2-12 มี.ค. Sustainable Land Use and Natural Resource Management (SLUSE) 59 Field Course in Phetchabun 2016

From the 3rd to the 14th of March 2016, graduate students from Kasetsart University and Copenhagen University participated in the SLUSE joint trip course conducted in villages in Khek Noi Sub-district and Camp Son Sub- district in Khao Kho District of . The cooperation has provided opportunities for participants to explore land use and certain issues based on their studies. On March 2nd, 2016, a group of University of Copenhagen students arrived at the KU-SLUSE (SLUSE center, Kasetsart University) for a campus tour and participated in other activities with Thai KU students in order to enhance cross-cultural understanding. On the following day, the supervisors, the committee, the interpreters and the 34 participants consisting of 7 Thai graduate students from Kasetsart University and 27 students from the University of Denmark departed for the base camp at Thung Salaeng Luang National Park, located near the study areas. The Thai and foreign students were divided into 5 groups and assigned to work cooperatively on data collection and sampling, discussion, and presentation prior to their research under the supervision of the KU-SLUSE Coordinators; Assistant Professor Dr. Ratcha CHAICHANA, Dr. Wannana SOONTORNNARUERANGSEE, Ms. Sopana JANTAWONG, Dr. Thilde Bech BRUUN, Dr. Søren BROFELDT, and Dr. Kelvin EGAY from Sarawak University. The selected sites for this field course covered 3 villages, namely Ban Hui Nam Khao village, Ban Kirisuk village, and Ban Santisuk village in Khek Noi Sub-district and 2 villages, Ban Pa Ka village, and Ban Dong Long village in the Campson Sub-district, Khao Kho district, Phetchabun Province. Petchabun Province is home to the largest community of Hmong people in . They served with the Communist Party of Thailand before surrendering and settling down mostly in Khek Noi Sub-district and partly in Campson Sub-district. Most of the Hmong people were granted Thai citizenship and issued with ID cards. They commonly make a living from agricultural work such as ginger farming, upland rice farming, and cabbage farming. However, the main problems in this area are water shortage and the lack of formal land tenure rights. These became key topics for some groups to explore in depth. Therefore, Thai and foreign students from many countries such as Denmark, Italy, Germany, and Sarawak learned to work together with the assistance of interpreters. The field course comprising a 12-day trip was successfully completed and all the group members travelled back to KU-SLUSE center safely on March 14th, 2016.