In Thailand, agriculture is one of the major occupations; however, there is no
comprehensive agricultural occupational health promotion and disease prevention model available.
Objectives of this study were to empower farmers to study occupational health and safety situation
in rice farming and to develop model to promote their health and prevent occupational health hazards
among them. This participatory action research was performed in Tambol Klong 7, Klongluang
district, Pathumthani, Thailand. The 24 rice farmers from 9 villages were voluntarily recruited as
members of research team called farmer-leader research group. This group had a monthly meeting
to discuss issues of agricultural occupational health and safety during 3 yr study period. At first
stage, farmer-leader research group analyzed occupational health and safety during rice farming
process. After we had results from situation analysis, farmer-leader research group decided which
problems would be solved first. We developed model to solve those problems during the second
stage. Finally, model was implemented to farmers in the study area. During first stage, results of
questionnaires showed that there were 3 major occupational health and safety problems among
these farmers; symptoms from pesticide exposure (65% of respondents), musculoskeletal problems
during various process (16.6%–75.9%), and injuries during various process (1.1%–83.2%). From
these results, farmer-leader research group decided to deal with pesticide problem. There was an
experiment comparing using biofertilizers and bio pest-control with using chemical fertilizers and
pesticides in the rice paddy. Results showed that the biological field produced the same amount of
rice as the chemical field but cost less money than the chemical one. Benefits from using biofertilizers
and bio pest-control were having higher profit, less exposure to chemicals, and good mental health
from higher profit. After this experiment, biofertilizers and bio pest-control were disseminated to
rice-farmers and students and teachers in local schools. At the end of study, we found that there
were networks of farmers and networks of students-teachers using biological methods. This study
showed that participation with farmers could create a real sustainable model to promote farmers’
health and prevent them from occupational health hazards.