Coconuts
Farming Coconuts in Thailand

Coconuts are actually the seeds of the coconut tree. Coconut trees grow from coconuts.

Coconuts drop from the trees and begin to sprout. The juice and flesh inside the coconut act as the fertilisers for the new plant.

Throughout Thailand, coconut trees, which are called maprao, are grown in plantations. Irrigation canals run alongside the raised beds on which the coconut trees grow.

In some places in Thailand, coconuts are harvested by trained monkeys called ling gaeng. The monkeys climb the trees, pick the coconuts and toss them to the ground.

After harvesting, every part of the coconut is used. The juice inside the coconut is drunk, the flesh is grated and eaten or made into coconut milk, and the dried shells are used to make kitchen utensils, musical instruments and other objects

Thai people call coconut milk nam kofee. They put it into curries, sweets, desserts and drinks.

The green fibrous outer layer of the coconut is use as fuel, to make thatched roofs or to stuff mattresses.

The coconut is also used to produce oil, which is made by drying the flesh for several weeks, then pressing it in a machine.

Sugar is made from the seed pods of the coconut. The seed pods are cut as they grow, about one centimetre each day. Sap oozes from the seed pod into a bamboo tube, about one litre a day. The sap is boiled until crystals form, and poured into moulds to set. The light brown sugar is called palm sugar, and has a delicate flavour.

Acknowledge this source in your bibliography like this:
Thailand (2001). [Online], Available: www.kidcyber.com.au

updated February 2008 ©kidcyber