Utilization of Floodplain Vegetation in Northeastern Thailand: Compilation of Survey Results from Ban Pak Yam, a Village in the Songkhram River Basin
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Working Group Socio-Economics of Forest Use in the Tropics and Subtropics _____________________________________________________________________.______ Verena BRENNER Utilization of Floodplain Vegetation in Northeastern Thailand: Compilation of Survey Results from Ban Pak Yam, a Village in the Songkhram River Basin SEFUT Working Paper No. 8 Edited by Reiner Buergin Freiburg August 2003 ISSN 1616-8062 Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg The SEFUT Working Papers Series is published by the Working Group Socio- Economics of Forest Use in the Tropics and Subtropics at the University of Freiburg. The Series is available electronically on the Freiburger Dokumentenserver (FreiDok): http://www.freidok.uni-freiburg.de/freidok/ © Copyright is held by the author or authors of each Working Paper. Permission to reproduce material of the Working Papers will be given, provided that full reference to the authors, title, series title, date and place of publication are given. SEFUT Working Papers Series Editors Prof. Dr. Thomas Krings Institute of Cultural Geography, University of Freiburg Prof. Dr. Gerhard Oesten Institute of Forestry Economics, University of Freiburg Prof. Dr. Stefan Seitz Institute of Ethnology, University of Freiburg Managing Editor Dr. Reiner Buergin Working Group Socio-Economics of Forest Use in the Tropics and Subtropics Correspondence should be addressed to: Reiner Buergin Working Group Socio-Economics of Forest Use in the Tropics and Subtropics Tennenbacher Str. 4 (Herderbau) Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg D-79085 Freiburg [email protected] http://www.sefut.uni-freiburg.de/ Ban Pak Yam Survey Results SEFUT Working Paper 8 Preface This report is a compilation of findings on a village based survey in Ban Pak Yam in the Songkhram River Basin in Northeastern Thailand. The research stay in 1997 was designed within the DFG Graduate College 'Socio-Economics of Forest Use in the Tropics and Subtropics', at the Albert-Ludwigs-University of Freiburg as a cultural-geographic study on the 'Use of floodplain and its vegetation at a Mekong tributary in Northeastern Thailand'. This compilation of survey results provides basic data and findings, and I hope that these infor- mations are useful for anybody working on the topic, being researcher, activists, or any people looking for information on that particular Thai village. For further readings on the ecology and use of floodplains in Northeastern Thailand see the at- tached bibliography. Anybody is invited to ask for further information. Please contact: Verena Brenner Address: Karl-Bautz-Str. 16 D-79312 Emmendingen Germany Email: <[email protected]> 1 Ban Pak Yam Survey Results SEFUT Working Paper 8 2 Ban Pak Yam Survey Results SEFUT Working Paper 8 Table of content: Preface ........................................................................................................................................... 1 Ban Pak Yam: A village survey on the use of its floodplain area ............................................ 5 1. Village location and infrastructure ..................................................................................... 5 1.1. Location of the village......................................................................................................... 6 1.2. Occupation pattern and infrastructure in the village ......................................................... 7 2. Brief history of the village Ban Pak Yam (Ban Dong Lek Din)........................................ 9 3. Villagers changing way of life ............................................................................................ 10 3.1. Fishery............................................................................................................................... 10 3.2. Pottery............................................................................................................................... 10 3.3. Using wood for construction, logging and charcoal burning........................................... 11 3.4. Cultivating Rice................................................................................................................. 12 3.5. Cash crops......................................................................................................................... 13 4. The use of the floodplain and its products........................................................................ 14 4.1. Utilisation of lakes ............................................................................................................ 15 4.2. Use of the floodplain as grazing ground for cattle ........................................................... 16 4.3. Use of the floodplain vegetation for handicrafts and tools............................................... 16 4.4. Use of the floodplain vegetation as a food resource......................................................... 17 4.5. Wild animals used as a food resource............................................................................... 19 4.6. Floodplain vegetation as a resource for traditional medicine.......................................... 21 5. Fishery activities in the rivers ............................................................................................ 22 5.1. Fishery tools using nets..................................................................................................... 22 5.2. Fishery tools and traps made of bamboo.......................................................................... 24 5.3. Fishing lines and rods (Bet rau, Bet ) ............................................................................... 26 6. Calendar of selected agricultural and fishery activities .................................................. 27 7. Summary of utilised plants from the floodplain vegetation............................................ 28 Acknowledgement ....................................................................................................................... 31 Bibliography ................................................................................................................................ 33 3 Ban Pak Yam Survey Results SEFUT Working Paper 8 Map Map 1: Location of Ban Pak Yam................................................................................................... 7 Tables Table 1: Mae Nam Songkhram water level at Kh 74 from 1987 - 1994......................................... 6 Table 2: Land use in a typical northeastern riverbasin.................................................................. 14 Table 3: Seasonal calendar of selected land and water use in Ban Pak Yam................................ 27 Table 4: Calendar of agricultural activities in the Nam Songkhram Basin................................... 28 Table 5: Use of floodplain vegetation - list of plants.................................................................... 28 Photographs Photo 1: Housewife group preparing fermented fish sauce Pla Ra ................................................ 8 Photo 2: Reconstructed boats in the village .................................................................................. 11 Photo 3: Charcoal kiln operated at the slopes of the river Lam Yam ........................................... 12 Photo 4: Rice fields in the south of the village ............................................................................. 13 Photo 5: Sorting the catch of a day in a family compound ........................................................... 15 Photo 6: Trader buys bamboo shoots and other floodplain products in the village ...................... 18 Photo 7: Insects sold at the district market.................................................................................... 21 Photo 8: Sadung ruea in the Songkhram river.............................................................................. 23 Photo 9: Tum mong in the Songkhram river ................................................................................. 24 Photo 10: Manufacturing of Loob noon in the village .................................................................. 25 Photo 11: Kha fish trap ................................................................................................................. 25 Photo 12: A Tong at the riverside near Chaiburi........................................................................... 26 4 Ban Pak Yam Survey Results SEFUT Working Paper 8 Ban Pak Yam: A village survey on the use of its floodplain area This compilation contains a summary of information gathered between December 1996 and Sep- tember 1997 at the Nam Songkhram Basin during a village case study in Ban Pak Yam, Subdis- trict Sam Phong, District Sri Songkhram, Nakhon Phanom Province. The paper was compiled by using data from different sources. During the village stay observa- tions and day to day talks with people provided basic information. Data were also obtained by conducting semi-structured interviews with the village headman, Subdistrict Council members, teachers and other villagers on specific topics. Furthermore, some people with specific profes- sions and middlemen from outside the village were interviewed on their occupations. The NGO 'Project for Ecological Recovery' (PER) works in the river basin. PER carried out a sample survey on household structure, fishery activities, agriculture, and economic patterns in 4 villages. The questionnaire form was developed as a preliminary survey tool before applying an action research methodology to strengthen