“farmers” man the evaporation ponds used to harvest sea salt. (Photo: Hein Htet / The Irrawaddy)| About a two-hour drive outside the state capital Moulmein
“farmers” man the evaporation ponds used to harvest sea salt. (Photo: Hein Htet / The Irrawaddy)| About a two-hour drive outside the state capital Moulmein
“farmers” man the evaporation ponds used to harvest sea salt. (Photo: Hein Htet / The Irrawaddy)| About a two-hour drive outside the state capital Moulmein
“farmers” man the evaporation ponds used to harvest sea salt. (Photo: Hein Htet / The Irrawaddy)| About a two-hour drive outside the state capital Moulmein
“farmers” man the evaporation ponds used to harvest sea salt. (Photo: Hein Htet / The Irrawaddy)| About a two-hour drive outside the state capital Moulmein
“farmers” man the evaporation ponds used to harvest sea salt. (Photo: Hein Htet / The Irrawaddy)| About a two-hour drive outside the state capital Moulmein
“farmers” man the evaporation ponds used to harvest sea salt. (Photo: Hein Htet / The Irrawaddy)| About a two-hour drive outside the state capital Moulmein
“farmers” man the evaporation ponds used to harvest sea salt. (Photo: Hein Htet / The Irrawaddy)| About a two-hour drive outside the state capital Moulmein
“farmers” man the evaporation ponds used to harvest sea salt. (Photo: Hein Htet / The Irrawaddy)| About a two-hour drive outside the state capital Moulmein
“farmers” man the evaporation ponds used to harvest sea salt. (Photo: Hein Htet / The Irrawaddy)| About a two-hour drive outside the state capital Moulmein
“farmers” man the evaporation ponds used to harvest sea salt. (Photo: Hein Htet / The Irrawaddy)| About a two-hour drive outside the state capital Moulmein
About a two-hour drive outside the state capital Moulmein
PANGA VILLAGE, Mon State — Occupying more than 1,000 acres of land beside a road in Thanbyuzayat Township, the salt farms of Panga reflect a shimmering white under the tropical sun in Mon State. They are among the less conventional of various types of farms scattered along Burma’s coastline, wherein the harvest is gathered from seawater.
About a two-hour drive outside the state capital Moulmein, “salt farmers” manning the evaporation ponds come into view. They only work from December to May, when there is sufficient sunlight to evaporate the accumulated seawater, leaving behind its salt.
The ponds, stretching out to the horizon, were previously manned by locals, but as much of Mon State’s indigenous population has migrated to neighboring Thailand for more lucrative work, most of the sea salt farmers in Panga these days are from the Irrawaddy Delta.
