The Sathingphra Peninsula lies between Songkhla Lake and the Gulf of Thailand in southern Thailand.
Most people make their living from rice farming, fishing and palm sugar production.
Rice farming has been in decline for many years now because of declining yields, high labour costs and competition for land. Over-fishing has also taken its toll. Palm sugar is now the main source of cash income for many older, landless and tenant farmers in the area - the palm trees are rented from local landlords. The palm sugar trees are planted on the narrow dykes running between the rice fields. From April until August, men climb as many as sixty of the ten metre high palm trees twice a day, to collect sap from the palm sugar flower at the top of the tree.