[ed. note: though this entry is focused on informal surveying methods, the information herein should was collected from an actual interview, and should be reflective of an Isaan/Mukdahan farming community]

Asking questions of farmers can seem like an intimidating prospect- they are strangers, you may no nothing about farming, they are more likely to speak dialect than your professional counterparts.

But talking with farmers- especially while walking through an actual field- has one great mitigation: you can ask a few questions, not really understand the response, and then ask the same questions again, but with a greater expectation of what the answers might be.

The follow is a real example, one that took place away from field. All I knew going into the discussion was that Mukdahan was in Isaan and that Isaan is mostly rice patties. That's about how much information you can expect to get from the first conversation you ever have with a local farmer, so lets say the conversation below is like the following day- you talked to one guy yesterday, you went home and pulled a couple farm-related vocab, maybe you checked this Wiki for some basic info, and you headed out into the fields again [remember to bring a bottle of water, and maybe your camera].

Your tools: Leading questions based on your existing knowledge. [90% of the vocab below should be in your PST language book]
Your goal: Gain a bit more knowledge, both to have and to turn into leading questions for your next conversation.
Your result: You have just completed an informal agricultural survey and met a new person.
NOT your constraint: Failing to understand everything they say. If you don't understand, just say "Krap/ka," "chai," or cover both bases by saying "krap-pom" [see below]. You're only looking for whatever information you are able to understand. Do try to catch new vocab, and do try to catch their name.


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While sweating away a March afternoon at Ekamai, waiting for 121 to arrive in Bangkok on their "Amazing Race," I began to chat up the young man attending the Station's car park. He told me he was Mukdahan. After taking a few minutes to discuss the outgoing Pattaya commuters (Ekamai services both the clients and the customers of that illustrious city) and Bangkok rent (shockingly high), I asked about his home; he was proud. He was also adamant about being Thai and not Lao. Our conversation went like this:

Me: "Paw-Mae bpen chao-faarm mai?" /// {"Are your parents farm folk?"}

Him: "Araai?" //// {"What?" [my tones probably forming a sentence far different than what my mind was was intending; lets approach from a new direction:]}

Me: "Bahn-geert mai chai Amphur Muang, no?" /// {"Your hometown is not the provincial city, is it?" [We had established this point earlier, but I gotta get his mind oiled-up for the next questions; best way to overcome your own bad pronunciation and grammar is to have a meeting of the minds close to the vicinity of your inquests]}

Him: "Mai chai, [blahba ba bla ba], krap. [Blah blah ba, possible emphatic about not being Thai, not Laotian, ba baa]." /// {"No, [then he says some stuff that I don't understand one bit]."}

Me: "Nung bpen chao-bahn; bpen chao-faarm, chai mai?" /// {"Young one, you are village people; farm people, no?"}

Him: "Ohhh. Ah, krap-pom." /// {"Ohhh.. Ah, yes."} [For those who access this page soon after PST, here's your language lesson 1: "krap-pom" is both more proper yet more colloquial than 1) saying a single krap/ka, or 2) saying "chai" to answer a question in the affirmative. It can be used by men and women. You'll hear it a lot, and eventually starting using it a lot, too.]

Me: "Khon Mukdahan bpen chao-na, no?" /// {"Mukdahan people are rice farmers, no?"}
Him: "Chai." /// {"Yes."}
Me: "Rai kaao-pot mai mii." //// {"You do not have corn fields."}
Him: "Mai mii." /// {"They do not."}
Me: "Suan, mii mai?" //// {"Do they have orchards?"}
Him: "Mai mii." /// {"They don't have."}
Me: "Oi, mii mai?" /// {"Do they have sugarcane?"}
Him: "Mai mii. Na tii diao." /// {"Nope. Only patties [ie, only rice]."}

Me: "Ah. Leh, tii Mukdahan, khon bpluuk kaao: bpii la, gii krang?" /// {"Ah. And, in Mukdahan, people plant rice: one year, how many times?" [remember to take one person's answer with a grain of salt and to ask questions like this- which you do actually want a real answer for- to multiple farmers]}

Him: "Bpii la, sawng krang." /// {"One year, 2 times."}
Me: "Mai chai saam krang? Tii Paak Klang, chao-na bpluuk saam krang." /// {"Not 3 times? In the Central, rice farmers plant three times."}

Him: "Saam krang, mai daai! [Some hubabaloo way beyond my Thai skills], naam mai mii." /// {"Three times, no way! [woah, I have a lot of Thai left ot learn], we don't have water."}

Me: "Oh, okay. Sawng krang. Leh, khon bpluuk kaao, leeo gaaw tua, leeo gaaw kaao, reu kaao an diao?" /// {"Oh, okay. Two times. And, people plant rice, then beans, then rice, or only rice for realsies?" [as you continue along, make sure to clarify such points; ask these questions of everyone. You may think you have already asked "Do farmers plant rice and beans?"- meaning, do they follow rice with a crop of beans- but in fact you asked "do they plant rice and beans at the same time in the same place?" You don't want to walk around for three months assuming nothing but rice is planted in your community and then one day come upon what you swear are corn stalks. Misunderstandings like that suck maak.]}

Him: "Hmmm... Bang khon bpluuk tua duai." /// {"Hmmm.... some people plant beans, too."}
Me: "Dtae-waa, Suan mak mai bpluuk. Suan mak bpluuk kaao sawng krang, leeo gaaw ru-du rawn, mai bpluuk araai, chai mai?" /// {"But, most people don't plant. Most people plant corn two times, then hot season, they don't plant anything, no?"} [language lesson 2: question words can also be indefinate pronouns: 'araai' becomes 'anything'/'something', 'nai' = 'somewhere'/'anywhere', and 'yang ngai' = 'however'/'whatever way', for example. So, "Mii araai, mai?" is "Do you have anything?" and "mai pluuk araai" is 'don't plant anything."]

Him: "Chai, chai, [woah, I get it, he's speaking Isaan]." /// {"Yes, yes [garbled dialect that you'll still not understand one year in]."}

Me: "Tii Paak Neua, mii puu-kaao. Bpluuk kaao yuut, mai daai! Raao bpluuk kaao-pot gap tua. Sanuk dii." /// {"In the North, there are mountains. Plant lots of rice- no way! We plant corn and beans. What fun!"}

Him: "Hmm. Naa-son-jai. Pom bpai tam-ngaan." //// {"Hmm. Interesting. I'm going to go work." [you've just been greng jaai'd]}
Me: "Kaao toot, Khun chuu araai?" //// {"Sorry, what is your name?"}
Him: "Pom chuu Det." /// {"My name is Det" [write this down before you forget it]}
Me: "Sawadii, Det, Pom chuu Peter." /// {"Howdy, my name is Peter." [in the village, I would add that I am a volunteer and live in moo. 2]}

And, again, you're now on your way to surveying your community. From here- now that you're starting to know local farmers by name- you can begin progressing towards more formal surveys, as well as using the basic information you just learned [lack of irrigation in the dry season; some bean farmers, but that's not universal; two rice crops per year] to better extrapolate information collected with your own eyes [call it visual surveying. You'll feel more productive].

Best of all, the above can be included in your Tri-annual Report without hesitation.

Good luck, and as always, please contact your favorite ROOT Group member for more information or advice.