Working On A Thai Coconut Farm

I know that when you travel, one of the most rewarding experiences you can have is interacting with locals and their unfamiliar lifestyles…which at the end of the day are not so very different throughout the world.

Airbnb was gaining traction when we first started traveling, and we’ve had the finest of luck with all our stays. (Although one place in Budapest was the tiniest of quarters. I‘m not sure of the lens on the camera they used for the photos, but I want one. That said, it was a perfect location, just a two-minute walk from one of the famous ruins bars. It was nice other than its Lilliputian dimensions.

We were researching things to do before our last break, and we decided we wanted to break it into pieces so we could hang with our dog as well. Julie found this cool Airbnb Experience, and I was all in. It was an overnight stay on a working Coconut (Cocos nucifera) farm with a little hands-on labor. An Airbnb Experience is a category they offer with vetted tours and, of course,… experiences…with local people who have passion and expertise with the tour or experience they provide. I’ll write more about them because they have given us some awesome opportunities. We‘ve sailed at sunset in Barcelona, seen a nighttime Skylink rocket launch from the middle of the Banana River in Florida, took a guided hike around Montserrat, rode on an E-bike vineyard tour outside Barcelona, snuck into an abandoned Cold War bunker in Kyiv, enjoyed several guided food tours, and many others. So far they have all been exceptional, to say the least.

Since we both are N.C.Master Gardeners, Julie and I love taking time to identify whatever cool plant or flower that we run into while traveling. We find it quite rewarding when our guess is correct, or at least in the right family. ( I highly suggest a plant identifier app for your phone.) So this agricultural experience was something we felt we shouldn’t miss.

Rice Paddy from our porch

Thailand is amazing, as it seems to be in bloom year-round, and the fruit..oh wow! So a stay at a coconut farm with the threat of work sounded highly appealing to us both. I happen to love the mystique, as well as the taste of coconut. (My Grandmother made a southern coconut cake that was oh so moist and would bring much joy to my whole family.) My college in Florida overlooked the Indian River and Hutchinson Island, and that area had once been covered with pineapple and coconut farms. I read much about it from the local library there, and am still intrigued by the farming process, and the mystery of these exotic tropical fruits that would occasionally wash up along some cold and dreary shore…a tropical treat.

The Farm Arrival

Most of the land in the area used to be rice paddies, but the large amount of labor needed to keep the birds from gobbling much of the rice has persuaded our host, Supansa, and some other farmers in the area to move to the crops such as coconuts, guava, bananas, flowers, and tilapia. When we arrived, Supansa and her partner, Benz introduced themselves and took us to our cabin where we left our things and changed into our farm working clothes and hats. They gave us about 30 minutes to get changed and settled, and to enjoy the fresh sliced guava, sticky coconut treats, and water. That was the best guava I have ever eaten by the way. (If you have not eaten guava, it has a consistency like an apple, but it’s a bit juicier and less sweet. In my opinion, it can sometimes be a bit tasteless, but this was really good. I just have not been eating good organic guava grown on a small farm.)

Porch view

The room was clean and comfortable. The cabins have aircon, a refrigerator stocked with water, an electric kettle, a bottle opener in case you brought wine, towels, a television (that we did not use and cannot comment on), and futon mattresses on the floor with pillows and light blankets. A cozy little cabin for us for certain. There was also a second-story covered deck beside our digs, all overlooking rice paddies. Very pretty!

Porching it.

Our cabin was at the end.

Sunset from the Deck

Sub Nai Din Farm History

When Supansa and Benz came to fetch us off of our porch they gave a rundown on their history and the history of the farm. Supansa was living and working in Bangkok as an accountant when her parents retired and decided to buy a farm. They bought it as a rice farm and decided to change to coconuts as their crop. She would visit on weekends to help them out, and eventually decided to leave Bangkok’s rat race and come live and work full-time at the farm.

Supansa

Benz also was living in Bangkok and working as a psychologist when she also decided to move out to the farm. She is the official photographer and an insanely good cook.

Benz

The Airbnb business evolved from their city friends coming to visit. They encouraged Supansa to try it. The first year people stayed in her house and her mom cooked the meals. It was very successful so they decided to build the little teak houses where we were accommodated. They were completed right before COVID shutdowns, so they are rebuilding the business, and seem to have it well in hand.

