:D Genetic Preservation :D - Breeding

Academic on cuttings

Muang Xai

Photo: Zomia


Synonyms: N/A
Type: NLD Landrace IBL
Style: Ganja

District: Pak Beng
Province: Oudomxay
Area: Upper Lao Mekong
Region: Northern Lao Highlands
Appellation: Luang Prabang Range
Country: Laos

Regional Planting: July-September
Regional Harvest: February March
Height: 1.5-4 metres
Classification: C. sativa subsp. indica var. indica

Muang Xai is an Oudomxay Highlands landrace sourced from around the village of Pak Beng in the Upper Lao Mekong Highlands. It was an important transit point between Luang Prabang and Chiang Saen in ancient times and today it remains so, featuring a bustling local market where one can try Cannabis grown in the neighbouring regions but ultimately destined for export to Luang Prabang or Chiang Khong. Most of this Cannabis has been subject to foreign influences - however, our grower is from the indigenous Khmu ethnicity and maintains that his garden plot has remained intact for as far back as the collective memory goes. This ganja is not destined for sale but instead, one or two plants are kept at home for medicinal purposes, growing on average once every two to three years as needed.

The Muang Xai is a gorgeous example of a Golden Triangle landrace. Perfectly adapted to a heavily forested highland environment, about 20% of phenos show a very, very elevated THC level and a decidedly Limonene forward terpene profile. The rest fall along a more typical medium THC, Pinene heavy expression.

Recommended for advanced Sativa growers.

Cambodia / Dvaravati


Photo: Zomia

Synonyms: Tararawadee, Dharavati
Type: Open Pollinated Landrace
Style: Ganja

District: Dan Chang
Province: Suphan Buri
Area: Tenasserim Hills
Region: Western Thailand
Appellation: Tenasserim Hills
Country: Thailand

Very rare accession from an open pollinated landrace population from the "Tarawadee" genepool maintained in Dan Chang, Suphan Buri by several growers in the area.

A classic NLD type structure typical to the autochtonous landraces of the Tenasserim Hills that produces relatively dense, thick colas of resinous flowers often showing a spicy, incense like character.

This is one of the less well known landraces within Thailand is supposed to have its origins in Cannabis grown by Mon peoples.

Highlands / Meun' Sri

Photo; Zomia

Synonyms: Tha Sala
Type: Open Pollinated NLD Landrace
Style: Ganja

District: Tha Sala
Province: Nakhon Sri Thammarat
Area: Nakhon Sri Thammarat Range
Region: Southern Thailand
Appellation: Southern Tenasserim

A rare accession from an open pollinated landrace genepool grown in Tha Sala district in Southern Thailand by ex-communists and Melayu exilees since the 1960's and maintained today by local families in several plots scattered throughout the Nakhon Sri Thammarat range.

some ‘ol heads working Cambodian line on islands…..
ganj on….

Lowlands / Kampot

Photo: Zomia

Synonyms:
Type: Open pollinated Landrace
Style: Ganja

District:
Province: Kampot
Area: Damrei Range
Region: Southern Cambodia
Appellation: Cardamom Mountains
Country: Cambodia

Sourced from an open pollinated landrace population in northern Kampot province.

Mtn. Nectar said:

some ‘ol heads working Cambodian line on islands…..
ganj on….

Click to expand...

I remember many years ago, how narrow was the leaf on the best Thai?
Alot of what im seeing looks broader leaf than I remember.

Im slowly making my way
I appreciate the point in the right direction
Usually the narrow is a high humidity adaption that resists molds ?
I will have a look @Mtn. Nectar

Islands / Ko Chang




Type: NLD Landrace IBL
Style: Ganja
District: Ko Chang
Province: Trat
Area: Gulf of Thailand
Region: Eastern Thailand
Appellation: Ko Chang
Country: Thailand

Regional Planting: July to September
Regional Harvest: February to May
Height: 1.5 – 4 metres
Classification: C. sativa subsp. indica var. indica

The third largest island in Thailand, Koh Chang has a rugged and mountainous interior, 67km of coastline including mangroves and sports a healthy coverage of old growth rainforest in it's interior.

