Thailand Trivia Photo Quiz

Posted on January 30, 2011 by Mike

Guess the article shown in this photograph from Thailand

January Photo Quiz

Thailand Trivia Photo Quiz.

The photograph shows the scene near my neighbours front gate this morning.  Something is waiting to be collected. My neighbours Mum spends many hours everyday collecting and processing what you can see in the photograph. Often she can be heard chopping until very late in the evening.

The produce is collected weekly and further processed to be made into something.

The fruits of this back breaking effort net my neighbours mum 12 Baht per kilo and there are 20kg in each pack.

Questions:

  1. What is in the photograph?
  2. Where does the end product originate?
  3. What will the product eventually be used for?

Now I think this might be a difficult piece of Thailand Trivia since you will not see this product everywhere in the country although you will find the eventual product in most homes throughout the Land of Smiles.

Answer:
Dead Coconut Palm Branches waiting for processing into brooms1. It is the spines of the leaves from dead coconut palm branches.
2. Coconut Palm.
3. These spines are used to make yard brooms after a bamboo shaft is added at the next stage of the process. However they can be used for thatch and for weaving things like baskets.

The process of removing the spines from the leaves is completed manually with a sharp knife before they are chopped to a uniform length.

The Coconut Palm.

Coconut palm showing branches and green coconutsThe Coconut Palm does not grow all over Thailand, notably the climate in the North and North East cannot support its growth.

Here in Prachuap Khiri Khan farming of coconuts is the second most common industry.

Everything on the tree is used including the wood, husk, milk and oil to make different coconut products.

Related posts:

  1. Thailand Trivia Photo Quiz July 2011
  2. Thailand Trivia Photo Quiz-February 2011
  3. Thailand Trivia Photo Quiz-March 2011
  4. Thailand Trivia Photo Quiz-April 2011
  5. Thailand Photo Quiz
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  • Malcolm

    Mike , this is some type of wild grass that grows near the river and sometimes in the wild it is used to make the grass roof for the thai houses at least thats what I think . Malcolm

    • http://www.thailand-blogs.com Mike

      Nice guess Malcolm and yes I know the stuff you mean. Thanks for joining in.

  • http://thailandlandofsmiles.com Talen

    Mike, hmm, Malcolm had a good suggestion…also looks like my broom on the balcony so I am going to go with the makings of a Thai fan broom.

    • http://www.thailand-blogs.com Mike

      Talen, well done, yes your old broom probably started life down here or up a tree anyway. Thanks for joining in.

  • kris

    Mike, Cat says that it is coconut leaf. It is cut in such a way as to make brooms of varying sorts. Some for the floor and others that act as rakes, depending on how the leaf is cut. My father-in-law made a very strong rake from coconut leaf and it is better than any wire rake I have ever used.

    • http://www.thailand-blogs.com Mike

      Kris, thanks and well done to Cat. I have not seen the rakes but I can see how they could be made. Cheap disposable and tough. Thanks for taking part.

  • Lloyd

    I think the plants literal translation in English is “Ya Ka”, its a native shrub used for rooming, some people do use it for brooms but it is not the same as the native grass used for indoor brooms you commonly see.

    • Lloyd

      Oops that should be “Roofing” not “rooming”!

    • http://www.thailand-blogs.com Mike

      Lloyd, again I agree it looks similar and I liked the rooming/brooming. Thanks for your contribution.

  • Lawrence

    Mike, I go for the roofing. The top fuzzy part will be cut off and discarded. It’s a kind of reedy straw so Malcolm is probably right about it growing near rivers. I don’t think it is stiff enough for brooms.

    • http://www.thailand-blogs.com Mike

      Lawrence yes it looks like the reeds for thatch. Do you have any coconut palms in your neck of the woods….Thailand not the UK ;-) Thanks for having a go.

  • http://missus-emm.blogspot.com/ Emm

    I think it might be coconut and used to make brooms but my first thought was of Mickey’s automated brooms in Fantasia and then the hats that people wear in Venda.

    • http://www.thailand-blogs.com Mike

      Well done Emm spot on good old Mickey Mouse ;-) Thanks for taking part, good old Walt Disney.

  • http://www.thaisabai.org Martyn

    Mike I’m full of indecision. Roofs or brooms.

    I’ve seen panels of thatched type roofing used as part of the bed on village roads, gravel or whatever is laid on top and then concrete over that. That’s a possibility.

    I’m going for bamboo and brooms.

    • http://www.thailand-blogs.com Mike

      Martyn I thought this might fool you given that in WW village you shouldn’t have coconuts? Interesting about the road material. They use the dead coconut branches in that way here as a bed for the gravel roads.
      Thanks for having a go and the other info.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_XPEA5ELQM3E6LQQEKCC7GDRCXQ Harry

    Well, I’m leaning toward the “roofing thatch” contingent…

    It can also be called “ya fraq,” and is woven into panels which are then used for roofing.

    The bottom several inches of reed/straw material is folded & fastened under a stick or batten to make a panel. The panels are slightly overlapped to make a mostly weatherproof roof.

    • http://www.thailand-blogs.com Mike

      Hi Harry a very good attempt and partly right because as you can see from the answer they can be used for thatch. Thanks for taking part.

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