More than a Coconut Farm

With all sorts of fruit growing on the property, it was a real treat to taste fruits that were perfectly ripe. One little not-so-attractive Chinese Plum tasted like a cross between brown sugar, peach, and sorghum molasses. It was mind-bending. If you are into fruits, Thailand certainly is the place. Supansa and Benz have guava, rose apple, and dragonfruit with actual flavor growing around their house. They also have crazy delicious mango, papaya, and bananas up the wazoo.

Football sized Jackfruit

Rose Apples

Immature Pomelo..Principal ancestor of the Grapefruit

It turns out there is far more to this farm than you might suspect with many types of fruits all over the property. There are some challenges growing coconuts, of course, one being a Rhino Beetle that burrows into the top of the tree to lay eggs. This kills the tree, so they regularly need to plant replacements as it takes a few years for them to produce. They use pheromone traps to catch the beetles. Although, they learned to use them sparingly so they don’t attract more beetles from outside of their area.

Beetle Trap

Next, they showed us their stingless bee hives. I took a beeping-keeping class 15 years ago, so this was indeed interesting for me. These bees are very small, more like winged ants. They don’t sting, but they increased the amount of coconuts produced in their grove by something like 1000%. They went from 90 coconuts to 900 just by introducing the bees to their ecosystem. They produce honey….a really dark and rich honey, but only enough for their personal consumption.

Hives

Tiny Bees

A peek inside a hive

Vermiculture is another eco-friendly direction they have gone. In addition to bacteria, worms are true workhorses of the soil creating aeration and recycling organic waste. Suspansa keeps worms to make compost from their kitchen scraps and cow poop. They sift the compost and add the nutrient-rich casings as fertilizer to the areas around the trees each day. This was one of the farm chores that they had us do.

This AirBnB Experience was touted as working on a coconut farm, and we did….although the term “work” was more a symbolic gesture.

Coconuts

Need lime to put in them.

When Supansa’s parents first bought the land, it was a rice farm. That crop was too much work for them, so they transformed the land to have islands in the middle of a series of canals. They use these to irrigate the farm and to transport the coconut harvest to the pick-up point every 15 days. They hire day workers who make a living going from farm to farm on harvest days. Floating the coconuts to the pickup point is genius from the labor end.

Canals

The typical workday begins at 5 am until around 10 am. They rest during the heat of the day, then go back out to work from about 4 pm-6 pm.

A Bridge Too Far (but we did it)

When the trees were young, the day began by going down the rows and throwing big ladles of water from the canals onto the trees…all 700 of them. Now, most of the trees are mature enough to have roots that dip into the canals and get the water for themselves. They have Tilapia in the canals which is a source of additional nitrogen. We saw some giant fish, but fewer than they typically have since an otter recently invaded and devoured many of them.

The Big Dipper

Their work now consists of cleaning up any dead fronds or other debris on the trees to help protect them from the rhino beetle. When a beetle kills a tree, they cut the tree down and submerge it in the canal for several weeks to be sure the larvae drown. A new tree is planted in its place. I dug the hole and Julie planted one that they had sprouted.

Hard at work.

They are vigilant watching for any signs of a “beetle bite” because if they see evidence – such as a frond that is broken in the middle – then they throw sand and salt into the center of the tree. This hurts the beetles’ legs and keeps them from killing the tree if they catch it early enough. We pulled down several branches using a sickle on a pole. Nothing they asked us to do was extremely hard, but it was all very physical work. And a bit like housework. As soon as you get it done, there is more to do.

Really a pleasant day

When we reached the end of our compost and the end of the coconut grove, we sat for a drink of fresh coconut water from their most recent harvest. Here Supansa explained that they do not set their prices. They get what the middleman pays them, which is currently 10 baht / .30$ per coconut. If the coconut has brown spots or does not look perfect, they are offered a lower price. Suspansa says that sometimes the middlemen would hide good coconuts among the lower quality ones and get them for only 2 baht. She decided to keep the spotted coconuts. She opens them and sells her brand of bottled coconut water in the market. This way, the middleman can’t take advantage of her anymore. The insides of the “lesser quality” coconuts are just fine. They just don’t look as pretty for the markets.

