Wanakaset Network Thailand

Global Ecovillage Network logo with a flower and leaf design in purple and blue.
  • Communities

About the Communities

  • Thai
  • Ecological
  • Rural

What we do

Wanakaset was developed by Pooyai Viboon Khemchalerm who following the teachings of the “Green Revolution” went from early successes to bankruptcy. Able to sell off most of his land to repay his debts, he was left with about 1.5 hectares and no money. He then had an awakening and returned to the ways of earlier generations to produce for their own needs and not for money. He also recalled his knowledge and experience as a boy with his father living in and from the forest. Being in his 40s, he also was aware of his age and thought that as the forest always provided abundance without need to labor that this was the path. Rather than plant crops, plant a forest. However abundance came not only from biodiversity but the knowledge and practice of how to use it. Every plant has value, but we also need to learn how to use the plants for food, medicine, dyes, soil fertility and other purposes.
A farmer and an activist, while his ideas and methods were “crazy” they were good medicine for many and more and more people came to learn from him. He taught how to get off the production line and develop real freedom.
While he transformed his once barren fields into a diverse forest garden with over 2000 species, he saw greater value in helping people transform, for each person could then grow their own gardens and do their own important work learning and sharing more. Pooyai Viboon teachings inspired many who took these ideas to heart.
The Wanakaset Network is a community of students of Pooyai Viboon (now passed away) who work to practice and develop “Wanakaset” in their own places and ways and come together regularly to share knowledge and experience. Many members also have small eco-social enterprises based upon these ideas and the network does some collective marketing and has a participatory guarantee system, but the core is in the practice and continual learning from nature and each other. The center is Pooyai Viboon’s home in Sanam Chaikhet, Chachoengsao

  • Purpose
  • Ecological
  • Languages
  • Thai
  • English
  • Community type
  • Ecovillage
  • Activities
  • Education

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  • Open to new members
  • Open to visitors

How to join

This is a network of practitioners of “Wanakaset” – forest gardening and self-reliance in Thailand who meet regularly- normally once per month and on special occasions. Others who are interested to learn and share can join our meetings and network. Those who join should also be working to practice these or similar ideas. As almost all members are Thai and most only speak Thai, if you or your partner cannot speak Thai or Lao then difficult to join as a regular member, but may try and visit and learn when time can be made to receive you and help with interpretation. The Wanakaset Learning Center, home of Pooyai Viboon is open to receiving longterm volunteers with these interests and some Thai or willingness to learn Thai. Others may come to visit and learn and the center can organize more in depth trainings on this knowledge system if there is sufficient interest (with costs).

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Location

  • Thailand

Wanakaset Network Thailand

Promoted Needs and Offers

  • Events
10 years ago

Yo Mujer, Yo Ecologico, Yo Gaia

Taller Vivencial de Ecologia Profunda para Mujeres Un fin de semana para Reconectarnos con nuestro Poder, la Naturaleza y la Red de la Vida Vivimos en tiempos desafiantes, con crisis en nuestros ecosistemas, economias y sociedades que están afectando a toda la vida del planeta. Para muchas personas esto puede ser angustioso y abrumador; tal vez no sepan como reaccionar. En este taller vamos a explorar como son nuestras respuestas al estado actual en que se encuentra el mundo; de un modo que nos ayude a despertar y acceder a la motivación, creatividad, fuerza y solidaridad necesarias para la transición a una cultura humana sostenible. Juntas haremos un recorrido que nos llevará a espacios en los que podamos reconocer en que maneras, nosotras como mujeres, sentimos los peligros que hay en estas crisis, experimientando sus efectos y visualizando y co-creando nuestro futuro. El sonido nos acompañara en este viaje y jugaremos con nuestras voces y tambores, para expresar nuestros sentires, nuestros deseos y nuestras esperanzas. Estas prácticas pueden reconectarnos con nuestro poder, el poder CON la Tierra, en lugar de Sobre la Tierra, lo cual es algo que las mujeres desde la antigüedad han sabido y entendido. Vivir en plenitud es conectar con nosotras mismas como partes activas de la Red de la Vida. Las mujeres siempre han sido activas en los movimientos sociales y medioambientales: en la Guerra Civil española, las Madres de la Plaza de Mayo en Argentina, en el Reino Unido ha existido un campamento antinuclear con unicamente mujeres por 20 años. Y más recientemente oimos las voces emergentes del Sur como Vandana Shiva y Wangari Maathai en campañas por la soberania alimentaria y los derechos de acceso a los recursos locales para la población local. Estas prácticas que realizaremos, han sido desarrolladas y utilizadas desde hace más de 40 años y están basadas en el trabajo de Joanna Macy, ecofilósofa, activista, estudiosa y profesora de la teoria de sistem
  • Events
5 years ago

