How to Harvest a Red Ant Nest Part I

So we just recently finished our month long orientation and began our first unit centered on rural issues. The overwhelming majority of Thai citizens are farmers, but because of the effects of the Green Revolution, Free Trade Agreements (etc., etc.) the small scale farmer is quickly disappearing from the landscape (like most of the world).
We all lived on separate farms that were practicing a returning to traditional farming practices and working towards self-sufficiency which was primarily was a rejection of the use of chemical inputs (e.g. pesticides) and getting rid of the dependency relationship their use creates. The use of chemical inputs also has had detrimental affects on the health of farmers and because of their high cost, most small scale farmers have large debt.
We learned from talking to our families (yep, we can talk about organic farming practices in Thai) what their past experiences have been with farming with chemical compared to the organic farming that they do now. All the organic farmers in the province have formed a community that functions as a support group, sharing supplies and help when needed. Perhaps most importantly, this community supports the farmers mentally giving a sense of family and validation that is often rare in Isaan (NE Thailand) where the populace is incredibly marginalized and either exploited for the gain of agribusinesses or paved over in the march to industrialization.
On a brighter note the food we ate while at these homestays felt amazing after the grease bowl meals we have in the city. My body hasn't felt that good sense i've gotten here.



This was our house.


Meh.


Gai.


Whoowa.


Ma.


This is how you harvest a red ant nest.


This is how a red ant nest harvests your hand. One week later, my hand still has toxin marks all over it.


One of these things is not like the other.



Kind of a big deal, if you get my meaning. We found one of these chillin above us one night while we slept. Ahhh. Thats the sound they make.