are collaborating closely with the P’gakenyaw hilltribe to carefully introduce people to living, ancient methods of initiatory story telling as it unfolds symbiotically via seasonal relations between people and place. (contact Honey in the HeART for more details. [email protected]).
Hin Lad Nai
An Indigenous “Hill Tribe” community of P’gakenyaw people living in Northern Thailand. They have been one of Panya Forest’s greatest mentors over the years. Their way of life is deeply interconnected with the forest, as they sustain themselves almost entirely from the plants they cultivate within her. They manage nearly 7,000 acres of wild forest, still using ancient, ritualized rotational farming methods that allow land to return to its natural state after harvest each year. Although the village does have a modern school, the youth of Hin Lad Nai are ultimately raised by the forest herself, and educated in traditional ways, learning through the living medium of mythologically transmitted wisdom systems that initiate youth into intergenerationally adhered to agreements with Land and Her people. They maintain a deep relation with not only land, but animals as well and coexist with elephants, who are the ones who originally taught the P’gakenyaw how to farm in beneficial ways. To learn more about Hin Lad Nai please read this article from our friends at Local Futures.
Gaia Ashram
Located in the heart of rural Isaan is a budding community of deep ecologists, permaculturists and eco-village enthusiasts dedicated to offering clear details regarding the forming of land-based communities. Om Sunisa Jamwiset Deiters, the beloved co-founder and director of Gaia Ashram has become a well-known leader in the global ecovillage network, teaching regularly about the intersection between land and soul. A lifelong learner, who found her inspiration from Wangsanit Ashram and Panya Project (now Panya Forest), her passion for life and our beautiful planet is intoxicating and is only matched by the natural beauty of the ashram itself. Gaia Ashram offers extensive workshops on Permaculture design, Gaia ecovillage design, and the foundational views of deep ecology throughout the year. They have been friends of the Ecoversities Alliance for several years now and you can learn more about them here: https://gaiaschoolasia.com/
Mab Ueang Agri-Nature Center
Finally, we come full circle, back to the Central Plains at Mab Ueang Agri-Nature Center, an educational farm near Bangkok, where we will all come together again for this year’s Global Ecoversities Gathering. It is a 30-year-old farm made famous by Arjan Yak, who previously worked closely with Rama IX and was greatly influenced by his Sufficiency Economy Philosophy. With the help of others, such as Jon Jondai from Pun Pun Farm, Mab Ueang has become a national collaborative effort to demonstrate how to actualize a Sufficiency Economy Livelihood. The farm teaches best practices for how to build wealth from ethical trade, how to store and preserve by means of local wisdoms, etc. Mab Ueang stresses several Buddhist themed virtues and offers guests an opportunity to learn hands-on ways of using natural resources more efficiently. Explore more here: https://www.mabueang.com/
