Foraging for Thailand's forgotten edible plants

A walk on the wild side:

In the context of the massive threats to our planet's biodiversity and louder responses from political movements like Extinction Rebellion,  I wanted to write about how as increasing numbers of plant species disappear, we lose our knowledge of how useful (or delicious!) these plants may be. As this happens - something of traditional culture is lost too.

I profile local permaculturalist Goustan Bodin, who runs foraging tours on Bang Kachao, Bangkok's Green Lung to educate people about the diverse variety of edible plants growing there.

Bodin (AKA P'Dan) offers wild betel leaves for fellow foragers to try.  Photo: Ewen Mcleish 

From a different perspective, Michelin starred Chef 'Bee' Santongun of gourmet restaurant 'Paste Bangkok' uses wild, foraged and rare ingredients to give a twist to classic Thai dishes.

Chef Bee of Paste Bangkok examining wild ingredients. Photo: Paste Bangkok

In different ways, I think they are both, by tickling people's tastebuds, raising awareness of Thailand's great biodiversity and why its preservation is important.

I was grateful to the pair for taking the time out of their busy schedules for interview and for introducing me to a variety of tastes I otherwise may never have experienced.

The full article was published internationally by news website Coconuts in their Travel section, which reaches 8 cities across South East Asia.

Click here to read the whole piece.

Inspiring Child-Led Change

The EcoBEASTs Community Action Day. All photos: Somkhanay Thepthong

Bangkok's International Schools, grassroots sustainability groups, and businesses come together to work for change.

I was very happy to combine my passion for writing on sustainability themes with my passion for education in this article. In recent years I've noticed many stories involving students in schools around the world acting to tackle our sustainability crisis. 

I wanted to write about how young people are increasingly involved and inspired to act within the green movement here in Bangkok. Writing about Ecobeasts, gave me the chance to do this.

This group of teachers aim to connect international schools with local environmental organisations and green businesses, as well as support educators in delivering sustainability in the curriculum.

It was pleasing to see the resulting article: Uniting to Inspire Child-Led Environmental Change appear in the Bangkok Post. The article focuses on the 2019 EcoBEASTs Community Action Day, where 120 students met and learnt from a fantastic array of people behind green and socially conscious projects in Bangkok. Apologies for not being able to mention all of them in the article.

I'd like to thank my colleagues at STA 71 for their support in writing the article, as well as Helen Mullen and Katy Waring, the dedicated teachers behind EcoBEASTs.  Links to all organisations mentioned (and more) can be found on the EcoBEASTs site.

A pdf of the article is available here.  Below are some photos of the activities laid on for students attending the event:

Precious Plastic Bangkok's innovative machine recycles old plastic.

Students learn how to turn used cooking oil into soap with Bangkok Soap Opera. 

Up-cycling an old T'shirt into an Eco-bag. 

Learning about the importance of soil. 

Postscript: A more detailed version of this article appeared in the April/May 2019 edition of 'Expat Life in Thailand.'  A PDF of this is available here.

Who is Muebon? And why does he care about Indonesia's rainforests?

Following in the footsteps of acclaimed 'OBEY' US artist Shepard Fairey and the UK's mysterious Banksy, Thai street artist Muebon is speaking out on issues that concern him.

Muebon's memorable logo. Photo: Muebon

I was lucky enough to get the chance to interview Muebon about his street art which has appeared in cities around the world. He was commissioned by Greenpeace to spray paint a giant mural with the message 'Save Our Forests,' across the Bangkok Arts and Cultural Centre in the heart of the Thailand's capital.

Muebon admires his work at the BACC. Photo: Greenpeace

We had a wide ranging discussion, uncovering the artist's background and passion for using street art to bring messages to people who may not normally frequent elitist galleries or think about the issues reflected in the work.

Explaining the message behind the mural, Muebon said that the characterful birds were bringing a message to city dwellers about the tragedy of deforestation. The project was part of Greenpeace's global #WingsOfParadise street art campaign highlighting the threats to the forests of Papua (Indonesia) from South East Asia's rampant palm-oil industry.

Muebon uses this bird character to convey the messages in much of his work. Photo: Ewen Mcleish 

Our conversation included Muebon's views on the introduction of GMO crops (primarily maize) into Thailand's agricultural industry and its effect on the environment and farmers' livelihoods: an area I knew little about.

We also discussed the 2018 case where the president of the Italian-Thai construction company was found hunting a black panther in national park forests in Kanchanaburi.

Asked whether he is an artist or environmentalist, Muebon replied emphatically that he was an artist, but that it was essential that people consider society's unsustainable approach to the natural world. The 'Save Our Forests' mural was painted over on the 14th of October 2018.

My full interview entitled, One on one with Muebon: the street artist on making meaning, staying out of 'Hi-So,' galleries and the importance of Indonesia's forests was published by Coconuts Bangkok. A pdf is available here. Thanks to Greenpeace South East Asia for making this happen.

As a condition of interview, Muebon asked that his identity remained a secret.

The yellow-breasted bunting - eaten into extinction?

The Chinese diners eating a rare songbird into extinction and the conservationists fighting to save it.

I'm pleased to share my second article for the South China Morning Post and my forth about bird conservation.

The yellow-breasted bunting is a brightly coloured migratory bird which has seen its population drop dramatically in recent years, and is now considered critically endangered.

Yellow-breasted Bunting. Photo: Simon Chan

Experts believe the population crash to be due to the birds' widespread popularity as a delicacy in Southern China.  Today, the trade is illegal but it continues undercover.

Evidence of the illegal trade (2013). Photo: Simba Chan

Conservationists are fighting hard to understand the birds' migratory path in order to work out how best to protect the species. In the meantime, the bird has been spotted for sale on China's consumer to consumer website 'Taobao,' (intended for the caged bird trade, rather than for food) and there are calls to put an end to the trade on the site.

An innovative project in Hong Kong's New Territories is fighting back. Volunteers have joined an Eco-paddy club, where they learn how to farm rice and receive a proportion of the crop in return. At the same time, the rice paddies provide food and shelter for the Yellow-breasted buntings as they fly south for the winter.

Volunteers harvest rice in Hong-Kong's Long Valley. Photo: Wyman  Koo

Please go here to read the full published article or click here to download the pdf to see it in print.

I'd like to thank Vivian Fu of the Hong-Kong Bird Watching Society who first suggested I write about this.  For more on the Taobao story and efforts to stop the sale of endangered birds on the shopping site check out birdingbeijing.com run by China-based Terry Townshend.