As a stop on the infamous 'Hippie' or 'Banana Pancake' trail it has seen mass tourism since the 1960s and as such the local farmers have long grown potent ganja to satisfy both indigenous and tourist demand for Cannabis on the island.

Following an intuitive model of natural farming adapted to what amounts to squatting in a national park, the locals produce potent bud that is cured loosely, 'western' style and claim that cannabis in Ko Chang has a multiple century long history on the island. They estimate that there must be at least ten thousand cannabis plants being grown on the island at any time, most of it in on the Eastern side of the island, grown in open pollination and with the exception of a few plants here and there - all of it grown from seed produced on the island and located in the interior on the fringes where the rubber plantations meet the old-growth forest.

Our accession is from a grower on the Western slopes who grows a few hundred plants at a time in open pollination and is well known in the local community for always having the best weed on the island.

The plants grow vigorously and stretch hard, with big internodal distances. You can expect high yields on these with relatively dense nugs of super tasty, musky, incense like bud covered in trichomes.

These are a must have, Ko Chang will undoubtedly turn into a heirloom if it hasn't already very soon. With the incoming legislation allowing several Thai farmers to set up industrial hemp grows on the island, cannabis on this island is set to change forever!

There is no firm geographical definition of the Banana Pancake Trail, as it is a metaphor to describe the ever-developing travellers' trails in South Asia and Southeast Asia, rather than an actual route or road (much like the Silk Road is not a single road). However, the phrase is used to describe, amongst others, the locations below:

South Asia​

Nepal: Pokhara, Thamel in Kathmandu, Everest Base Camp

India: Goa, Pushkar, Varanasi, Jaisalmer, Kerala, Dharamkot / Upper Bhagsu, Old Manali / Vashisht, Auli, Mussoorie, Dhanaulti

Sri Lanka: Kandy, Sigiriya, Galle, Polonnaruwa, Nuwara Eliya

Southeast Asia​

Myanmar: Yangon, Bagan, Inle Lake, Hpa-An, Pyin Oo Lwin

Thailand: Bangkok (with its famous Khao San Road), Chiang Mai, Pai, Kanchanaburi, Krabi, and many of the islands, including Phuket, Ko Tao, Ko Pha Ngan (with its world-infamous Full Moon Party), Ko Phi Phi, Koh Lipe, and Koh Chang

Laos: Vang Vieng, Luang Prabang, Nong Khiaw, Bolaven Plateau, Si Phan Don (The 4000 Islands)

Cambodia: Siem Reap (home to Angkor Wat), Sihanoukville and its offshore islands, Battambang, Phnom Penh, Kampot

Vietnam: Ho Chi Minh City, Dalat, Mui Ne, Nha Trang, Hoi An, Huế, Hanoi, Halong Bay, Sa Pa

Indonesia: Bali, Gili Islands, Nusa Penida, Lombok, Yogyakarta, Mount Bromo

Philippines: Banaue, Sagada, Boracay, Cebu, Bohol, El Nido, Coron, Siargao

The most common route passes through Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand from Bangkok to Ho Chi Minh City via Siem Reap and Angkor Wat, as well as Phnom Penh and the Mekong Delta. Also people go north from Bangkok to Chiang Mai and hill-tribe villages, continuing to Luang Prabang and Vang Vieng in Laos. Also many head from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi, via popular stops being Hoi An and Huế.

Cannabis in Vietnam is illegal, but is cultivated within the country and is known as cần sa.

History​

Cannabis was probably introduced to Southeast Asia around the 16th century, and used medicinally and in cuisine.[1]

In 1968 the government of the Republic of Vietnam "publicly condemned" the use or trafficking of cannabis, and instructed local chiefs to prevent its cultivation.[2] In 1969, USAID's Office of Public Safety began eradication of cannabis fields, including aerial eradication in the Mekong Delta. The program was popularly resented and also politically unpalatable; in 1971 OPS was advised not to eradicate cannabis in areas controlled by the Hòa Hảo sect, for fear of driving them to join the Việt Cộng (National Liberation Front).[3]

