The Foundation also helps farmers with marketing, packaging and processing. Products are marketed under the brand name Doi Kham and are available at supermarkets and at the Farmers Market near Chatuchak Park. Traditional farm life varies from region to region. The Central Plains are known as the country s rice bowl, but the crop is grown everywhere. Though mechanization is taking over in some parts, manual labor is still in wide use, from planting to harvesting.
Rice is grown year round in the Central Plains, but elsewhere the planting cycle is fixed.
Most of the country starts planting in May or June and harvests the crop between October and December. The South, which has a different rainfall pattern, starts planting between July and September and harvests its crop between February and March. There are fascinating rituals surrounding each step of farming, and harvest time is the best time to stop by and see the farmers at work, especially in villages where farming is not yet commercialized. It is possible to visit the rice fields during harvest time, and at some facilities, such as Maejo University in Chiang Mai, you can try your hands at planting or harvesting the rice in their demonstration fields. Fruit and salt farming flourish in the provinces on both coasts of the Gulf of Thailand.