The story of a girl who isn't and a people who aren't

She started working as a helper in a beauty salon. She is diligent and loves her work, and she has been learning the trade on the job. She moved up to become a manicurist, and now a "semi-stylist". She hopes to become a full-fledged hair stylist someday. She works six days a week from 10 in the morning to whatever time the last customer leaves, usually around 9 in the evening. She lives alone in a rented apartment, and at night locks the world out, fearing for her own safety.

Her parents are farmers. They have Palm and her younger brother, and they cannot make ends meet on farm income. Palm's only goal in life is to be able to send money home for her parents and for her younger brother so he can finish at least high school, something her parents could not afford for her. She doesn't know if her brother is a good student. All she knows is that with a better education, her brother may have a better future. The term "future" doesn't mean much to Palm beyond that of her brother. She doesn't know where her life is heading. She doesn't give much thought to it either. All she knows is that she has to feed the three mouths of her family today, because they cannot.

When asked what her dream in life was, Palm had a foggy look in her eyes. She didn't recognise the concept. She is not fortunate enough to have that luxury of thought. The only dreams she knows are those when she sleeps.

Palm's story is not just the story of Palm, but of many millions of Thais - the farmers and their struggle to live.

Look at the following reality; something is dreadfully wrong about it.

Farmers comprise 40 per cent of Thailand's population or about 24 million people. The majority of them, almost 80 per cent, are rice farmers. They are among the 9.6 per cent of Thais categorised as living below the poverty line (Bt1,400 per month per person, in 2009).

Thailand has about 131 million rai (or 21 million hectares) of arable land. Of this total, only 28 million rai, or 21.5 per cent, is irrigated, and most is in the central and northern provinces. Most of these farmlands are located near dams and in the river valleys. That means that the other 65 million rai of land is largely left in the hands of Mother Nature.

The majority of the un-irrigated arable is in the Northeast of the country, Isaan. Interestingly, about 33 per cent of farmland is in Isaan and about 33 per cent of the total Thai population lives in Isaan. That is the reason why the region sends the largest number of representatives to Parliament after every general election.

Despite being the largest labour sector in the country, farming is losing its place in terms of contribution to the country's overall economic output, comprising only about 10 per cent in 2007. Our average rice yield per rai is about 600 kilograms and decreasing. In Isaan, the number is about 300-400 kilograms per rai. Vietnam's average yield is now 700 kilograms.

Not only is the farming sector losing its value as an economic engine of the country, it is also losing its way.

Most farmers, if they can afford it, send their children to schools and universities so they will escape the life of hardship their parents endured. Some rice farmers lament that they are the last generation in farming. Their children, having seen the unglamorous lives endured by their parents and grandparents, vow never to till the land and become a loser, with no money, no respect, no protection, no prospects, no nothing. To them, nothing could be more depressing and demeaning.

Rice used to be revered as the god "Mae Posop", now it's only a commodity. There is no spiritual aspect left to entice the younger generation to care about it any more than what they put on their plate a couple of times a day.

And farming seems to go hand in glove with irresolvable debt. For decades, government after government has tried to come up with better plans to help itself by helping farmers. But those plans and initiatives have not worked. Farmers are losing their land either voluntarily or involuntarily to debt, and some are getting hopelessly poorer. A greater number of farmers have lost more than the land passed on to them by their ancestors; they have lost their hopes and dreams. To them, life is a dead-end.

Today, there are poor farmers camping outside Government House, calling for land reform. These farmers are not organised and not violent. They do not wear any ideological colour. They sleep on the sidewalk. This year's drought has been so harsh in some areas of the country, farmers have nothing else to occupy their time. And we can assume that those who come to Bangkok do not want to spend their time at cockfighting matches, gambling and getting drunk to pass the time.

We care more about what the US and international players are thinking of us than about our own. The younger generation in Bangkok cares more about which rehab facility the wasted American actress Lindsay Lohan will be entering after her brief stint in jail than about the people who put rice on their plates for mere pennies. We really have lost it.

We don't need rocket science or special wisdom in order to come up with a feasible and sustainable plan for irrigation, knowledge-based farming techniques, and financial stability for farmers - so there are no more Palms. All we need is compassion, political will and comprehensive and altruistic approaches to deal with the issue. The alleviation of farmers' poverty must be a goal, not an afterthought.

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