In the 1960s, the United States government became concerned with cannabis use by US troops in Vietnam.[4] Though alcohol was the drug most commonly used by American troops in the Vietnam War, cannabis was the second-most common. Initially rates of usage among deployed soldiers were comparable to those of their stateside peers, with 29% of troops departing Vietnam in 1967 reporting having ever used marijuana in their lives. A 1976 study however showed that from 1967 to 1971, the proportion of troops having used marijuana peaked at 34% before stabilizing to 18%, while the number of troops who had used cannabis prior to deployment stayed around 8%.[5]

Have a few Viet '70 fem seeds germinating along with some Cambodian x Zacatecas. Two Himalayan lines too. Thanks for maps and info Ace. I would have loved to travel the hippie trail back in the sixties to early seventies.

Rush had a song 'Passage to Bangkok'.

Vietnam

Lowlands / Squirrel Tail






Squirrel Tail #1
Synonyms: Thai-Stick, Hang Krarok
Type: Open Pollinated NLD Landrace
Style: Ganja

District: Phu Phan
Province: Sakhon Nakhon
Area: Khorat Plateau
Region: Northeastern Thailand
Appellation: Isan
Country: Thailand

Squirrel Tail #2
Synonyms: Thai-Stick, Hang Krarok
Type: NLD Landrace IBL
Style: Ganja

District: Mae Chaem
Province: Chiang Mai
Area: Thong Chai Range
Region: Northern Thailand
Appellation: Shan Hills
Country: Thailand

Squirrel Tail #3
Synonyms: Thai-Stick, Hang Krarok
Type: Open Pollinated NLD Landrace
Style: Ganja

District: Hat Yai
Province: Songkhla
Area: Sankalikiri Range
Region: Southern Thailand
Appellation: Southern Tenasserim
Country: Thailand

Squirrel Tail #4
Synonyms: Thai-Stick, Hang Krarok
Type: Open Pollinated NLD Landrace
Style: Ganja

District: Phon Sawan
Province: Sakhon Nakhon
Region: Sakhon Nakhon Basin
Area: Khorat Plateau
Appellation: Thai Mekong Lowlands
Country: Thailand

Regional Planting: July to September
Regional Harvest: February to May
Height: 1.5 – 4 metres
Characteristics: Sativa-type architecture
Classification: C. sativa subsp. indica var. indica
Grow Type: Outdoors, Greenhouse, Indoors

Due to prohibition, a lack of evidence, an abundance of ethnic, regional and national pride - the origins of Squirrel Tail are disputed.

Squirrel Tail is rendered as “หางกระรอก” in Thai and “ຫາງກະຮອກ” in Laotian and it is perhaps the most well known of all Thai Landraces.

The phrase Squirrel Tail itself is first attested in history as a word for a squirrel tail like pattern in traditional Khit weaving, a Lao-Isan traditional artisanal art form.

Lao speakers in Isan and Laos use the term to describe specific plant morphologies contrasted with those associated with other animals, namely Tiger Tail, Snake Teeth and Erawan.

Squirrel Tail then would refer to plants with big dense bushy colas. Over time plants showing these characteristics will have been selected for with various degrees of intensity from the diverse region specific genepools which bear those names.

In this context Squirrel Tail might be best understood as an archetype/phenotype within the larger Cannabis genepool of Thailand/Laos, specifically Isan/Laos.

Complicating things, autochtonous NLD type landrace cannabis, allochtonous NLD types originally from the Lao/Isan genepool, Government and university bred genetics and a whole host of random IBLs, single plant accessions and even hybrids grown outside of the Lao speaking areas of Thailand have also come to be known as Squirrel Tail.

Under the name 'Thai-Stick' it was one of the many varieties of Cannabis grown in the Thai-Lao Region of Isan, better understood as the area encompassed by the ancient kingdom of Lan Xang itself better known as "the Kingdom of 1,000,000 White Elephants and Parasols". The kingdom was split into three new kingdoms and later yet the region we are concerned with was further split between the modern countries of Thailand and Laos.

It is said by nationalists that during the reign of King Rama V (20 September 1853 – 23 October 1910), Squirrel Tail was dispersed throughout South East Asia due to its use as medicine as advocated and taught by the Bangkok Universities and Hospitals of the time.

