A ray of sunlight for Thailand’s rice fields?

Posted by admin on February 22nd, 2010 filed in Culture & customs, Isarn, Living here, People, Politics, The North, Top attractions, Travel destinations, Uncategorized, Understanding Thais, Up Country, Visiting

After thousands of years of untouched tradition, Thailand’s rice paddy fields are perhaps to receive a rather modern update.

According to the Energy Ministry, solar farms to be built on the elevated plateau of Isaan in the northeast of the country, as this flat, rice-growing land receives the majority of Thailand’s sunshine.

Both coastlines and mountainous areas tend to bring with them a higher chance of cloud coverage and Thailand is apparently leading the South-East Asian pack when it comes to the use of solar energy.

Most of the South-East Asian countries have a couple of things in common. The first is that they have very minimal budgets when it comes to promoting green technologies, and the second is that they are blessed with more than their fair share of sunshine.

And while I am certainly not one for breaking age-old traditions and modernising the few authentic parts of Thai life that remain, this one strikes me as a fool proof idea, as sometimes things have to change in order for them to stay the same.