1961 Magazine Fall 2016

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