Most famously, Squirrel Tail was grown in Nakhon Phanom, more specifically - Phon Sawan during the heydays of the Thai-Stick era when large amounts of Thai and Laotian Ganja from the Mekong Lowlands and Khorat Plateau areas was exported to the USA.

When prompted as to the origins of the landrace, cultivators in Isan and Laos often point to the Phu Phan Mountains, found just over one hundred kilometres inland from the middle Mekong River on the Khorat Plateau.

Squirrel Tail #1 - Phu Phan is from pre-legalisation seed stock sourced from an open pollinated landrace population grown in the Phu Phan hills for many generations by a member of our collective and their community.

Squirrel Tail #2 is from an inbred line grown in Mae Chaem that originated out of a cross between a local landrace described as Squirrel Tail and an unknown foreign polyhybrid. It flowers in around 14 weeks and shows beautiful coloration and dense trichome coverage.

Squirrel Tail #3 - Hat Yai is from pre-legalisation seed stock sourced from an open pollinated, possibly autochthonous landrace population that may be unrelated to that of Isan/Laos. It has been grown in Hat Yai district in southern Thailand for many generations by members of our collective and their community. During prohibition communists and ex-communists in the Sankalakiri hills were held to be the custodians of this particular line.

Our Squirrel Tail #4 - Phon Sawan is from pre-legalisation seed stock sourced from an open pollinated NLD population in Phon Sawan, long known as one of the districts producing the cream of the crop destined for export from the 60's onwards. It is grown by a member of our collective (who claims to have been active in the heydays) and his family.

You can expect an incredible experience should you choose to grow this iconic landrace.

Northern Takeo NLD Landrace​

Long, foxtailed buds on this well put together example of Cannabis from Takeo. It was sourced in Kampot and was available as part of a 15kg batch.





Classic Mango and Camphor aromas on this one too.





About 100 seeds will be available initially and we've made the first steps towards bringing this particular grower into our collective, stay tuned for more news.

Big areas of the map yet to cover and we need your help!


As I head off to India for the next season to plan for a study on terroir in Himachal pradesh and go collecting in the Northeast and Orissa - we are already thinking ahead to 2023 and the possibilities that lie there.


We'd like to continue tracing the history of landrace Cannabis in Southeast Asia via expeditions to Madagascar, Papua New Guinea and the Maluku Islands following a hunch that ancient Austronesians may have disseminated NLD type cannabis throughout the Indo-pacific region. Aceh, Ambon and the Sepik River basin in particular are high on the list of priorities.


However this will only be able to happen with community support. Paying the farmers fairly leaves us on a shoestring budget with which to travel and regions such as these require far more logistical support than our backyard here in mainland South and Southeast Asia. We want to launch more ambitious projects and in turn - reward our supporters with some of the rarest genetics on the planet as we visit cannabis hotspots all over the region.


The second drop of beans for our subscribers fast approaches - there has never been a better time to join the Zomia Collective!




Shout out to our existing subscribers, you make this all possible.




Sincerely,thank you all!




Zo Mi

Koh Chang 'Buddha Sticks'​

We found some locally produced 'Buddha' Thai or 'Buddha Sticks' on Koh Chang. It's very well dried and cured with a beautiful musky, incensed aroma that keeps me coming back for more. The bud is euphoric and uplifting, really gorgeous smoke.












Yesterday our seeds were delivered and currently they are enroute to France, with about 1000 seeds available from this season's crop. I plan on staying here a bit longer in the hopes of photographing some larger stands of Ganja, I will update you all shortly with more pictures before leaving. Next destination isn't sure yet - it's a toss up of Kaeng Krachan and Buriram! Both good places to look for bud!

Koh Chang​

Hello from Koh Chang, Thailand!





We have begun our third season of operations with a trip to Koh Chang, a beautiful island in the Gulf of Thailand in Trat province, near to the Cambodian border and Cardamom Mountains.





The third largest island in Thailand, Koh Chang has a rugged and mountainous interior, 67km of coastline including mangroves and sports a healthy coverage of old growth rainforest in it's interior.





