THAILAND
Rice farmers in what was once a quiet village sold their land when they had the chance, not knowing what lay under the ground
Naowarat Suksamran in Phetchabun
No one expected a small paddy field, which used to belong to a 40-year-old farmer in Phetchabun's Wichian Buri district, would turn into a "gold mine" and become a new energy source for the country.
The six-rai plot on high ground in Na Sanoon village could become the heart of the next boom town after the discovery of commercial quantities of underground oil reserves.
But the news that his house was sitting on liquid gold came too late for Pramoen Paengnongyang, 40, who sold the land before the oil was discovered.
A real estate broker who is also a kamnan bought Mr Pramoen's land, and many other nearby plots, three years ago.
"He offered to buy our plot for 150,000 baht a rai. We sold our six-rai plot to him and so did other villagers," he said.
Mr Pramoen used the money from the sale to buy a low-lying paddy field covering 15 rai. His new plot is fertile and bears healthy yields.
He also bought a tractor and farm implements. The rest of the money was used to clear his debts and he also saved some.
But the farmer's family does not appear to be any better off. The family lives in a one-bedroom house. Some large rocks, a reminder of the old property, were put in front of the house. Mr Pramoen likes to sit on those rocks looking at paddy fields near the house every evening.
"I'm happy that my plot is now an oil well which will be useful for the country. In the past, that paddy field gave us low yields," he said.
Mr Pramoen is content with what he has, but his wife has regrets and says they should have been paid a better price for the land.
Unlike Mr Pramoen and other farmers, Somsak Khamlar and his wife Sawai still have their paddy field. The couple in their 50s have been busy planting rice on their 12-rai plot near the oil wells managed by Pan Orient Co, the Canada-based concessionaire which surveys and drills oil wells in Wichian Buri district's tambon Na Sanoon and other parts of Si Thep and Muang districts.
Pan Orient has drilled a total of 26 oil wells in the areas. Several years ago it surveyed the area, but did not find enough oil in commercial quantities.
The Khamlars said their rice field yields about 1.5 tonnes of rice a year. Their two children, who were underpaid when they went to work in Bangkok, have returned to help on the farm.
Growing rice this year has been a blessing due to the high prices. Their fields are also productive because of good weather.
Some farmers hoped the crude oil under the ground would ease the pressure from the soaring cost of living for them. But they soon learned they had no control over the price of oil found in their neighbourhood.
But some financial benefits from the drilling work has been trickling down to the communities.
Chaluay Nakasem, a security guard at Nakhon Sawan Pitaksap Co, a company hired to guard the oil wells at tambon Na Sanoon, said oil-drilling concessions have created jobs.
Many villagers who used to be migrant workers have been hired by the drilling company. Other people set up stalls selling goods to workers attracted by the brighter job prospects in the once sleepy village.
The hotel business in the tambon is also taking a slice of the action. The operator of the Piyamit hotel said his place was expanding to keep up with the surge in reservations.
"People contact us every day to rent our bungalows and hotel rooms. Some of our rooms are booked for the whole year," said the hotel operator.
Nawin Pantham, the manager of Pan Orient's Wichian Buri office, said the drilling reaches depths of 800-1,200 metres. The crude is of good quality and is sold to PTT Plc, said Mr Nawin.
An official from the Mineral Resources Department said the agency would survey more onshore oil fields in the province and the results of the survey would be used as a database for interested companies wanting to bid for concessions.
An environmental impact assessment study on the oil drilling would also be conducted.
But Boonkerd Chaimeeraeng, the village head of nearby Ban Thayai in tambon Bo Rang, admitted that oil drilling operations damaged crops in nearby fields.
"I'm worried that oil spills may contaminate our paddy fields, a source of our livelihood, in the future. However, most residents don't share my concerns," he said.
Natthapol Thongjaisod, the chairman of the Tambon Bo Rang Administration Organisation, said the price of land there and in other nearby areas had risen tenfold after oil was found.
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