An old couple in a Surin village smile as they prepare a meal but are they truly poor? This article examines the details of their daily lives to suggest whether Thai society runs at two speeds, for the urban elites who cream off the wealth and the country people who have been left far behind.
This picture shows a typical newly built house in our soi.
The old couple live and sleep under these grass roofs.
A small electric pump supplies them with water.
An 'iron buffalo' is expensive but is needed to till the fields.
The harvest is kept in sacks in a handsome rice barn.
Every night the buffaloes are brought back to this barn.
Every day is spent taking the animals out to find grazing.
Hot hours are spent digging crabs to glean a few mouthfuls.
This, the poorest house in our soi, looks pretty desperate.
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