Going green

Mangrove forests on Koh Yao Yai are fertile. The 2,800-rai mangrove near Ban Ya Mi village, once encroached by outside investors, has been open to eco-tourism for about a year now. Tourists can enjoy kayaking on a natural stream cutting through the mangrove. On the way, tourists can see red mangroves (kongkang bai yai) and true mangroves (kongkang bai lek), which are the majority of the trees there, as well as black mangrove (phangkha) trees. Commonly seen animals include mudskippers (pla teen), fiddler crabs (pu kam dap) and crab-eating macaques (ling samae). If you are lucky, you will see sea otters (nak thalay) in the area. Locals usually catch fish and black crabs from the area, but do not use big fishing boats. Hiring a kayak costs 350 baht per boat for two persons while hiring a long-tailed boat with a driver to tour the area costs 1,100 baht per day. The mangrove is visited by more than 10 tourists, mostly Thais, per week. Fifty local children were trained to be youth guides for tourists, with about 10 remaining active.

When people talk about Koh Yao, an unspoiled island off Phangnga province, many think of the popular Koh Yao Noi. As a matter of fact, Koh Yao consists of two islands -- Koh Yao Yai (big long island) and Koh Yao Noi (little long island) and is widely known as a paradise for holiday makers. Tourists can enjoy swimming, snorkelling or scuba diving in the sea, birdwatching and kayaking in mangroves, cycling and even rock-climbing.

Covering an area of 147km², Koh Yao is over 600km from Bangkok and less than 50km from Phuket, Krabi and mainland Phangnga.

As over 90% of the island's population of around 18,000 are Muslims, tourists are requested to dress modestly on the beaches, not drink alcohol in public and dress properly when going to villages. Pork dishes are rare to find on the island.

Legend has it that the island was split into two parts after two sea serpents fought in a great battle. Koh Yao Noi is more popular among tourists due to better facilities and more choices of accommodations while Koh Yao Yai is interesting for its greater tranquillity.

"Koh Yao Yai is a beautiful island with crystal clear water and sincere people," said Somdet Suphong, kamnan of Tambon Koh Yao Yai.

Dusit Thongkerd, or Bang Ya, a local conservationist on Koh Yao Yai who is part of the island's community-based sustainable tourism, said the island's outstanding points are people's smiles and the peaceful local way of life.

According to him, community tourism there started in 2017 with the collaboration of local people and the guidance of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which has been providing assistance in terms of natural resource conservation.

Koh Yao Yai has mountains, forests, the sea and rice fields for visitors to explore. The majority of local people are fishermen, rubber planters and rice farmers and many have surnames connected with rice farming, such as "Thamnakla" (rice sapling growing) and "Wanthaikhlong" (good at ploughing and seed sowing).

Phangnga province’s total area of 4,171km² is comprised of 57% of evergreen forests and mangroves. Beach forests on Koh Yao Yai are full of por thalay (sea hibiscus) trees. Biodiversity on some of the beaches there is excellent. In October last year, a number of green turtles were found laying eggs on some of the beaches. Beach forests play a major role in maintaining coastal ecosystems by protecting sandy beaches against coastal erosion and impacts of wind and storms as well as damage caused by human settlement and vegetation. Adjacent beaches are nestling areas for sea turtles. Evergreen forests are in the middle of Koh Yao Yai and surrounded by four villages. In this watershed area, wild animals, including mouse deer, wild boars and hornbills, can be found. Koh Yao Yai has never experienced water shortages because it has fertile forests that have been well-conserved by local villagers. The villagers have duties to care for parts of the forests adjacent to their farmland, which they benefit from collecting oil from yang na (gurjan) trees. They also have an abundance of water from the mountains for use year round for a nominal only 20 baht per month tap water maintenance fee.

Local communities exist happily with the sea and natural surroundings. Biodiversity there involves several different ecosystems, such as evergreen forests, mangroves, beach forests and seagrass.

Tourists can enjoy Koh Yao Yai while being environmentally friendly and conserving natural resources at the same time. The recent "Mahasamut Trip" to Koh Yao Yai, sponsored by Coca-Cola, the IUCN and The Cloud, a news agency, is a good example. Participants included selected online influencers, celebrities and consumers.

