Lam yai

Spend Friday with Bee's parents in Lamphun. They are fruit farmers, growing lam yai, bananas and mangoes - but mainly lam yai. Bee's dad (see pic) explains that until about 10 years ago the whole area was down to rice, but now is all given over to fruit growing - presumably much less labour intensive than paddy. We go to have a look at how work is getting on in the orchards. The lam yai season is just about over, and two blokes are up a rickety ladder, chopping away the branches that have fruited. We spend some time pulling the last fruits off the chopped branches - these are the lowest quality ones which will sell for the least money.

Later we meet Bee's uncle at his factory. He is a local fruit magnate who has invested in huge drying sheds and machinery so that the lam yai fruits can be graded, dried and exported - mainly to China. Half a dozen young Karen seasonal workers are making some lunch out the back. They keep their distance from the boss. 'Work long, not much money' says Bee's uncle cheerfully, referring to his workforce . The drying process operates 24 hours a day. 'Do they eat lam yai in England?' he asks, hoping to open up another market. I tell him I don't think so and he gives me a large sack of dried fruit to take back to Bangkok.