Lesson of Life : Rice is my Root ‘Dr. Karndee Prichanont’ of Thammasat University Amongst the younger thai generations who turned back to the very root of the country, agriculture, despite the materialistic uprise that is reigning Thailand and some other developing asian countries these days, is the beautiful educator named ‘Dr. Karndee Prichanont’ of Thammasat University. ‘Curious why we’re doing this?’ She first asked us when we arrived at the demonstration rice field in the university compound. Since it’s obvious that there is no agriculture teaching at Thammasat. ‘Teenagers and university students these days are too caught up in the material world and are totally separated from nature. So as a university that has been closely related to the people, I just thought we should do something to connect our student with the society. And rice planting just came to my mind since our ancestors and the majority of Thai people is still rice farmers. If we grew up not knowing our root, we’ll end up in nothing and we’re definitely going nowhere.’ Dr.Karndee enlightened us. ‘We break the activity down into sessions ; sowing, planting, and harvesting. And we sent out timetables to the students. They can come anytime that suits their schedules and interests, and of course, voluntarily. This is during the second harvesting time, wanna join?’ Of course we said yes. The 2 acres of land was so beautiful in evening sunlight, with golden rice swaying in the wind. Birds were singing and I can say that the whole experience was uplifting. The students gradually walked into the field, grabbed the sickles and started reaping. Some looked skillful. ‘They took care of each others so it’s the whole learning process for them.’ Dr.Karndee said even she, herself, was learning the processes from her students. All the rice that had been harvested will be sent to the rice mill before returning to the group on the ‘Let’s Eat Rice Day’ in December. Dr.Karndee said her aim was not for the participants to be really efficient in rice farming but only for them to have sympathy and understanding for the Thai farmers. She hoped the project turned out to be an ongoing one because not only it changed our attitudes towards hardworking but also it’s a lesson of life for every Thai, and probably, everyone. Care for a rice planting experience? Just call 0-2613-2017 or 0-2613-2020.