The main purpose of the trip was to educate participants in tackling plastic waste problems. The trip also was for educating young generations about how local communities and the ocean coexist and how ocean plastic pollution affects the island.

The group travelled by boat for half an hour from Phuket's Bang Rong Pier to Koh Yao Yai. While strolling Laem Hat, we learned about the beach ecosystem and the importance of seagrass beds, which provide food and shelter for marine animals. After that, the tourists visited one of the rainbow lobster farms and learned the local method for catching sand whiting fish using lightweight salacca wooden rods.

The next morning, we enjoyed kayaking in a large mangrove in Mu 3 Village for two hours. A highlight of the trip was collecting and separating different types of trash on the island's Lo Wak and Mai Liam beaches. As recommended by Gone Adventurin, a sustainability consultancy, source segregation of garbage is a proven practice that enables a higher recycling rate through proper and effective trash collection, and helps prevent plastic from drifting into waterways and eventually becoming ocean waste. Another interesting activity is the release juvenile wing shells into an area with seagrass.

The group listened to and exchanged perspectives with key conservationists, such as Bang Ya as well as Thanu Naebnean, director of the Andaman Organization for Participatory Restoration of Natural Resources (ARR) and Supranee Kampongsun of the IUCN's Mangroves and Markets Natural Resources Group.

One of the trip participants, Chutima Phromchangwat, who is a tour guide, promised to forward what she learned to tourists about how to sustainably tackle the ocean garbage issue sustainably, saying she had to handle a lot of trash every day at work.

A man who operates dolphin sightseeing tours in the South said he focuses on responsible tourism because of the amount of trash he sees in the sea on every tour.

"Tourists can help by beginning with reducing the amount of their own garbage from an estimated 1kg per person per day. Local villagers are encouraged to think and take action to manage garbage by starting with household trash," Thanu said.

Most locals of Koh Yao Yai currently hold three jobs at the same time -- fishing, planting rubber trees and growing other kinds of plants like cashew nuts -- and spend their leisure time finding wing shells (hoi chak teen) and fishing for sand whitings using lightweight salacca wooden rods. Tourists can learn how to fish and catch wing shells, and also release juvenile wing shells into the sea. During the wee hours of each morning, villagers go to the sea to catch small shrimps using a big scoop called a krachon. This way of catching shrimp reflects the abundance of the sea off Koh Yao Yai, according to Prasert Boonsung, or Bang Mak, of Ban Klong Bon.

In the rainy season, tourists can participate in a rice farming (na yone) workshop. The rice farming method on Koh Yao Yai is called na yone because rice saplings are thrown onto the ploughed soil instead of being placed by hand. This workshop is popular among tourists since visitors are trained how to grow rice, starting from preparing saplings to throwing saplings. It costs 70 baht per person per one-hour session. Photos courtesy of Kanradapon Ploenchit

Local fishermen on Koh Yao Yai stopped using pull and push nets -- which massively killed marine animals -- including juvenile fish, in the 1990s. Many have opted for raising banana shrimps (kung chae buai) and several kinds of sea fish, such as grouper and sea bass, as well as ornamental fish. Their occupation with a bright future is evidenced in the burgeoning rainbow lobster market. The crustaceans are sold for 2,300-2,400 baht per kilogramme. Rainbow lobsters are usually raised for 8-12 months before being caught when weighing 800g each. They sell quickly, especially to luxury hotels and restaurants. Koh Yao Yai has 22 lobster farms operating under rafts in the sea.

Tourists can enjoy shopping for a variety of basketry, boiled wing shells, dried fish and dried shrimps (kung siap), shrimp paste, salted eggs, local desserts and toiletries made from goat milk.

Travel info

- Koh Yao Yai is accessible by ferry, speed boat and longtailed boat from Phangnga, Phuket and Krabi provinces. It takes half an hour by speed boat (hourly departure) and 50 minutes by long-tailed boat (daily departure) from Phuket’s Bang Rong Pier and 90 minutes by ferry from Phuket’s Chianwanich Pier.

- Call Koh Yao Yai community tourism coordinator Kanradapon Ploenchit at 063-051-9395 for more information about attractions and travel on the island.