[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_margin=”|auto|-25px|auto||”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/blog.dafko.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Latex-collect.jpg” title_text=”Latex collect” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” min_height=”512.9px” custom_padding=”||17px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”Arial||||||||” text_font_size=”16px” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
In Thailand I live on an Island in Phang Nga bay called Koh Yao Noi (\u201cLittle Long Island\u201d). Before Tourists started arriving, the main activity, besides fishing, was growing and maintaining rubber plantations. Today rubber is still important, but the emphasis has shifted somewhat. The locals own the land and the trees, but hired migrant workers, most of them from Burma, do the hard job of collecting the latex from the rubber trees and curing it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis<\/em>) is originally from Brazil. The indigenous population of Mesoamerica has always used the latex, and the rubber derived from it, for all sorts of implements. Europeans started taking an interest in rubber in the early 19th century. But it wasn\u2019t until Charles Goodyear accidentally discovered a way of turning latex into a durable, heat and cold resistant product by adding sulphur and heating the mixture. He called the process \u201cvulcanisation\u201d after the Greek god of fire: \u201cVulcan\u201d.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”Arial||||||||” text_font_size=”16px” global_colors_info=”{}” min_height=”397.4px” custom_margin=”-33px|||||” custom_padding=”0px|||||”]<\/p>\n For most of the 19th century, Brazil had a virtual monopoly on the production of latex and thus on rubber. But in 1876, Henry Wickham, a British explorer and self-styled adventurer smuggled about 70\u2019000 rubber tree seeds out of Brazil and sent them to Kew gardens in London where seedlings were cultivated from them. These seedlings were then sent to the British colonies in Southeast Asia, especially Malaysia and Sri Lanka. All the rubber trees in Southeast Asia, including the ones on Koh Yao Noi, are derived from the seeds Henry Wickham stole and smuggled out of Brazil.<\/p>\n Koh Yao Noi got relatively rich on rubber. For a while, it was exporting more rubber than could have been physically produced, given the relatively small land mass of the island. The difference came from rubber smuggled from nearby Malasia, where government controls kept prices low, while exports from Koh Yao Noi could fetch a better price. The people of Koh Yao Noi profited from this arbitrage.<\/p>\n For the US, Brazil was closer, and the Americans focused their efforts of increasing rubber production on Brazil. Two thirds of the rubber used world-wide is used in tires for automobiles. Therefore, the US automobile industry had every interest in increasing the availability of rubber from Brazil.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”2_5,3_5″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”2_5″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/blog.dafko.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/image-1.png” title_text=”image” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” height=”406px” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”3_5″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”Arial||||||||” text_font_size=”16px” global_colors_info=”{}”]In 1928, Henry Ford bought a large piece of land in Brazil and set up an entire US town in the jungle. With the trademark modesty typical for him, he called it \u201cFordlandia\u201d. Fordlandia had everything a typical US town would have: schools and school buses, a hospital, a police station and, of course, acres and acres of rubber trees.<\/p>\n Always one to seek improvements in efficiency, Henry Ford had the rubber trees planted in plantations, 1.5 metres apart from each other. The natural, wild rubber trees were typically up to one hundred or more meters apart from each other and the latex collectors had to travel long distances on foot from one tree to the next. By planting the trees closer together, more latex could be collected faster and more efficiently.<\/p>\n This picture is from Malaysia, but it shows the way Henry Ford had rubber trees planted im the Brazilian Jungle.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”Arial||||||||” text_font_size=”16px” global_colors_info=”{}”]Well, the rest is history, as they say. The South American Leaf Blight (SALB) infected the trees in Fordlandia and wiped out the entire plantation in a few years. As the trees were close to each other, there was no way of stopping, or even just slowing the spread of the disease. Today, all that is left of Fordlandia are a few abandoned buildings and ruins.<\/p>\n SALB is not present in Southeast Asia, thank God. The rubber trees in Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Thailand and all the other Southeast Asian countries were not affected by the blight. That is why we can find plantations like the one in this picture all over South-East Asia.<\/p>\n The absence of SALB in South East Asia has led to one of history\u2019s largest re-alignments of global trade flows. While Brazil provided over 90 percent of the World\u2019s natural rubber at the begin of the last century, today Southeast Asia provides virtually all the natural rubber produced today.<\/p>\n But all Southeast Asian countries are keenly aware of the risks of SALB. A similar outbreak in Southeast Asia could have catastrophic consequences. While petroleum-based alternatives to natural rubber exist, they are close, but not quite equal in quality, especially with respect to performance under extreme temperatures.<\/p>\n As an example: one application where natural rubber\u2019s ability to perform under extreme temperatures is airplane tires. While the airplane travels at high altitude, the tires in the wheel bay are exposed to temperatures of minus 50 or minus 60 degrees centigrade. As the plane descends to land, the temperature rises quite rapidly to plus 20 or up to plus 40 degrees within about 30 minutes, a temperature difference that approaches one hundred degrees centigrade within a short amount of time.[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”2_5,3_5″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”2_5″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/blog.dafko.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/airplane-tire-2.jpeg” title_text=”airplane tire 2″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”3_5″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”Arial||||||||” text_font_size=”16px” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n And then the tires are slammed onto the hard surface of the runway and dragged along with a weight in excess of 20 tons per wheel behind it. When the brakes are applied the tires have to absorb all that energy resulting from the conversion of kinetic energy into heat in some way. Only tires made of all-natural rubber are able to withstand these stresses without bursting.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”Arial||||||||” text_font_size=”16px” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Tires made out of all natural rubber are essential for aviation, and aviation is essential for many things in moren life, such as waging war, for example. This is why airplane tires are on the list of goods embargoed against Russia due to its’ war of aggression against Ukraine. Russia is forced to purhcase airpalne tires on the black market and then try to smuggle them in. One such shipement, originating from Spain, was intercepted by Polish authorities on May 19 of this year.<\/p>\n I leave it to your imagination to wonder what would happen if we had an outbreak of SALB in Southeast Asia. Besides airplane tires, natural rubber is crucial in many applications in medicine, industry and transportation. That no more natural rubber would also mean no more airplane tires and thus no more flights, is not the only consequence. Being unable to fly to your favourite vacation destination would probably the least of your worries.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In Thailand I live on an Island in Phang Nga bay called Koh Yao Noi (\u201cLittle Long Island\u201d). Before Tourists started arriving, the main activity, besides fishing, was growing and maintaining rubber plantations. Today rubber is still important, but the emphasis has shifted somewhat. The locals own the land and the trees, but hired migrant […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_s2mail":"yes","footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[22],"class_list":["post-223","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-thailand","tag-thailand"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.dafko.ch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.dafko.ch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.dafko.ch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.dafko.ch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.dafko.ch\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=223"}],"version-history":[{"count":30,"href":"https:\/\/blog.dafko.ch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":273,"href":"https:\/\/blog.dafko.ch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223\/revisions\/273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.dafko.ch\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.dafko.ch\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.dafko.ch\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}