Butterfly Pea

After our coconut water rest break, we explored more of her edible garden and harvested some butterfly pea flowers. Then we went to the garden gazebo overlooking the public canal full of lotus. There was a nice breeze and we made butterfly pea tea with sugar, honey, and lime. Benz served it to us over ice, while we snacked on rice cracker cookies dipped in honey from their hives. Butterfly Pea Tea has some very unique characteristics. It changes from a bright blue into a fuchsia when an acid such as lime juice or lemon juice is added to it…..and it is delicious as well.

Blue…….

Presto…..Fuchsia

Tooling around the Neighborhood.

From here we went on a bike ride through the neighboring farms. We learned about the different crops in the area. There is a guava farm, where the woman wraps each piece of fruit by hand with a plastic-lined paper bag to protect the skin from damage which will lower the price she can get for it. She kindly gave us a couple of them, bag and all. She works her farm alone so has to thin the crop, so she can be sure the ones she harvests are exceptional and will bring the best price.

Guava bagged up.

There also were shrimp and tilapia farms which I’ve always been interested in since my college campus had a large Aquaculture program that several of my friends graduated from.

Tilapia farm

There was one farm growing Crown Flowers (Calotropis gigantea). These flowers ( part of the milkweed family) are used for Phuong Malai, the marigold garlands that Buddhists buy to present to the gods at their temples. They are ubiquitous here, so there is a large demand.…we buy them occasionally ourselves since they usually have great-smelling jasmine as well. To harvest them, they have to wear gloves and long sleeves because the sap causes rashes and itching like poison ivy or sumac.

Crown Flower

Milk Weeds

Phuong Malai.

Another interesting bit was the rice paddies and relatively new planting techniques. The farmers were broadcasting the seed using what looked like leaf blowers with some sort of venturi pickup instead of sowing by hand, a clever timesaver. Birds are a huge problem for rice farmers, and we woke up the next morning with farmers banging on metal and plastic buckets, waving flags, firing air canons, as well as big firecracker booms…. my kind of wake-up. We could clap our hands and big murmurations of birds would rise up from the mature rice, and fly round only to settle onto another part of the paddy. It seemed an exercise in futility, but some loss is anticipated and accepted.

Avian buffet.

Ready for planting

All sown up!

When we returned from our bike ride, we had a delicious dinner prepared by Benz. In our earlier conversations, I had mentioned that Mango Sticky Rice is my newest favorite dessert, and there it was on the table…. I really dig it when people pay attention to casual comments. Then we went back to our cabin to enjoy the sunset and the stars before going to bed. We were quite happy with our day and had a very good night’s sleep along with that very interesting wake-up. I love and have great respect for farmers and their dedication to the land since I also happen to enjoy food.

Suspansa brought us our breakfast around 8. Another delicious meal. We hung out watching the work on the farm next door, listening to the birds, and enjoying the peace and quiet of the rural setting. The bikes are available to use if you prefer a more active morning.

At 9:30 we left for a nearby village to see the porcelain co-op. These artisans make the china for the royal family. It is beautiful bone white porcelain painted by hand with delicate, detailed, and elaborate designs. When the factory closed down some years ago, the families opened shops from their homes to preserve the art and the culture the porcelain represents. They maintain a museum with second copies of the designs used by the royal family. We watched one of the artists painting some porcelain horses. It takes a steady hand and a good eye.

Skills

Finest of detail.

Lots of color.

Final Reflections

We love the breaks during the school year as it is our great opportunity to travel within a region and to get out of the city for some fresh air, night skies, or something new. One thing we’ve realized is that it would take a lifetime just to thoroughly explore Thailand, and some breaks will be dedicated to checking out the wonderful variety of all that Thailand has to offer.

This AirBnB Experience was certainly a short, yet great get-away. Our hosts were fantastic, and the food was delicious and authentic. I highly rate it for that alone. The warmth and smiles we received initially are so typically Thai…one of the things we love about this country. We later wished that we had asked them to sit with us and share our delicious meal since they felt like they were old friends by the end of the day. Their experience with the farm was touching…I just love it when people can work at something that they love or adore, and hold close.

So check them out and try something different.

Be sure to leave a comment. Share an experience, ask a question…I’d love to hear from you.

Safe Travels, and Remember…Leave Slowly and Come Back Quickly!