As a stop on the infamous 'Hippie' or 'Banana Pancake' trail it has seen mass tourism since the 1960s and as such the local farmers have long grown potent ganja to satisfy both indigenous and tourist demand for Cannabis on the island. As soon as we arrived, we met our local contacts and within minutes of arriving had sourced some decent pressed cannabis. Within twenty four hours we had found or been offered a spectrum of cannabis ranging from hybrid indoor sourced from the Bangkok area all the way to the object of our collective desire - landrace NLD grown guerilla on the island.

We were led to meet an old grower, the producer of the bud pictured above and a local to the island for his whole life. He is willing to provide us with seeds from his grow: a few hundred plants in open pollination in a deep forested valley at about four hundred meters altitude in a valley on the western flank of the interior mountains.





Following an intuitive model of natural farming, adapted to what amounts to his squatting in a national park, he grows potent bud that he cures loosely, 'western' style and claims that cannabis in Koh Chang has a multiple century long history on the island. According to him, the famous Lonely Beach was actually lonely 45 years ago and at that time, cannabis was openly sold in the markets on mainland Trat for as little as 3USD per kilogram. The island's convenient location has always fostered piracy and smuggling, it's natural, he says, that Cannabis would be grown here in large quantities. Both to satisfy local and tourist demand but also for export. Notably, during the 1970's and 80's Koh Chang was a very low-key area from which Thai-stick could be loaded onto small boats destined to offload their cargo onto the ocean-going "motherships" that would ultimately offload the cargo to Hawaii or California.





In those days as now, the entire Trat province but Koh Chang island and district in particular are blessed with a perfect climate for growing tropical fruit and vegetables. As such, products from specific areas in the region have long been sought after and renowned - Koh Chang for it's Lychee and Cannabis. Today, only the Lychee remains in sight while the Cannabis cultivators from the west coast in particular are restricted to growing in the jungle. Despite this, locals estimate that there must be at least ten thousand cannabis plants being grown on the island at any time, most of it in on the Eastern side of the island, grown in open pollination and with the exception of a few plants here and there - all of it grown from seed produced on the island and located in the interior on the fringes where the rubber plantations meet the old-growth forest.

Growers on the west coast are all but gone with only small garden grows and a select few guerilla grows due to the increasing development of resorts and hotels to cater for the tourists. The price of land here is high and most local families have long since sold their land, to be replaced by wealthy immigrants from the mainland. There is one greenhouse on the main road here that supposedly grows Cannabis on a government license but we were unable to glean any more information than that, despite having been right up to the gate and peering through the barbed wire fence myself.





The eastern side of the island is much less developed and benefits from sunshine in the mornings and daytime, thus guerrilla grows in the rugged interior on the eastern flanks are common and larger than on the west. The eastern side of the island is however much less tolerant of tourists and their cannabis smoking habits while also being host to the local government headquarters and the police station. The locals here are much less inclined to welcome tourists and were very shy towards us. We met with a few local smokers who were happy to chat about the scene and eventually pointed us towards a local grower willing to talk.



The conversation was short: at this time of year, there are no mature flowering plants on the island. He is scared of letting us see his fields and says that he needs his seeds to plant the next crop and does not keep any extras. If he has too many any given year, they are distributed to his friends and family. We are told that if we want to talk, let alone take photos, we need to come back after the government announcement in a hundred days or so. If it goes well, he's happy to work with us. So let's see! I'll update you all in a few days once we get some seeds in our hands from the first grower!

Anyone had any experiences ordering from Zomia?
if all goes well
Hope to add as many of these as possible to the catalog!

acespicoli said:

Koh Chang 'Buddha Sticks'​

We found some locally produced 'Buddha' Thai or 'Buddha Sticks' on Koh Chang. It's very well dried and cured with a beautiful musky, incensed aroma that keeps me coming back for more. The bud is euphoric and uplifting, really gorgeous smoke.

Yesterday our seeds were delivered and currently they are enroute to France, with about 1000 seeds available from this season's crop. I plan on staying here a bit longer in the hopes of photographing some larger stands of Ganja, I will update you all shortly with more pictures before leaving. Next destination isn't sure yet - it's a toss up of Kaeng Krachan and Buriram! Both good places to look for bud!

Click to expand...

