Thai family plans to return to Finland to pick berries

Boonmee Seubsiri

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By Jorma Erkkilä and Sami Sillanpää
     
      “The working conditions of berry pickers should be improved”, says Mrs. Boonmee Seubsiri through an interpreter at her home in Nong Bau Lamphu in the northeast of Thailand.
      “I have heard that in Sweden the state helps if berry pickers go into debt over the travel, or if they have health problems or get in an accident”, she said.
     
Her observations are in line with a study by the Lappea Institute of the University of Lapland, examining the working conditions of berry pickers in Finland.
      The researchers say that a minimum requirement for the sustainability of the business would be that nobody should go into debt because of travel to Finland to earn money picking berries, because doing so can put the picker in a spiral of debt.
      Rice farmer Boonmee Seubsiri came close to falling into serious debt.
     
Seubsiri and her husband of the same name had borrowed money from her local bank to pay for the flight tickets, visas, and other expenses for their trip to Finland in the summer of 2009.
      The two picked bilberries and cloudberries for the Korvatunturin marja berry processing company. They also had to pay EUR 20 a day to the company for food and lodging at a local school.
      The trip took a negative turn when a vehicle that was transporting them veered off the road, and the two suffered head injuries.
     
Because of their injuries they were not able to work to full effect for the rest of the summer, and were saddled with a debt of about EUR 1,600 – the equivalent of a year’s income.
      Repaying the debt seemed hopeless until Helsingin Sanomat ran a story about their predicament in October 2009, after which a Finnish man contacted the family. The man and his friend sent the Boonmees enough money to pay off the whole debt.
      “We are very grateful”, Mrs. Boonmee says.
      Korvatunturin marja also had insurance, which helped the couple.
     
Last year the family decided to try again. They took another loan, and their 17-year-old son also joined them.
      “I can’t pick berries because my injured foot is sore. I cannot carry anything heavy, so I worked at the camp as a cook”, Mrs. Boonmee says.
     
The summer of 2011 was successful for the family. They made a profit of about EUR 6,000, which was a jackpot for them.
      Not all of the Thai berry pickers did as well. Researcher Pekka Rantanen says that eight Thai pickers ended up spending more in costs than they earned.
     
Mr. And Mrs. Boonmee and their son plan to come to Finland next summer as well. Word about their success last summer has also awoken interest among their relatives and neighbours, many of whom plan to join them in Finland and the summer.
      Their son hopes to earn enough money to get into university.
      The parents hope to be able to buy more farmland with the money they earn in Finland.
     
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 6.1.2012


Previously in HS International Edition:
  A long way for bilberries (13.10.2009)
  Happy ending: one unfortunate berry-picker gets a helping hand (27.10.2009)

JORMA ERKKILÄ AND SAMI SILLANPÄÄ / Helsingin Sanomat
jorma.erkkila@hs.fi, sami.sillanpaa@hs.fi