EDE France 2021 | Écovillage Sainte Camelle

We had to wait 2021, against all odds, to see the very first French EDE. How come it was only the 1st? Why never before? Well, we know why. FHF. This is why making an EDE in France was a tough challenge to take on. And yes, we did it! The group of participants we had for this EDE was so diverse that no clan emerged. It is quite usual that people gather by affinity in small groups but here, the entire group stuck together no matter what. The glue was really strong. Some personalities were more extraverted of course, but with a real care for other’s presence and voice. To the extent to become a real counter-power: if we made any facilitation mistake, if we failed to propose in the most careful way and if it felt like we were imposing anything, we would be immediately in trouble. We knew it came from a childhood school trauma for these people, who were very open about it. It was an amazing journey to navigate the facilitation process with such awareness. This context led to something incredible during week two: a very quiet voice, Pauline, protested against the fact that they had agreed to community agreements on the first day but now, she said, they had to review them by themselves and check if it reflects who they really are. We, as EDE crew members, opened a space in the program for them to take the time to do it. They used Sociometry, a tool taught to them before, to assess the agreements. They counted in percentage who agreed or not for each topic. They even discussed about the structure of the program and finally approved it. It was a very beautiful real-life example of self-empowerment. One of the most iconic moment of this EDE was the Derdian roleplay in which they completely immersed themselves for three hours. The participants playing the indigenous Derdians went in the forest and created another set of social rules to add to the existing 10 social rules, making it even harder for the engineers to understand them. Howeve
  • Events
11 years ago

Liderar la Transición

Lo femenino del mundo, de las personas. De Mujeres y Hombres. La Transición que nuestro mundo sueña, necesita de una reformulación clara de los liderazgos. Reinventarse el liderazgo devolviéndolo a su lugar: ser una función de la eficiencia de los procesos colectivos; y dejando de lado los liderazgos basados en la acumulación de privilegios, en la desigualdad y en la dominación. Cuando lo Femenino ocupa el espacio de lo publico, trae consigo la realidad no visible; coloca en lo social los interrogantes necesarios para que lo social deje de estar fraccionado entre Publico/Privado, y pueda ser acogido como el Todo que es. Lo femenino en su esencia, despojado de los condicionamientos impuestos, libre de ser y expresar su potencial en un mundo que busca caminos hacia la inclusión, la escucha, la equivalencia, el empoderamiento de los seres y colectividades que cuidan de la Vida. Traer al espacio de lo Publico , lo invisibilizado: las mujeres, los pueblos olvidados, la propia Tierra, la parte oprimida de la humanidad; es una forma de integrar las necesidades de las personas , del planeta, de la humanidad como identidad . Esta propuesta quiere ser un espacio para abrir las puertas e indagar juntas sobre el papel de estos liderazgos en los procesos de cambio. Como son esos nuevos liderazgos? Como es encarnar estas posiciones en colectividades y organizaciones? Como viven el proceso las mujeres que están desarrollando estos nuevos liderazgos? Y las que no. Como se sienten los hombres ante los liderazgos de las mujeres? Y los que encarnan estos nuevos modelos de liderazgo. Buscar respuestas….temporales tal vez. Ofrecernos espacios para el debate, la indagación, profundizar, explorar. El Programa: (Provisional, sujeto a cambios) Viernes 9 por la tarde: Llegadas, instalarnos, visitar Arterra. 20.00: Cena y Presentaciones. 21.30: Cine y Debate. Sábado 10 : 9.00: Desayuno 10.00- 13.30 Taller: Liderazgo y Poder. 13.45:

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A residential project: people live here as their primary home.

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An institution, business, network, or project that isn’t a residence (e.g. a learning center, farm, or network with no one living there full-time).

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