Eighteen years ago, thousands of local villagers living in the seasonally flooded lower part of tambon Kho Nua in Muang district, Yasothon, learned that their lives would change for the better after His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun, then the crown prince, visited them. His royal initiatives to dredge Nong Ung, a dry 430 rai swamp, improve soil quality in the community, and revitalise a damaged forest led to the villagers' better livelihood.
"His Majesty the King initiated the dredging of Nong Ung for use as a water source for agriculture and fish cultivation and also the improving of the surrounding area to ensure that people can live in a forest in a sustainable way," Yasothon governor Nikorn Sooksai said. "Almost the entire area is no longer flooded in the rainy season. There are plenty of fish. This royal project site has become a popular destination for study trips and youth camps. Children stay overnight, do trekking and absorb the concept of natural-resources conservation."
According to the governor, the 150 rai of land around Nong Ung has been allocated for locals to earn a living by growing big trees, fruits and vegetables, keeping some for consumption and selling the rest. Near Nong Ung is Ban Kham Nam Sang sufficiency economy centre and Support Foundation project. The Nong Ung and Ban Kham Nam Sang projects are role models and serve as learning opportunities for the people.
In the past, seven of this tambon's 15 villages were faced with chronic flooding because the area was a low-lying plain where water from the Chi River and Yang stream flow through and inundate the areas every rainy season. Rice fields and roads were flooded. In dry seasons, water shortage forced the villagers to encroach on over 1,000 rai of the 3,006 rai Dong Mun community forest to do shifting cultivation and find wild products and firewood. Eventually, the land was too badly spoiled for farming, prompting many locals to leave for jobs in big cities.
Somsak Tawinan, chief of the royally-initiated Nong Ung development project, said in the past four villages in this tambon were cut off from the outside world by seasonal floods and accessible by flat-bottom boats only. Only off-season rice farming could be done there, because most areas were flooded in the rainy season.
On Nov 28, 2000, the then HRH Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn and Her Majesty Queen Sirikit visited those affected by chronic flooding every rainy season in tambon Kho Nua. After their helicopter made a landing at Ban Nam Kham School, the Queen focused on occupational assistance and training for locals, while the then crown prince wished to visit Nong Ung to seek a solution to the flooding problems.
Damrongsak Thepwathee, president of Kho Nua Tambon Administration Organisation, who was present during the royal visit in 2000, recalled: "After the provincial governor's greeting, officials of the Royal Irrigation Department invited the crown prince to release fish into another swamp, but he refused and pointed at a map saying he would like to go to Nong Ung, which he saw from the royal helicopter.
"No preparation had been made for the visit. Later, the prince, accompanied by a few royal aides, drove to the swamp after checking the map. It took about 4km from the school to Nong Ung and the road was a dirt one at that time. The royal vehicle's wheels were later stuck in a sand hole. The crown prince got out of the Land Rover near the swamp, walked and talked to a villager who was looking after buffaloes. The prince asked what the name of the swamp was and if it was usually full of water. When the villager said there was no water because of drought, the prince asked whether he wanted the swamp to be dredged. The villager replied, 'Yes'."
The prince came up with three major initiatives to improve the condition of the area. First, Nong Ung must be dredged, unclogged and turned into a source of water for farming and fish cultivation. Second, soil in areas around Nong Ung must be improved through the planting of trees and vetiver grass to prevent soil erosion. Third, the forest around Nong Ung must be revitalised in order to allow people to live in harmony with the forest.
"The villagers were delighted that the Queen and the crown prince visited them. The change was excellent. The dry swamp, which was full of weeds since I was born, has water all year around and the villagers make the best use of the water," Damrongsak noted.
After the royal visit, Nong Ung was unclogged to ensure more space for retaining water and allowing more fish to grow. Soil derived from the dredging was brought to improve the 100 rai surrounding land, later distributed to 120 former forest encroachers for farming according to the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej's sufficiency economy theory.
A public hearing was later had among residents of seven villages around the Dong Mun forest to return the encroached forested land, which had been occupied by villagers mostly for watermelon planting. All the villagers collaborated after hearing Queen Sirikit's words about forest conservation, according to Tianchai Setsuwan, a former village headman and also former land encroacher.
Somsak, chief of the Nong Ung development project, added that the local community was strong and willing to help revitalise the encroached forested land. As the soil is sandy, suitable types of trees like ironwood trees were chosen for reforestation.
Since 2003, the Dong Mun forest has become fertile and it has been full of termite mushrooms, puff ball mushrooms and several other mushrooms after three years of mushroom growing on Yang wood in the forest.
Many of the 7,000 residents of tambon Kho Nua benefit from collecting and selling mushrooms from the woods. The prices of mushrooms from there have increased from 100 baht per kilo to 300-350 baht per kilo, because they are in large sizes and in high demand in the market. In brief, the forest yields two times as many wild products as in the past, up to 4 million baht from 1 million baht a year. Two million baht is from termite mushrooms alone.
The Nong Ung development project also has co-operatives and a facility to preserve mushrooms, red-ant eggs and wild products through canning. It sells canned mushrooms and wild products under the award-winning Wanathip Brand.
"Things improved after we started to plant trees in the forest and formed a committee which first represented seven villages and now consists of 15 villages. The forest is more fertile and yields more wild products. The project is very good for leading to better livelihood," Tianchai said.
Besides the Nong Ung development project in Yasothon, the Office of the Royal Development Projects Board, the Royal Irrigation Department and agencies in charge of water resources acted on King Maha Vajiralongkorn's royal initiative by building five reservoirs for locals in Ratchaburi 27 years ago.
The move came after the villagers appealed to him when he was crown prince and visited residents of Ban Thai Prachan of tambon Yang Hak and Ban Huay Muang of tambon Tanaosi of Suan Phung district on April 10, 1991.
The crown prince then came up with the initiative to find water sources for locals for farming and consumption. These reservoirs retain water from watershed in the Tanaosi mountain range and also from downpour.
