The Mobile Corn Factories of Phu Chi Fa

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On my way to Phu Chi Fa, famous for its sea of fog view over Laos from a peak in Thailand, I witnessed a mobile corn factory working its way along the mountain road, processing corn just purchased. I was told the laborers were primarily university students on break from study in Laos.



They let me photograph them after I asked for permission. They even invited me to join in the backbreaking labor. I wanted to focus on photographing them so I declined, but if I could do it again I would join them. The only one who really spoke to me was a very cute Thai woman who seemed to be overseeing everything.



She said that corn prices were double what they were last year at this time, from near 3 baht (per kilo- I think?) to 6 baht per kilo now. The road through the mountains in this area (and many where hill tribes live on less fertile land) is littered with corn being grown and processed on the slopes.



There are not so many trees left in this area as a result. Lest the hill tribes be blamed, valley born Thais are intimately involved in the trade. I have mixed feelings about it especially considering how tough it is to make a living in these areas. The weather in these parts, I believe, is the nicest in Thailand despite the low paying wage economy.



I also have mixed feelings about my photos, but the beauty of it from a distance drew me in. I would have liked to get closer. Here is to hoping opportunity will knock again. Enjoy!

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Photos

Phu Chi Fa at Dawn
The best I could get as it broke up at sunrise. The whole valley is covered in December and January I have been told.

Comments

[Sandy]

Gorgeous vistas!
Very interesting pictures as well as the concept of a mobile corn factory. you are certainly showing us some beautiful parts of the world. Thanks, Love, Sandy

[ZJB]

thank you
Always very nice to get your comments Sandy. Hope you enjoy looking at the photos as much as I enjoy looking for them :)

[Helen]

Love how it looks
The cartoonish mobile "factory" in this lush countryside needs to become an incident in an indie movie? Now please explain who gets what out of the corn factory. Is the final product for the grower the corn kernels? or whole corn ears? Do the factory owners keep and use the husks for something? At least I guess the corn will be used for food, not ethanol--wish that were true in the US right now, during this drought that's devasted thousands of acres of corn.

[ZJB]

mobile corn factory
the grower sells to a middleman who sells to another middleman....usually with the machinery who then sells further on down the chain. The final product here is the kernels which are probably sold to someone who grinds them into corn meal or feed.