Did that come with the string on....or has the guy just put it on after as a demo....?the sting looks brand new and bright compared to the bud..

TheDarkStorm said:

Did that come with the string on....or has the guy just put it on after as a demo....?the sting looks brand new and bright compared to the bud..

Click to expand...

Wish I could tell you more about this, unfortunately I know very little about the company and cultivars product

There are some VERY respected members that have told me good things and posted amazing grows
Most common variations of Thai seed im seeing is the Squrrel Tail and the Ko Chang

Also Kagyu from coastal seed had wrote about a "thai stick" from Burma Import weed strain avail comm

There is little actual documentation in the way of photos available for reference - if you have some post






What Zomia has in not sure of the quality
The Viet Black @Charles-scott or Momma Thai @Seedsman,

Seedsman stated this contains Skunk but the momma is Thai
is the closest to the real thing I have tried to date

I was looking into Ace Seeds and @dubi Thai lines, the double thai is history unless some does a repro




Im working with a strain from SE Asia that did not get sprayed by defoliant during the war in Vietnam
Cambodia, Laos, its a ancient jungle strain that shows very wild type characteristics
Although it has been selected for resin production in Assam, more to come ....


Whatever fills the order for your Thai Sticks I hope you share your experiences for the best Thai high
We can all experience together

Best >>>

Im not sure but your right, its most likely the same as the 1960s TS

Thailand - Sativa​

Selections / Direct Descendents​

• 76 Thai Stick » Thailand - Sativa
• Cali Love » Thailand - Sativa
• Chocolate Thai » Thailand - Sativa
• Chocolate Thai » Thailand - Sativa
• Chocolate Thai » Chocolate Thai x Chocolate Thai
• Dai Daeng Red String Thai Stick » Thailand - Sativa Nakhon Phanom province
• Dvaravati » Thailand - Sativa Dan Chang / Tenasserim Hills
• Erawan » Thailand - Sativa Dawna Range
• Full Moon » Thailand - Sativa x Thailand - Sativa
• Green Thai » Thailand - Sativa Probably Sativa
• Highland Thai » Thailand - Sativa
• Ko Chang » Thailand - Sativa Probably Sativa
• Ko Chang » Thailand - Sativa Ko Tao Island IBL
• Kroeng Krawia » Thailand - Sativa Sangkhla Buri district
• Mama Thai » Thailand - Sativa
• Meao Thai » Thailand - Sativa
• OG Chocolate Thai » Thailand - Sativa
• Original Thai » Thailand - Sativa x Thailand - Sativa
• Purple Thai » Thailand - Sativa
• Siam Lady » Thailand - Sativa
• Squirrel Tail Nr1 Phu Phan » Thailand - Sativa Phu Phan district
• Squirrel Tail Nr2 Mae Chaem » Thailand - Sativa Mae Chaem district
• Squirrel Tail Nr3 Hat Yai » Thailand - Sativa Hat Yai District
• Squirrel Tail Nr4 Phon Sawan » Thailand - Sativa Phon Sawan district
• Super Tai » Thailand - Sativa Probably Sativa
• Tanaosri Nr1 Red Star » Thailand - Sativa Kaeng Krachan
• Thai 82 » Thailand - Sativa
• Thai Chiang Rai » Thailand - Sativa Chiang Rai
• Thai Hill » Thailand - Sativa Mae Hong Son
• Thai Mango Nr1 Mae Chaem » Thailand - Sativa Mae Chaem district
• Thai Mountain » Thailand - Sativa Mae Hong Song
• Thai Stick » Thailand - Sativa IBL
• Thaifun Horizon » Thailand - Sativa
• Thaifun Horizon » Thaifun Horizon
• The Goo » Thailand - Sativa
• Tiger Tail Nr1 Mae Chan » Thailand - Sativa Mae Chan district
• Traveling Thai » Thailand - Sativa
• Voodoo » Thailand - Sativa x Thailand - Sativa
• Wild Thailand » Thailand - Sativa Ko Chang

Oh yeah I have a very small amount of

• Thaifun Horizon » Thailand - Sativa

Wish me luck with those kinda old
Momma Thai, and Choc Thai