On Saturday November 23 a bus left from the parking lot behind Hotel Mermaid at Sukhumvit soi 21 half filled with members from Scandinavian Society Siam. After a two hours drive 150 km North of Bangkok we arrived in Muak Lek, where the Thai-Danish Dairy Farm, also known as Thaigården was established in 1961.
Today, the farm presents itself to visitors as a fusion between a Danish farm with black and white cows producing milk the same way as the Danish agronomist Gunnar Niels Sondergaard and Danida taught them back then – and an American rodeo show complete with a mini-zoo with ostriches and a few camels on the side.
We were taken around the 400 hectares big area in carriages pulled by a farm tractor mainly to see the stables where they breed the calves and milk the cows.
After one and a half hour guided tour we continued in the bus to the Eco Valley Lodge near KaoYai National Park, where we stayed overnight.
The children played by the pool and baked twist bread and grilled sausages over the fire, while the grown-ups had dinner in the restaurant along with a couple of beers.
Next morning, a group of 10 participants went out on a biking tour around the area to suck in some fresh air and move their legs before the bus would head back to Bangkok.
The bus made a short stop in downtown Muak Lek where we had the chance to see the burial plot of Knud Lyne Rahbek, who died at the age of 19 after helping his father measuring the land for the railway back in the 1890’s. The place is still maintained by SSS.
We were back again at Hotel Mermaid on Sunday at 3pm and we agreed that the trip had been a great opportunity for at get-away from the hectic Bangkok-life.
Below are many of the photos from the trip.
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