Camp Videos - Youtube

This video is of myself and two camp leaders heading out to clear some Palm Plantations in exchange for some bamboo and wood to be used on the farm.

The locals are happy to have volunteers work on their plantations and farms, and in exchange they give us; food, wood, chickens, and support when building at the farmstay. 

Here's an example of some of the land clearing we do.

The owner of the land donated a
pick-up full of bamboo and wood to be used on the farm in exchange for 6-hours work in his plantation.

This video shows how the locals can survive off the land by growing and harvesting Palm Oil.

The seeds they gather can be sold for 4 baht a kilo. (In the video I make an error of saying 50baht)

Each month the same process is done - families meet at their plantation, cut the low branches off and then harvest the seeds. They are then sold to the local processors who make it into Palm Oil and Diesel.

Here are some of the views you see around the farmstay. We just finished cutting down bamboo and clearing the plantation of weeds. the farmstay is situated near Palm Plantations so the climate is cool all year round, the scenery is spectatular and relaxing, and there are a number of little canals running through the plantation that we frequently go fishing in.

This is a video of 'Ghorb' one of our Thai camp leaders preparing a thai vegetable. While clearning some trees, he went looking for some food we could cook as a soup for lunch.

It shows him preparing the hard but sweet root.

We later cooked it over a open flame with the pot nestled on some rocks. It tasted surprizingly and along with the green curry, rice and fresh fruit it was a truly appertising meal.

Where possible we try and gather our meals from the surrounding plantations and streams and very rarely to we need to purchase goods at the market. In many case we swap what we gather for what we need. 

 Just a quick peek at some of the ponds around the Farmstay where you can take a casual push-bike ride, explore the forests, relax and picnic while you read a book, or spend some time fishing and catching frogs.

The vege gardens... 

Planting veges in the farm gardens. Get an oversight of the Farmstay and what veges we grow to feed our volunteers and workers that help out.

Fishing in the local Canal... 

Fishing in the local Khlong (canal) just 50 metres walk from the Farmstay.

All you have to do is find a piece of bamboo, grab some fishing line from the farmstay, catch some bugs or dig some worms up from the gardens and you're ready to go.

We normally catch a few Bla Duk (catfish) in the canals which we either b.b.q or deep fry. Quite delicious and the fishing is lots of fun.

Frog Hunting... 

We try and get out Frog Hunting once or twice a week depending on what's happening at the farmstay that week. 

We then exchange the frogs for a chicken or some basic building resources with some of the locals. Otherwise they come and lend a hand doing some gardening around the farmstay in exchange for the frogs we catch.

Unfortunately for the frog it usually ends up in someones pot or is fattened up before being sold at the markets by the local Thai families.