For several decades, cracked ground in Isan or the Northeast of the country captured the public's imagination. In the 1970s, readers submitted their poems to Satri Sarn, the country's first women's magazine, recounting tales of drought, crop failure and hardship. Some were forced to eat leaves and grasshoppers, not rice, while others who fled their villages in search of jobs in Bangkok were duped or exploited by agents.
But, hopefully, it could soon be a thing of the past. A new wave of "rice tasting" emerged at the third edition of the annual Isan Creative Festival, which wrapped up last week. This year, it had more than 300 programmes in two key venues, Kungsadan and Srichan, in Khon Kaen. Of these, the future of rice -- a staple diet of cheap price and neglect -- took centre stage, envisioning revolutionary possibilities.
