A rustic, sleepy way of life is in for a rude awakening but it cannot change overnight. The task of the reformers and modernisers is huge, costly and maybe impossible.

One does not have to travel far to find out why.

"I think the problem might have started with ducks because they're just wandering freely in the fields," said Karim Rodprem, 59, a chicken farmer sitting outside his house, next to two wooden chicken sheds on stilts, in a village east of Bangkok.

The setting could be virtually anywhere in rural Asia -- a small farm surrounded by canals, marshes and rice paddy. Before avian flu struck, ducks waddled around the fields and birds -- both wild and domestic -- pecked away in dusty corners of the yard.

"Everyone has their own chickens in their garden but now they're all dead. I've never seen anything like this," said Rodprem, who had moved from raising chickens purely for his own dinner table to selling to supermarket suppliers.

He had tried to close off his open-air shed to keep the chickens apart from wild birds which might carry diseases such as the avian flu which has now killed eight people in Thailand and Vietnam.

But the wire and blue plastic sheeting he could afford to put up a year ago were clearly not enough.

"I've completely closed the sheds. Birds often come and perch on the roof, but they can't get in. I've no idea how my chickens could have caught the disease. If it travels through the air, how can you protect them?" he said.

HERCULEAN TASK?

To stop the rapid spread of bird flu, which the World Health Organisation (WHO) is calling "historically unprecedented", is going to require drastic measures.

In wealthy, modern and tightly regulated Singapore, concrete chicken sheds, temperature-controlled and fully sealed and with acres of bird netting might be a viable option.

But in impoverished or war-torn nations such as Laos, Vietnam, China, Indonesia and Cambodia, where cases of bird flu have been found, such measures are a distant pipe dream.

Despite this, the Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) is adamant that no matter how big the task ahead, money must be found and age-old farming practices brought into line.

"We are calling for a fundamental change in attitudes. This is not just an animal husbandry issue. It is going to be in the interests of survival," said Anton Rychener, the FAO's representative in Vietnam.

"Chickens will have to be cooped up and fenced in. Governments will have to be very strict in enforcing regulation and start public education campaigns. The international community will have to contribute funds," he said.

The Asian Development Bank has said it is willing to help poorer nations with technical expertise, protective clothing and disease surveillance, but problems are already cropping up.

Owners of Thai fighting cocks are resisting any cull of their prized birds, which can be worth up to $2,500 (1366 pounds) each, saying they will never receive adequate compensation.

To the alarm of the WHO, Indonesia announced on Tuesday it would vaccinate chickens rather than cull them because it hasn't got the cash to reimburse affected farmers.

Regulation -- or the lack of it -- is also a major issue. Wednesday's Jakarta Post said only 50 or the capital's 1,000 bird slaughterhouses were legal or licensed.