A growing number of rural people are seeking alternative lifestyles amidst the crisis of mainstream development, The Nation reports in the eighth of the series on Rural Thailand.

Families and communities choosing alternatives to government-sponsored projects may be scattered throughout Thailand, but they are reaping much more than economic rewards.

Before they choose their own path to reaching their goal of survival, most have weighed their own assets, both physical -- land ownership and access to natural resources -- and cultural, which includes not only customs and local traditions but also the knowledge they have developed in their own community, the ''local wisdom'', the body of knowledge specific to their community that has enabled them to fish or raise crops, to survive in a sometimes hostile environment.

Small-scale fishing in the South, integrated highland farming in the North and a mixture of farming and community business in the Central region have been emerging in the past ten years. Organic farming -- rice, herb tea, soybeans and soybean oil, sesame, fresh and processed vegetables and fruits, juices, processed food, snacks -- has begun to appear throughout the country.

The economic viability of these alternatives indicate their success. About 40 groups are now registered on the alternative agriculture network: 15 produce and sell on the domestic market, two produce only vegetable products, 13 only sell and another one is a dealer, said Witoon Panyakul, who works for an alternative agriculture non-governmental organisation (NGO). (A survey of unregistered groups has not been conducted yet.)

Rice farmers in Surin, a group of 243 families who have been raising rice organically for 10 years, are taking another step to expand domestic and foreign markets of their product. Last year, apart from domestic sales, they exported more than 152 tons of both pesticide-free and organic milled rice to Switzerland in their own brand name, Khao Hom.

The choice of alternative farming, however, has sometimes begun with one individual. After trying chemical-free, organic farming for five years, for example, farmer Sanong Khamchanta in Phayao's Mae Chai District has been able to pay off the Bt180,000 in debt he accumulated in the previous 14 years, when he followed mainstream, intensive chemical-based rice farming.

For Sanong, 43, as well as others, however, the transformation from mainstream to alternative farming strengthened not only his economic standing but also his relations with his community, his family -- and himself.

This transformation began almost by chance with a visit from a young man, who he later found out was from the NGO, Northern Alternative Agriculture Network. In the long conversation, Sanong brought up the subject of his debts.

''He raised several basic questions that forced me to review myself, my family and my goals,'' Sanong said.

Ever since his marriage in 1974, Sanong followed chemical rice farming, just the way his neighbours did. As the cost of fertilisers and pesticides rose, the quality of his soil dropped and the price of rice became increasingly unstable, he fell into debt, first in 1978, when he became a member of the Agriculture Cooperatives and more deeply in 1986, when, to get a higher loan credit, he borrowed from the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC).

The ''big money'' of the construction contractor business beckoned, but he soon discovered that to earn big, he had to invest big. In addition, he was sacrificing his family for nothing. During the six months he would be away from them, because of his loneliness, hard work and pressure, he turned to gambling, drinking and buying sex.

''My wife stopped trusting in me in everything, including money matters,'' he said. ''She wouldn't even let me keep any of the money I earned.'' Besides, he hadn't been able to reduce any of the huge debt that still hung over him.

''Finally, I realized that I could not live like this forever, especially when I got older. I was also concerned about the future and security of my two children,'' he said.

Under the pressure of the debt, Sanong began seriously considering a new suggestion that was totally different from what he had done for most of his farming life.

The most difficult step, he discovered, was the first. ''I had to learn to be satisfied with an ordinary life, not one with so much consumption,'' he said.

To switch to free-pesticide farming, he needed to work even harder. Sanong spent all his time on the farm, studying the crops and trying to adapt organic farming concepts to his own farm, to learn to use, for example, herbs and other biological controls instead of insecticides.

His success attracted his neighbours, and some of them decided to switch to organic farming as well, and 27 families joined up.

Although he solved his investment problems, others still remained. Sanong suspected that middlemen were cheating him. Although they paid him a higher price than the cooperative did, they later sold the rice to the same cooperative. When he investigated, he discovered that the scam lay in mis-weighing.

After Sanong proved the scam to his neighbours, they agreed not to sell rice to the middlemen anymore but to mill the rice themselves for a higher price. They all contributed to the investment in their own rice mill.

After five years, Sanong has reaped more benefits than he ever expected. His wife has started to trust him again, even asking him to take care of the money he earns. ''I have my family life back,'' he said.

He has also regained his community. The farmers' group has a rice bank, which helps other neighbours bargain with middlemen because they pay Bt1 per kilo higher than the market price.

''The rice mill has also created jobs for the group's housewives and children for the whole year,'' he said.

But Sanong -- and the Mae Chai community -- are not finished yet. Seeking alternative ways of life is always an unfinished process, an unending path. Seeking new knowledge for the farms and for running the community business, they are in constant touch with the other alternative groups in the other regions.

Prof Nithi Iawsriwong, social critic and Chiang Mai University lecturer, said that communications between groups is at the heart of their learning process. The more they learn, the more success is possible, he said.

''Having a chance to see the wider world is the key for villagers to understand outside situations, gain confidence and develop the skills to adapt their local wisdom for their survival,'' he said.

The ninth part of the series will be published on Mar 19, focus on the overview situation and limitation of alternative practice.