Sugar cane
Two weeks ago, riots broke out between demonstrators and security forces in Roi Et at a hearing on the planned construction of a sugar factory in the Pathum Rat district. The Banpong Sugar Company wants to build a sugar cane processing plant there with an intended capacity of 24.000 tons of sugar cane per day.
On the second day of this hearing, about a hundred demonstrators - including many concerned rice farmers - blocked access to the site where it took place, where 250 officers cracked down.
Since the plans for this project became known four years ago, they have encountered a lot of local resistance. A group thatKhon Hak Prathum Rat' (We love Phatum Rat) has now profiled itself as the mouthpiece of the dissatisfied local population and is organizing the protest.
Opposition to this large-scale project is symptomatic of the turmoil that has recently erupted in Isaan after the Prayut government announced it would see no fewer than 2024 new sugar factories in the region by 29 under the guise of job creation and economic development. It is not really surprising that these plans are not received with enthusiasm everywhere in Isaan. Not only because of the negative environmental effects that may be associated with the installation of these factories. The sugar cane culture, which has become a 'booming business has become a direct threat to Isaan's traditional rice-based agricultural culture. The agricultural sector has been under pressure for some time and the aggressive action and unbridled land hunger of industrial groups that believe themselves to be supreme is increasingly threatening not only the traditional lifestyle but also the fragile fabric that binds these local agricultural communities.
Many rice farmers have already switched to this culture under pressure from sugar cane producers in recent years. Thailand has thus moved in record time to become the fourth largest producer of sugar cane in the world and second largest exporting sugar cane nation in the world ranking… According to the figures of the Office of the Cane and Sugar Board (OCSB) for 2018/2019, Isaan carries the lion's share of this production. No less than 46 percent of the total Thai cane sugar production takes place in this region.
Hom Mali, perfumed jasmine rice
The planned, sensitive expansion of this sector poses a major threat to traditional, organic agriculture. For example, it is the proverbial pole above the equally proverbial water that sugar cane extraction on such an immensely large scale will have a heavy impact on water consumption in the already dry Northeast of Thailand. In other words, a water war may be imminent in the long term, in which it seems to be certain in advance that the small rice farmers will get the short end of the stick. And that is a pity because this region is the place where the prices are overloaded Hom Mali, the perfumed jasmine rice is grown.
There is one glimmer of hope: It is precisely the enormous increase in cane sugar production by Thailand that has led to a large sugar surplus on the world market. A surplus that cannot be eliminated immediately and has caused the sugar price to fall drastically on the international markets. Maybe, just maybe, this bleak prospect will make the Thai government think twice before realizing their plans in Isaan.
24.000 tons per day seems like a lot to me!
720.000 tons per month!
Is this correct and where does she get a lot of sugar cane from then?
Dear Chris,
For these figures I initially based myself on the press reports. Because I am critical of the veracity of the Thai media, I just checked the more reliable and latest GAIN (Global Agricultural Information Network) annual reports of the USDA Foreign Agriculture Service on the Thai sugar cane production. According to the most recent report dated December 4, 2018, Thailand had set the record sharper in that year with the production of 127 million metric tons of sugarcane… It can also be seen from this report that the average Thai Sugar Mill has a processing capacity of 20.000 tons per day … For 2019 it is assumed that the milestone of 130 million metric tons will be exceeded, which should lead to an annual production of at least 14 million metric tons of raw and partly refined sugar.
With these figures in mind, the concern of the organic rice farmers in Isaan seems more than justified… Isn't it?
Yes, that planned factory should process 24.000 tons of sugar cane per day. And yes, the protesting farmers doubted the possibility of this because hardly any sugar cane is grown in that area.
Such a sugar cane factory also uses the necessary water itself, which is an extra treat for rice cultivation and others who depend on the water supply. At the beginning of this year I stayed above Khon Kaen and saw from a typical Isaand restaurant how some side channels were closed with a temporary earth dam. I had the idea that this was because of the lower water level in the Ubonrat reservoir. By closing the canals, the water could continue to flow towards the sugar cane factory.
“The sugar processing industry have the large quantity of water demand and generated a large quantity of wastewater at all stages of sugar production (..)”
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S151218871830068X
Nb: in 'Khon Hak Prathum Rat' คน (khon) stands for people/persons and ฮัก (hák) is Isaan/Lao dialect for 'to love'. In standard Thai one says รัก (rák). If you love an Isan, whisper in her/his ear: ข่อยฮักเจ้า, kòhj hák tjâo. 🙂
Indeed, in the Issaan section along the Mehkong River you already see various Delta activities, which of course already have a [bad] influence on the fishing industry and also appear to be constructed for, among other things, these factories for sugar cane extraction.
Issaan is already “'Booming'' in terms of Tourism which has discovered its path here, and this fact tops it…No in the Issaan a very large part of the inhabitants are not happy at the moment.
Great to write about this, Lung Jan. There are many demonstrations by farmers and environmental activists that rarely make it to the press.
