Easing the burden on farmers
Bangkok electrician and school drop-out turns hand to developing remote-controlled tractor and hopes farming families such as his will benefit, write Nauvarat Suksamran and Phubes Faites
Farming rice is a back-breaking job with the physical burden weighing down on poor farming families who have few people to help. But all that could change with the invention of a remotely operated mobile tractor now put to the test in a small rice farm in Sukhothai.
A remote-control device in hand, Arthit Phengkit, a school drop-out who has no formal training in engineering, squats on the edge of his 50-rai rice field and manoeuvres a tractor 100 metres away.
It was a sight that turned heads and raised eyebrows. Local farmers were looking skyward for a toy plane they thought he was manipulating. Some were baffled to find, instead, that a tractor was moving on its own.
The remote-controlled tractor may hold one answer to the government’s ambitious Thailand 4.0 strategy initiative, which sets the course for the country’s transition to a valuebased economy which homes in on the introduction of technology and innovation in the production sector.
Thailand — the world’s top agriculture-producing country — needs to harness research and development which will redefine its agricultural production.
As a man imbued with passion for electric engineering from an early age, Mr Arthit, 35, is an electrician at a shopping mall in Bangkok when he is not working at the family farm. He knows enough about electrical wiring and how to “mechanise” help.
Growing up in a rice farming family, he and his father have encountered a slew of problems on the farm, from crop prices which rise and fall at the mercy of global demand, to a shortage of farm hands as labour migration to cities takes its toll.
Mr Arthit set out to ease the physically demanding work of ploughing his rice field, the first and most laborious step of farming.
Typically, family members or farm owners themselves must trudge the muddy fields to prepare the ground for planting rice seedlings. The hard work is made even more painstaking if the fields are large or when there are not many family members or hired hands around who can help out.
Mr Arthit has invented a mobile tractor which can be controlled from a distance to deliver the ploughing work with the least amount of sweat.
A native of tambon Koh Tao Liang in Si Samrong district, Mr Arthit said his family has made a living farming rice for several decades, in a country where farming is usually practised using traditional implements and tools.
Mr Arthit said he is all too familiar with the common phrase in Thai, characterising farmers, as “people who have their faces to the soil and back to the sky”. It describes how farmers must bend over to plant the seedlings and harvest rice when the crops mature.
Rice farming is also a profession beset by low incomes and an uncertain future. “As a child, I helped my parents on our farm. I needed to find ways to survive during floods when the entire field was swallowed up by water,” he said.
Mr Arthit said his family originally farmed on rented land. In some years when rice prices were depressed, they were forced to take out loans. Their finances were so dire that he and his brother had to leave school because the family couldn’t afford the fees any more. Mr Arthit has a Prathom Suksa 6 (6th Grade) education.
After that, his parents managed to save and eventually found enough to buy a 50-rai piece of land which is now their only asset.
The hardship drove Mr Arthit to harness from the power of technology. He drew up a plan to create an automated tractor which could make life easier for his and other farming families.
Mr Arthit said the tractor can operate using a remote control up to 400 metres away. The cost of installing the system is around 25,000 baht, excluding the tractor. The price tag may be beyond the reach of many cash-strapped farmer households but the cost may be brought down in the future if more farmers embrace the technology and the remote-control equipment needed for the tractors can be mass-produced.
Mechanical problems detected during the current trial period are being addressed. Mr Arthit said he plans to patent the remote-controlled tractor, if it proves feasible.
Mr Arthit, who has a daughter from his previous marriage, can also run the system via a computer and mobile phone.
“Farmers want low-priced labour-saving machines to lift the burden off their shoulders,” he said.
A potential hurdle is getting farmers, including the older generation, to accept the technology.
His so-called “smart tractor” is receiving favourable reviews from netizens and media outlets. Word went around and some farmers have contacted him via his Facebook page, asking for help in developing similar machines.
“The remote-control installation has a bit more fine-tuning to do before it is fully operational. But I won’t stop at this invention. I plan to develop other machines and gadgets for farms,” he said.
Looking back at his childhood, Mr Arthit admitted he used to feel ashamed not being academically successful and being seen working on the farm because most of his friends have a higher education.
“Every time a school bus passed our farm, I had to hide because it was embarrassing letting my friends see me toil the field,” Mr Arthit said.
When he was old enough to leave home, he joined hordes of unskilled people heading for jobs in the factories. While working, he enrolled in non-formal education, registering for a long-distance learning course in electrical mechanics.
He later landed his job as an electrician in a large department store in Bangkok.
In his free time, he looks up innovations and gadgets on YouTube, which has collections of video clips of people sharing their creations and know-how in all fields of knowledge.
Mr Arthit said he is fond of electrical engineering. Since he was a child, he has loved taking electrical appliances apart and reassembling them. He also picks apart gadgets to see how they work.
On his off days, he returns to his hometown where he busies himself with inventing electrical devices.
“In the beginning, my parents didn’t think I could put together a remote-controlled tractor. They didn’t want me to pin much hope on it.
“My parents thought it would be better for me to work in Bangkok with a secure and stable income and rely on company welfare,” Mr Arthit said.
Today his parents are convinced his efforts are paying off as they witness the automated tractor developed by their son ploughing the rice field.
“I always have confidence that I can do it. Looking back to the past when I tried farming for the first time, there were many obstacles but I managed to beat the odds,” he said.
Mr Arthit said he was aware his idea might be too far ahead of its time for some farmers.
“The only way to prove them wrong is to turn what I visualise in my head into a practical device on the field,” he said.
With positive feedback from his innovation, Mr Arthit has found himself at a crossroads. He is mulling over whether he should continue his city job or return to the rice fields and focus on carving a career out of producing more farm innovations.
I always have confidence that I can do it. Looking back to the past when I tried farming for the first time, there were many obstacles but I managed to beat the odds. ARTHIT PHENGKIT INVENTOR OF A REMOTELY OPERATED MOBILE TRACTOR