Rubber blankets Phuket Island
The island's hills remain green, but this is the green of a vast monoculture, no longer that of lush rainforests

Rubber is Phuket’s most important cash crop, generating six times the revenue of its nearest competitor, the coconut But contrary to what one might expect, the rubber industry hasn’t been the preserve of the classical rich planter complete with “great house” and army of servants.

Most planters are small holders, each family themselves cultivating l6rai (one acre equals 2.53rai) or less. All told, there are more than 4500 families who own plantations and in total about 15,000 people are engaged in rubber cultivation on the island.

Historically, there was little incentive to consolidate big plantations. Most wealthy families were preoccupied with the easy riches to be had in tin mining. Families who didn’t have a lot of money, on the other hand, found rubber a most attractive prospect. Land was cheap, techniques of cultivation were easier to learn and to practise than those needed to look after fruit orchards, for example. Unlike with rice, which required annual planting, after an initial three years of hard work and then a further wait of four years one could expect to settle back to decades of relatively easy living.
 

For related stories:
 

• The Rubber Rush - a look at the Thai rubber industry; By Duncan Worthington. Phuket Magazine Vol. 12 No. 6