Heavily Reliant on Pesticides, Thai Agriculture is ‘Trapped in a Vicious Cycle’

A farmer sprays a concoction of agrochemicals, including fertilisers and pesticides, on a paddy field in Thailand’s central Nakhon Sawan province. Photo: Luke Duggleby/Dialogue Earth/HaRDstories

In an article published by Mekong Independent and Dialogue Earth, Pratch Rujivanarom writes about the adverse effects of pesticides on Thai farmers who suffered severe chemical burns and subsequent infections.

Content warning: Some readers may find certain images in this article disturbing.

As the sun rises over the village of Ban Wichit Pattana in north-east Thailand, 62-year-old Chuchart Srithachum does his morning exercise, walking as best he can on his prosthetic leg along the street outside his home.

These days, Chuchart is unable to work. He gets by with money from his son, as well as government allowances for his age and disability. He used to be a rice farmer, working 2.4 hectares of land on the outskirts of his village in Nong Bua Lamphu province.

Almost nine years ago, he was working in his flooded fields, barefoot as usual, when he noticed a strange greenish tint in the water. He carried on but soon started to feel a tingling in his feet. By the time he got home, the skin on his leg had begun to develop a rash, accompanied by pain. He was quickly taken to a local clinic.

The doctor told him the rash on his leg “showed telltale signs of paraquat exposure,” Chuchart recalls. The damage to his skin allowed for a bacterial infection that had devastating consequences.