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Life is easy. Why do we make it so hard? | Jon Jandai | TEDxDoiSuthep

TEDx Talks · 16.1M views · 2011-08-03 · 15:10

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Overview

Thai farmer Jon Jandai talks about leaving Bangkok to farm and build his own house, arguing that food, shelter, clothing and medicine are easy to provide and that modern life is made needlessly complicated. He founded the Pun Pun Center for Self-reliance.

On Hacker News

HN recommends it as a thoughtful counterpoint to the pursuit of complicated, consumption-driven lives.

Recommended by 3 HN people across 3 months · HN mentions 2015–2025

Topics

Productivity & self-improvementEnvironment, agriculture & food systemsIdeas & learning (other)
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self-reliancesubsistence farmingminimalismthailandtedx

What people said

jodrellblank · 2025-02 · Recommendation

> And no, I don’t believe in the happy-life-in-the-forest. Jon Jandai moved from a village in rural Thailand to Bangkok, and took up a fulltime labouring job. He struggled to afford enough food to eat, slept in a shared room which was too hot, saved for a month to buy a pair of jeans to wear and realised he was still the same person and still unhappy, and he saw house prices out of reach with educated high-earners working for 30 years to pay a mortgage. He didn't like it, and moved back to his village. He spends a month planting rice and a month harvesting rice and gets enough rice to feed his family of six for a year, and several times more than that leftover to sell at the market. 2 months a year work, ten months free time. He spends fifteen minutes a day tending a half-acre garden and gets enough vegetables for six people to eat, and more to sell at the market. And he fishes. He built a house with earthen building in 3 months. He self-reports being much much happier, whether you believe it or not. [VIDEO]

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movedx · 2021-08 · Recommendation

That's an interest point! I'm going to find and read that. It reminded me of the guy from Thailand (TED Talk - linked below) who didn't understand why we make our lives so complicated when he can work for 2-3 months of the year and spend the rest of it wondering which of his six houses, which he built, he's going to live in - [VIDEO]

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pharke · 2015-04 · Recommendation

Reminds me of this talk [VIDEO] and also happens to be my current mid-range goal. I've worked on a farm, gardened, and raised chickens growing up and I'm dead set on doing it again, the amount of work that goes into it vs. the amount of food and enjoyment that you get out of it makes it a no brainer if you can take the leap and buy a plot. Construction begins this summer and I couldn't be happier.

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Sources

Video by TEDx Talks, played through YouTube.

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