press release Chevron and Partners Continue the Fifth Year of "A Journey Inspired by the King" in’ Ratchaburi Province
Chevron Thailand Exploration and Production, Ltd. together with the Sufficiency Economy Institute, the Agri-Nature Foundation, and King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang (KMITL) to hold the second Lending a Hand program at Rai Suk Klang Chai, Ratchaburi Province as part of the fifth year of The Power of Human Energy: A Journey Inspired by the King. This project aims to spread knowledge of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s philosophy, put it into practice, and take the successes of the project in the Pa Sak River Basin to other watersheds with a focus on sustainably alleviating flooding and drought. This will involve a network of more than 1,000 people from around the country, Chevron volunteers, and attending media.
“Since the beginning of The Power of Human Energy: A Journey Inspired by the King rehabilitating the Pa Sak Water Basin,” said Artit Krichphiphat, general manager of business support for Chevron Thailand Exploration and Production, Ltd. the private sector backbone of the effort driving the project, “The project has now expanded to solve watershed problems in almost all watersheds in Thailand with participation from all sectors, including government, academic, private, public, civil society, and the media. The project in its fifth year is based on the ‘Nationwide Expansion’ concept. This Lending a Hand program is another example of the success of moving the project to the Mae Klong River Basin, which has spread and multiplied from sixteen to thirty cases. This is evidence that the King’s philosophy is genuinely helping to solve various problems and will be a way to attain sustainable development and self-reliance.”
“Our mission in the fifth year of project operations is Lending a Hand, or the traditional Thai custom of offering reciprocal assistance as a strategy for fostering harmony and connecting the various networks,” said Dr. Wiwat Salayakamthorn, the president of the Agri-Nature Foundation and the Sufficiency Economy Institute, academic network members. “It’s also the exchange of lessons learned from land restoration based on the King’s philosophy in diverse socio-geographical conditions, which are consistent with this year’s ‘Nationwide Expansion’ concept, as with the Lending a Hand program in Ratchaburi Province. This is an example of the project ‘spreading,’ expanding to the Pa Sak River Basin and other watersheds. The primary activity is natural farming, which includes fermenting soil, creating trenches in rice paddies, sowing, uprooting, transplanting, and throwing seedlings, creating dikes, and managing insects without the use of chemicals. There are also programs that increase the fertility of the area, including creating seedling banks, planting ‘three kinds, four benefits’ forests, and learning about making ‘7 flavor’ fermented agricultural fertilizer.”
“The KMITL Faculty of Agriculture has participated in the project since its third year by providing guidance and teaching agricultural area design methods to the network and interested public based on the King’s philosophy of the ‘mound, reservoir, and paddy model, with consideration of the size of the land, topography, climate, soil condition, and the needs and capital of the landowner.” said Assist. Prof. Pichet Sowitayasakul, Dean of the Faculty of Architecture at KMITL, an academic network member helping with designs at many project areas, including Rai Suk Klang Chai in Ratchaburi. “This has resulted in the widespread acceptance of water management methods that you can carry out yourself, with a focus on enabling each area to retain 100 percent of rainwater. KMITL is also continuing the ‘Thai Socio-Geographical Designs for Participatory Community Water Management Monitoring and Assessment’ through Integrated Technology Operation KMITL (ITOKmitl), which is sponsored by Chevron to systematically collect data of academic standards in three areas: Lampang Province, Udon Thani Province, and Tak Province, covering 300 rai. This will help confirm the success of resource management theories based on the concepts of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej in providing fully-realized resolutions.”
Sukachai Suphasiri, the owner of Rai Suk Klang Chai in Ratchaburi, is currently a teacher at a well-known government school and has expressed his determination “to be a life-long teacher”. “My father dreamed of being a farmer,” said Suphasiri. “He bought six rai of land and concentrated on farming, but in the end he had to sell it to send his kids to school. I wanted to keep my father’s dream alive, so I bought 32 rai. At first it was a mess, I didn’t get anything. Then I planted fruit trees, but they all died. So instead I focused on creating a forest with a wide variety of trees to create fertility and biological diversity. Next, I bought a second plot of 23 rai. This is the plot that I wanted to farm based on my own dream. It was an area surrounded by monocropping, which had ruined the soil condition through contamination with chemicals. After going to a training on the King’s philosophy with Dr. Wiwat Salayakamthorn, I wanted to prove the villages that the King’s philosophy was able to rehabilitate land, making it thrive again and work as a food production source. I concentrated on farming this land and dug a 12-rai reservoir to create a water source I could use to mitigate water crises that might hit us in the future. I was guided in the design of the area by Assist. Prof. Sowitayasakul. I decided that after I retired I would create a life-long learning center for villagers and children in the community. I hope to be a life-long teacher, both inside and outside the classroom.”
As well as Lending a Hand at Rai Suk Klang Chai, the project has also involved a bike campaign in the city of Ratchaburi to inspire learning about the King’s sufficiency methods. The route started at the 1st Corps Development Division, Fort Sri Suriyawong, Mueang District, Ratchaburi Province to Rai Suk Klang Chai, Suan Pueng District, Ratchaburi Province, a total distance of 79 kilometers, with a network of 200 cyclists from Saphan Boon Cyclists, soldiers from Fort Sri Suriyawong, locals, and Chevron employees.
