Thailand’s rice fields and rural landscapes are home to more than 13 million hardworking farmers, many of whom have spent generations cultivating the land with limited access to modern soil knowledge or rest. That’s changing thanks to an innovative program called “Soil Stay” — a first-of-its-kind farm-stay initiative launched by Tra Mongkut Fertilizer in partnership with global agency VML Thailand to help farmers rest, learn, and rejuvenate both themselves and their soil.
Rather than focusing solely on selling products, Tra Mongkut Fertilizer has spent over a decade building Thailand’s largest soil database, cataloguing more than 300 distinct soil types across the country. This deep soil knowledge, combined with specialized Model Farms that demonstrate best agricultural techniques for each soil profile, forms the backbone of the Soil Stay concept.
The program works much like an agri-tourism version of Airbnb — but instead of paying money, participating farmers submit a soil sample from their own land. Based on that data, Tra Mongkut matches them with a Model Farm that shares similar soil characteristics and proven farming practices. During their stay, farmers can rest during off-season periods and learn tailored, practical methods to improve soil health and crop productivity before returning home.
What makes Soil Stay especially compelling is how it blends soil science, data technology, hands-on education, and experiential learning into one supportive experience for farmers. Rather than traditional classroom sessions, participants observe and absorb cutting-edge farming techniques in the field — helping them farm smarter, not harder.
Early interest in the program has been strong. Soil Stay was recently showcased at the Thailand Sustainability Expo 2025, drawing attention from government agencies, agricultural groups, and sustainability advocates, and over 10,000 farmers have already signed up for the next phase. The initiative marks a major step toward more sustainable, knowledge-driven agriculture in Thailand — and a stronger future for the farmers who feed the nation.
