Himself the son of farmers, Uruphong Raksasad has been asking himself difficult questions about the present-day meaning of agriculture. What was once a cottage industry designed to feed the local community has become a vast commercial enterprise, geared to yielding big crops and even bigger financial returns, and subject to both domestic and international economic policy requirements. Pesticides have blighted much of the land, and banks have seized land from farmers who couldn’t repay their loans. The agrarian dream, in short, is over.