Field notes

Thai junta yet to find firm footing with rural grassroots

Four years on, its outreach efforts and schemes are still met with scepticism

SPH Brightcove Video
Last year, the Thai government started a project to provide Internet access to remote villages. For entrepreneur Bangon Daengrat, who lives in Thap Pla, having access to social media has helped double her monthly income.
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Cutting swiftly through the Lam Pao reservoir, the fishing boat glides to shore with its daily catch. A beaming Ms Bangon Daengrat greets her supplier while clasping her iPhone to photograph buckets of still-gasping fish.

Within seconds, she has updated her Facebook account, which is followed closely by fans of her som pla, or fermented fish cake wrapped in banana leaf.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on March 31, 2018, with the headline Thai junta yet to find firm footing with rural grassroots . Subscribe