Here is a story about the protest:
https://isaanrecord.com/2019/11/01/roi-et-public-hearing-protest/
The Isaan Record recently featured 17 stories about the sugar industry in the Isaan
https://isaanrecord.com/en/page/2/?s=sweetness+and+power
Share your opinion that it is good that this issue reaches the Thai press. But unfortunately I doubt whether the government is willing to take a closer look at their plans. They often dig their heels deeper into the sand. This is also the case in the Netherlands, where actions against towering windmills near residential areas, football fields with large solar panels ruining the landscape and the new controversial hype regarding biomass factories, even in residential areas, are hardly heard by our administrators.
A major problem is also the transport of the sugar cane. Heavily loaded on trailers and trucks on narrow roads that are not designed for this at all. Heavy stems often fall off along the way, or the overloaded vehicle goes out of control. I can show pictures of it.
No sugar beets grow there. They may need less water and you can also use them as animal feed.
Or is the sugar beet in thailand not known.
Regards Anthony
Value (Lung) Jan,
Can you say something (besides the water problem) about the environmental effects of burning down the sugar cane fields? I think it's very annoying for the neighboring residents.
I hope there are a few too many zeros in this post. 24000 tons per day, that is easily 1000 trucks per day. Would be the first reason for me to protest if I live near there.
Dear Marius,
No, there are – unfortunately – not too many zeros… I would like to refer to what I wrote in reply to Chris van het Dorp’s response…. Most Thais apparently have no idea about the size and impact of this extremely fast-growing branch of the economy. Or it simply leaves them cold. After all, Isaan is a 'far from my bed' show for most of them… I remember well when I drove through Isaan twenty, fifteen years ago and certainly in important (quality) rice-producing provinces such as Buriram and Surin, there was hardly any sugar cane to be seen…..That is very different today….
I am not at all in favor of increasing sugar production…sugar is mixed into everything as a cheap ingredient, but it is detrimental to obesity and to health…But, since the rice in Thailand is up to twice as expensive as in the surrounding countries, they get which, partly through the expensive Baht, also not lost ... Meanwhile, there are 2 registered unemployed in Bangkok (100.000 in Thailand), the tourism sector is about to collapse and factories are laying off workers en masse. Nothing is done about the annually recurring floods. Apparently Thailand is completely mismanaged, while the population is dying. Behind the well-known “Amazing smile” lies a sadness and annoyance that should not be underestimated… Many expats who brought prosperity pack their bags… Something urgently needs to be done, much more than switching to sugar cane production.
Those few rice farmers are not happy, but 75% of the soils are too dry to grow rice, but still good enough for sugar. Those farmers are happy with factories nearby. Sugar has brought a lot of prosperity to large parts of isaan in the last 10 15 years! Rice prices have been bad for years.
The sugar price has already halved last year. Because of the (too) large supply?
Yeah so? Potatoes and onions here in the Netherlands too. You are clearly not a farmer.
Over the past 10 years, sugar cane has earned twice as much as rice. But then there must be a factory nearby to be able to sell it. Hopefully it will work out for those people. Finally work and money.
And sugar price halved? Which? It is about what a kilo of reed yields for a farmer. It's not halved.
Isn't it that sugar cane that is burned after harvesting? If so, the Thais and the tourists in the north get even more air pollution in March April and May.
Lionel.
In a world in which sugar is seen as an unnecessary product and above all a disease-causing product, Thailand will present itself as a dealer of this drug.
All a bit late and no one will be the wiser, but that will only be realized in 15 years.
In the meantime, every effort is being made to counteract the product of the future. Rulers at a lower level are in charge here because there is often a phrase in legislation or policy that states that civil servants have their own freedom of decision.
A tree that has a lot to offer in terms of reforestation in the Isaan is the crabok tree or Irvingia malayana.
The trees can reduce the dramatic salinization in the Isaan, increase the area of forest and the seeds are suitable as an alternative to the anti-social palm oil industry.
The oil from the seeds (up to 85% by weight) has unique properties due to its particularly high melting point of 39 degrees.
Applications could be slow release suppositories, anti whitening of chocolate, additive in green engine oil, lubricant in the metal industry.
Everything has been proven but the greater powers now have no interest in it and unfortunately another missed opportunity.
With all the nice talk from the Netherlands or the EU, they are not interested at all because it does not fit the picture. The world could be more beautiful, but an idea is not even taken seriously because of ignorance.
Meanwhile, the African species with more or less the same properties is processed in cosmetics and helps the local population generate income.
Reconversion in the Thai agricultural sector is absolutely and urgently necessary. The problems are structural and towering. Large parts of the rural population are suffering.
The rice sector is exemplary problematic, but so is rubber.
Whether reconversion to sugar on an industrial scale will bring more economic prosperity remains an open question. There is no sugar shortage worldwide, on the contrary, and world production is still increasing every year.
Sugar export is not an option given the monetary position of thb.
As a raw material for biofuel, there could be a small chance of success, but several projects have not yet outgrown the pilot phase. Biofuel from sugar cane on an industrial scale also remains fraught with many uncertainties.
The many "side effects" already indicated in various responses are undeniable. The social booze that is paid for this is nowhere passed on to the problem owners, in particular the sugar manufacturers.