6.5 Self-Reliance and Sustainability from a Thai
Perspective: Lessons Learned at Punpun Organic
Farm, Phrao District, Chiang Mai, Thailand
6.5.1 Background of Punpun
The Punpun Center for Self-Reliance is one of thefive initiatives listed as pioneers
in the Thai organic community revolution in a recent sourcebook on Thailand’s
Sustainable Development (Grossman 2015 : 259). Mr. Jon Jandai and his American
wife, Peggy Reents, purchased about 10 acres of land in Mae Tang, Chiang Mai,
and named it Punpun Organic Farm (Punpunthailand.org2016a). After he had been
toiling for seven years with hard work but without any savings in Bangkok, Jon
decided to go back home in 1992 to Yasothorn Province in the North-East (Jon
2014 :9–10). He is a self-taught man who wanted to become self-reliant by working
in his own organic paddyfields, cultivating organic vegetables, and breedingfish in
a pond. Jon (2012: 28) claimed that he worked only 30 min a day but he could feed
6 members in the family. Moreover, he could sell the surplus of fresh produce and
fish, and keep savings, which were good enough to purchase a piece of land in Mae
Tang, Chiang Mai. Jon is well known in Thailand for his expertise in building
adobe or mud homes, which he saw and studied by himself while traveling around
in the so-called Four Corners: Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona (Jon
2014 : 16, 25). He started to be a volunteer instructor for mud-home building
together with being an organic farmer in his own land. Later, there were more
people coming to live with the family in the farm or purchase a piece of land
adjacent to them and work with them. Up to now, about 15 permanent members
make up the Punpun group (Punpunthailand.org2016a, b). Jon stated in the
introduction of the course that there are no rules and leaders. They live a simple life
and share their labors, cooking turns, produce, and benefits. They established two
restaurants selling organic vegan/vegetarian food and a cafe, using the produce
from their own farm. Furthermore, they just launched a company called“Dhamma
Thurakit”(Right Business) which will follow the sufficient economy scheme by
being a middleman for a fair trade organic rice enterprise: buying rice from organic
farmers, have it milled, and sell the rice to members. They bought a plot of land in
San Pa Tong and will use that place to do organic paddyfields and train farmers to
go organic as well.
They also sell products from their farm such as organic sun-dried bananas,
peanut butter, organic kaffir lime shampoo, all-purpose liquid soap, home-made rice
husk charcoal soap bars, and organic wildflower honey. The members share the
profits from selling the products from the farm. Jon stated that they all have a salary
of 6000 baht a month (@$200) which they use to save for a vacation abroad. They
also have their health fund for the members to use in the time of sickness so that
everyone feels secured (Jon’s lecture April 29, 2016). They use bicycles to move
around most of the time.
96 6 Self-Reliance and Sustainability from a Thai Perspective