Dylan Cook
Thailand
At night, before tucking her two boys into bed, Mae (Mother) Thong sits them down for a serious talk. She makes sure they have their homework done and reminds them of the importance of school. She then jumps down on her boys’ bed, a thin mattress on the floor, and smothers them with motherly affection, tossing their hair and ignoring their protests.
Although she only attended formal school until second grade, Mae Thong believes strongly in education. “I don’t know how to read and write,” she says, “but I don’t want my kids to be like me...I tell them to study hard so they won’t have a hard time like their parents.”
Mae Thong has moved in and out of Khambon Village, in the outskirts of Khon Kaen city, since she was seven years old. She followed work to Bangkok twice, before permanently settling next to the village with her new family. Mae Thong is a mother of two, a wonderful cook, and her community’s accountant.
Khambon village flanks a ninety-eight rai landfill twenty kilometers north of Khon Kaen City, a major development center and the heart of Northeast Thailand. The stench in Khambon is potent, overwhelming at times. Rotten food putrefies in mass. Pools of toxic runoff stagnate in outdated drains. An adjacent Danish-built incinerator burns noxious medical waste.
The few hundred community members of Khambon are aware of their situation, aware of the hazardous and unflattering living conditions.
Yet the landfill provides an indispensable livelihood. Khambon villagers are scavengers – informal workers that spend day and night combing the landfill’s refuse for recyclable materials.
In spite of their circumstances, Khambon community members seem happy. Every glance exchanged is accompanied with a wide smile. The smallest joke yields ten-minute romps of laughter.
The scavengers are happy, but not content. Recently the villagers began to organize. They want clean water, social security, and social welfare. They want to be recognized by the government, at least as informal laborers.
“Whether people are rich or poor, they are still people,” says Mae Thong. She, along with three other village leaders, has been working tirelessly for the past few years to focus her community’s energy and strengthen its voice.
Mae Thong is a true community leader. She believes in the power of individuals to confront and overcome the challenges of their present situation. This belief motivates her current activities and renders inspiration in community members.
A constant stream of people flow in and out of Mae Thong’s home. Friends ask advice, repay loans, or come for the good company. She speaks to everyone with an innocent smile on her face and eagerness in her voice. “Maa gin khao,” she shouts to passerbys, inviting them to eat with her.
In the past ten years, Khambon scavenger wages have decreased exponentially, from 800 Baht per day to the current 100 Baht per day wage.
Despite their meager wages and thanks to the “One-Baht-a-Day” program, an emergency fund recently started by Mae Thong, Khombon villagers have saved a staggering seven-thousand Baht in eight months. As of now, thirty-four villagers have joined the program. Members receive financial aid when they are too sick to work, pregnant, or in need of a loan.
Mae Thong and other community leaders have high hopes for the future. Presently, they are working towards a network of scavenging communities in the Khon Kaen area. In the long term, they hope to become part of an international network of scavengers.
Khambon Community, with the help of leaders such as Mae Thong, is fighting for new life. When asked about the future of Khambon, Mae Thong replies with a spark of determination in her eye. “Dii maak! (very good!)”
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