Kira (Thailand): Stealing bell peppers

Hey guys, I just got back from another homestay (actually two homestays in a row). During the first homestay, I got to steal bell peppers, go fishing again, cook lots of food, and talk to some really interesting people. On the second homestay (just one night), I got to see some development projects gone wrong, get beaten up by a three-year-old, and make sweets. I love homestays, and I missed them during the two weeks or so that I wasn't on one.
This unit, called "Land," focused mainly on a proposed Potash mine in Udon Thani (about an hour from here). Potash is a compound of potassium and something else that is used mainly in the production of chemical fertilizer (CIEE likes to tie everything together). The villagers (who are mostly farmers) are opposed to the mine because they're afraid the salt dust that is produced as a byproduct will ruin their farmland and kill their fish. A group of villagers, called the Conservation Club, is really organized in opposition to the mine, and we got to talk to them about their experiences with protest. The villagers that support the mine (the CC claims that they've all been paid off by the company) hope that it will bring jobs to the area so their children don't have to go work in Bangkok and other countries anymore. The provincial government wants to promote development and economic growth, but also doesn't want to make any rash decisions. The mine has been discussed for the past 15 years and hasn't yet been built, but the company already has the land and everything.
The villagers are really divided on the issue, and CC members have even stopped attending funerals of villagers who support the mine (this is a really big deal in Buddhism). The CC claims that those who support the mine are short-sighted -the mine will only be in operation for 22 years, but their land will be ruined forever. I wish we had gotten to talk to pro-mine villagers in a neutral setting, but we only got to talk to them in corporate headquarters with company representatives. It kind of biased their responses, I think.
We went to Udon Thani, and my friend Cathleen and I stayed with a grandma and her 9-year-old granddaughter. They let us make the omelet the first night, but we didn’t add any MSG, so we weren’t allowed to cook after that (we washed dishes instead). They also fed us a lot of stir-fried ant eggs. Mmm. And we went vegetable picking in someone else’s garden one day.
After three nights in Udon Thani, we went to another village that has already been affected by a development project. We were all a little skeptical of a 1-night homestay, but it actually turned out to be really fun. Cathleen and I stayed with a woman, her sister, her father, and her 3-year-old daughter. The sister was really interested in my pictures, and they all really liked my apple orchard pictures (I think they thought I was a farmer like them?). They kept asking me how much I sold the apples for and how many I grew. We also got to stay up really late (10:30, compared with 8:00 every night at the previous homestay) making sweets, and in the morning, we took the little girl and a neighbor baby to the pond.
The river that this community is on was dammed to provide irrigation water. Rather than making irrigation easier for the farmers, which was the stated goal, this project actually caused problems. Farmers near the river get flooded a lot, which causes them to lose up to half of their rice crop. Also, the project didn’t actually improve access to irrigation water. Since the villagers have been farming for a while and aren’t stupid, the already had successful irrigation methods. The project ruined them. Now the villagers have to pay to get water pumped electrically into their fields, while it used to be natural and free. The people we spoke with claimed that there were no benefits to anyone from the project.
After we discussed this with the villagers, we met with a man named P’Suit. This guy has some really interesting views about the world. He cited the Amish as an example of a community that doesn’t hurt the environment. His main message was that we should work on our own consumption habits before we try to change anything else. Capitalism, which he sees as evil, has conditioned us to want more than we need. Communism and socialism, as they have been employed in reality, are actually just tools of capitalism. He was somewhat of an anarchist. It was interesting to hear him tell us his worldview, and I feel like I need to have more discussions and think a lot more before I say what I think of it.
Sorry if this entry was kind of dry/long.