[Hlennisal]

I think a "rot dum na" should solve the problem. (I promise to search what I can find on the internet, if there isn't one could probably be invented, now the idea is there.) With a rot dum na, the kids won't have to learn how to plant individual seedlings, but they'll still need to learn how to recognize a healthy plant from a non-healthy one.

I believe in the US, they grow a different strain of rice, called the US long grain, it's harder on your tooth and sorts of taste too dry for the Thai taste. The rice needs to be cooked in a different way than just the simple way we do in Thailand. It doesn't need to grow in water as the Thai variety does. So I guess it grows easier from the seed, similar to wheat that is grown around the world.

The story about the Sala makes me smile. My mother who is 76, last year built herself a new house. I was amazed at how she did it. She hired the son of her neighbor to be the construction manager. He learnt how to oversee a construction just by watching some other people do it. My mother got her house in 6 months at about a sixth of the prize that I paid for building my own house that took about a year to complete. Trust the genius of the Thai people to learn, and to adapt.

Your wife is right, you worry too much. Your kids will be building solar-equipped huts by the time they grow up, so don't worry about the cement, and steef stuff.