One of the country's agritourism hotspots produces high-quality processed agricultural products and features a nice clay house farm-stay as well as generating income to local people in Bor Phloy, Kanchanaburi province.

Monrat manages the farm-stay, the Thai Folk Wisdom Learning Centre and the sale of products including corn milk, corn milk ice-cream, rice krayasad with vegetable juice, freeze-dried banana, fruit meatball, wood vinegar, dogs' clothes and so on.

But before she reached where she is today, she had struggled to make her mark in a variety of ventures.

"Before the Asian economic crisis, I bought over 100 rai of land to do farming. Back then, I just did it without any direction. However, after the crisis, I sold some plots of land and planted teak trees on the rest of the land. The project was later dropped," Monrat recalls.

"A group of housewives who worked with me helped me to nurture hydroponic plants. But the plants couldn't be sold because of their low quality.

"We later tried to grow sunflowers, nuts and parsley. We let the sun shine on them. But when the rain fell, we forgot to keep them under shade and all were gone.

"Then I tried to do camping, but the business couldn't get anywhere near being a success as there were not enough customers."

Monrat tried again with bamboo rice, one of her trademark products. After some poor results, she finally used local wisdom to solve the problem. Nuts and sesame planted in her farm fit together as a solution to helping to cultivate bamboo rice.

With its compact and convenient quality, Monrat presented her bamboo rice to Thai Airways and it is now on the airline's menu.

One of the factors in Monrat's success is the Agricultural Housewife Group of Nong Kratum Community. The mutual benefits give her local support, while it's another way for local people to earn some income.

However, problems followed her like a reflection in a mirror. The workers were undisciplined and there was no leader to get them together. They were also held back by a lack of technology.

Following the disoriented path she had already followed, Monrat reset and focused on processed agricultural products. She started to create new products based on what she had on her farm. It was take-off time. Crunchy rice treat krayasad with vegetable juice and corn milk was warmly welcomed by the market.

"There was a time when the corn price fell due to over-supply, so we thought that maybe we should try to produce corn milk to solve this problem. Back then, we invested more than Bt1,000 for the equipment," she says.

"We started to sell it at Silom Complex, the business centre in Bangkok. We received overwhelming feedback as it was a new product on the market. From that point, we've been looking forward to expanding the business."

The success in producing corn milk was the turning point of her business career.

Monrat then joined the Thai Local Wisdom Small and Medium Enterprises Club, which is supervised by the Department of Industrial Promotion. Here she learned about capital management, administration and marketing - knowledge she was able to use alongside the existing local wisdom.

With her new business skills, Monrat continued to expand her corn milk business. From the milk, it is now developed into corn milk ice-cream and corn milk toffee. By this method, not only the over-supply problem is solved, but also Monrat has a new accessible market and a method to extend the product's life.

Besides, Monrat has managed to reduce capital costs by making maximum use of the product.

"We take the corn waste to feed the ducks. This also helps to increase the beta-carotene in the ducks' eggs. The remaining waste is used as fertiliser. The corn silk is developed to make tea. The corn cob is used as an alternative to glutamate. The corn hush is used for making 'kim chi' and bows for wrapping our packages. There's nothing left to throw away," Monrat explains.

Apart from corn, banana is one of Rai Khun Mon's trademark products. The freeze-dried banana has won national awards. It is served by Thai Airways and is available at Bangchak gas stations.

"Our banana crisp won an award from HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn. We use banana instead of potato. Some of the remaining banana is stirred. The banana leaf is crafted as roses. The banana skin is used as fertiliser. The oil left from frying the banana is used for making soap and biodiesel. The remaining banana, along with corn and mushroom, is used to make fruit meatball," Monrat adds.

Fruit meatball and fibre Chinese sausage are the latest products initiated by Monrat.

Besides the various types of consumer products, Monrat decided to expand her business umbrella to the agritourism area by creating the farm-stay.

A stylish clay house, teak house and tent service are bounded with entertaining activities and a "goods from the farm" project.

"We've provided it as agritourism. We offer a stay of two days and one night with five meals. The activities include seeing the local lifestyle at first hand. Visitors will witness how local people hull the corn and also visit the corn farm. Let's say that you'll see the real thing, whatever you eat," Monrat says.

"We also provide activities such as a corn barbecue, offering food to the monk, visiting the temple and shopping. All of this costs only Bt650. For those who don't want to stay overnight, we charge Bt300 per person. Bt50 per head is for a snack."

The capacity of the farm-stay is around 30 people. In winter, there is also the tent service, which can accommodate another 100 people.

"Our target groups are not only Thais and foreigners. We also target students' field trips and training or seminars in the government sector," Monrat adds.

The farm also offers dogs' clothes at Bt100. It has used the dogs as presenters to bring the place alive. The loveliness of the dogs persuades visitors to buy some dogs' clothes.

Natural resources can never be recreated but thinking resources last forever if you learn to practise your wisdom. Monrat has practised her wisdom and now it's generating her an infinitely fruitful result.

Cheerawat Khongkaew

Bizweek