HISTORY & TRAVEL
techniques are still used today in many family farming operations in Phuket . I couldn ’ t help but be amazed at watching the skill of this man as he guided his Asian Buffalo with one hand while skillfully controlling the depth and direction of his plow with the other . Not an easy task I ’ m sure and loads of respect for this man and his craft . There is something very serene about being surrounded by these sorts of activities . Many of us worry so much about our day to day lives , the children , the future , our jobs , businesses , investments , family matters , and stresses and so on . This guy wakes up every day , yokes his Asian Buffalo and tends his fields and is surrounded by the people he loves . I met him , he seems very happy and content and is a nice and friendly fellow . Fortunately I had a translator with me . He ’ d probably give you the shirt off his back if you needed it and even his buffalo ’ s name is translated as ‘ He Loves You ’. It ’ s hard to believe that the US and Canada and many places in Europe would have very similar farming activities between 50 to 100 years ago . single sliver that is peeled back skillfully from its bark . After 4 months the bleeding area is shifted to a new zone , where the process begins again . While bleeding in the new zone occurs the previous zone is given a chance to heal for 8 months before it is used again . This process goes on for about 30 years and then the tree is cut down . Obviously new trees are also planted so the process is sustainable . This may sound a bit silly at first but watching it is pretty amazing and when you feel the pelts that have ran through the press twice you begin to see how the tree makes rubber and feel it in your hands . It ’ s amazing to think that something we take for grant it has so much work behind it .
During your exploration of Phuket you may come across a few of these towers in the photo below .
These are rubber trees which were imported to Phuket around 500 years ago . The bark on the tree is skillfully peeled back and leached into a small cup . After drying for a day or two the sap of the tree becomes a spongy like disk which is ran through a press two times to form a rubbery pelt . It ’ s these pelts which are processed to become the rubber used in our day to day lives . Think of the tires on your car , this is how they started . The tree trunk ’ s circumference areas are divided into 3 zones . Over the course of a year each zone is bled every day for 4 months strait . The bleeding of the sap is via a
No they are not for aircraft or ships either and you will see them around the coastal areas in Phuket . These are part of a tsunami warning system spread throughout Phuket . In fact , Thailand is now noted as having the best tsunami warning system in Asia . After the Tsunami disaster that struck in 2004 the system was implemented to ensure that everyone is aware in advance of tsunamis . These towers working with radar , bottom pressure detectors and a buoy system set in the sea , the system can detect a tsunami within 2 minutes of forming . There are 136 of these towers spread along all of Thailand ’ s shorelines . Once a tsunami is detected the alert is sent to a satellite which immediately notifies Thailand ’ s National Disaster Warning Center in Bangkok ’ s Bang Na District as well as broadcasting the warning on all local radio and television media
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Fall 2016 1961 Magazine