Thailand

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In February, Colleen Beck of Seed Aquaponics was asked to research aquaponic

systems in northern Thailand. Two other interested researchers attended the trip to

Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai looking at several different types of aquaponic systems

and their affects on the people surrounding those systems. Click here to read the

monitor and evaluation report written on behalf of MTEC International, a non-profit

in northeast Pennsylvania.

While traveling from Chiang Mai to Chiang Rai, we had the opportunity to visit

Wiang Pa Pao, a beautiful hidden village along the route. We were welcomed with

open arms by all the villagers. Bo, our travel agent, took us to her family’s home for

dinner. Matt, the host at Treetop Country – the Eco-Resort where we stayed – took

us around the village to an ice-cream store with baby lambs, a traditional pottery

store, and the elementary school next door. The grandfather of the village, Paw, was

so gracious that he invited us to attend the village wedding the next day.

To help give back to such an amazing village, a trip has been prepared for this

summer to build an aquaponic system for the Eco-Resort’s volunteers and the

elementary school children to have more organic produce to eat. This system will

help secure a clean water source for the vegetables and fish to grow organically. The

vegetables will grow twice as fast and the fish eating the mosquito larvae will help

reduce mosquito-born illnesses in the area.

Students from local universities in the Pittsburgh area and three engineers will

attend the trip to help build the system and experience the culture of Thailand. If

you would like to contribute to the fundraiser for the system and give local

university students this once in a lifetime experience, please click on this link: