Ban Mae Khi is a village located in Khun Yuam district of Mae Hong Son. It is home to 395 people, including 84 children.
KHT cooperated with the village in 2010 to provide a WASH system, which continues to ensure families have enough water in all seasons. KHT also supported school meals for children in dormitories for the village, as the village is not able to run a school bus service due to its remote location. In line with KHT’s Integrated Approach, KHT worked with the village to construct a Flood Resistant Irrigation System (FRIS) in January 2025.
The villagers have struggled with flooding and 40% of the villagers stated they did not have enough rice for their dietary needs. 250 people will directly benefit from the FRIS, ensuring that 55 farming households will benefit from improved all-year access to rice fields, improved management of irrigation and water, improved crop diversity and yields, as well as ensuring reduced environmental damage through the felling of trees for traditional temporary dams.
KHT’s Baseline surveys determined that the average income in the village is 43,000THB. This is less than £3 per day for an entire family to survive on.
Farming is the main source of income for villagers and subsistence farming is vital for their survival. Farmers in Ban Mae Khi were unable to irrigate their fields in dry season, and there were up to 20 wooden dams in the village being used to support irrigation. Approximately 400 trees are used per dam, thus having a huge impact on the integrity of the local forest and also requiring regular labour as the dams are easily washed away or damaged.
The construction process involved our team working with the village to decide on the correct site for the FRIS, planning for the construction and recruiting volunteers from the village to support the work.
Once the materials were delivered to the site, our team and the villagers set about making the cement, setting up the steel supports and frames and clearing the site.
The work can be difficult and tiring and more than 20 villagers were able to support the construction.
The FRIS was a large structure, being 33m wide and 15m in length. The presence of the FRIS should help reduce the impact on flooding for almost 40% of households in the village.
“We are so happy to have this dam. It will help us grow more food and I hope I will have more to sell. We don’t need to keep building wooden dams, and that is a relief!” – Mr. Prachuab, farmer in the village
KHT has found that 1 year after our project is constructed, farmers are able to rely on the FRIS and utilise rain water rather than only relying on rain for growing crops. Our project has also helped farmers grow more crops and grow different crops. This allows them to sell more, and increase their annual incomes. KHT will return to Ban Mae Khi next year to complete our Monitoring and Evaluation.
KHT is grateful to The Tawingo Fund for supporting this vital project. The FRIS will make a huge difference in the lives of the villagers, supporting improved food security, improved crop diversity and will help protect the local forests from unnecessary tree felling and destruction.
The impact of the FRIS will be seen for many years and will improve the quality of life for multiple generations of Karen people.