Aree Sairaya never thought she would one day convert her house into a homestay. Her three-bedroom stilt house in Ban Sam Chong Nuea, a small coastal community in Takua Thung district in Phangnga, is tidy and clean.
At first she did not think it was a good idea to host strangers in her house. The village head Surat Sumalee encouraged her, saying the family could earn extra income from tourists. After several years of consideration, she gave it a try.
"It was the good will of our village head who wanted me and other villagers who have vacant rooms to open our houses to visitors," said Aree, later having to admit the chief was right as she and her husband can earn at least 10,000 baht a month from tourism.
Ban Sam Chong Nuea is a Muslim fishing village like other fishing communities in the province such as Ko Yao Noi and Ko Pan Yi. But Ban Sam Chong Nuea is quieter because it is not a popular destination.
Located at the confluence of three rivers and not far from Ao Phangnga National Park, the community, which is located on about a 4,000 rai plot of land, can be reached only by boat. Most of the villagers are fishermen who built their stilt houses next to the river banks while most of the land is used for rubber plantations, Surat said.
The idea of gearing towards tourism began a year after the tsunami hit the Andaman coast in 2004.
"Our community was not directly hit by the tsunami," Surat said, noting that they experienced a rotation of high and low tides that adversely affected the fishing industry. When money became tight, many villagers fled their homes to find jobs in the city, which led to family, economic and social problems, he said.
Surat looked for a solution to keep his community united.
He learned from other successful communities like Ko Yao Noi that used sustainable tourism as the solution to preserve their natural resources. It triggered him to establish a tourism club. About a decade ago, a group of fishermen registered as members of the club. They agreed to convert their fishing boats called ruea hua thong (a type of long-tail boat with the high curved prow) to service tourists.
"We started offering a day trip around Phangnga Bay, bringing visitors to Khao Tapu, Khao Phing Kan, Ko Hong and Koh Phanak," he said.
The service gradually became known among Phangnga tour operators and visitors. The club grew in membership and changed the status to a community enterprise. The service also expanded to cover homestays.
At present, the group has about 30 members who offer tourist boats and 11 families that provide a homestay service. The village welcomes about 4,000 homestay guests a year and can earn up to 2 million baht a year from tourism services, said Surat.
I recently had a chance to stay at Aree's house for a night as hosted by Designated Areas for Sustainable Tourism Administration (Dasta). The agency selected Ban Sam Chong Nuea, which is also listed as Otop Village Champion, to be a community-based tourism model for other fisherman communities along the Andaman coast.
After many years offering a homestay service, Aree and her husband are keen on welcoming visitors. They are both friendly and attentive.
Once we entered their house, Aree showed us our rooms and facilities of the house. She had prepared fresh fruits and local desserts to welcome her guests. "You can eat anything in the fridge or if you need any other things, just let me know," she said. My housemates quickly responded to her by asking if Aree could find mamuang bao (very sour small mangoes, which is the popular variety in the South) for us. Aree made a phone call and told our group to wait.
She came back with two big mango bags. She also helped slice the fruit and prepare kapi wan (sweet and spicy dip), which is made of local shrimp paste.
Seafood here is also fresh and the community also has farms for oysters, blood clams and fish such as pla duk thale or black kingfish and sea bass. It has one restaurant that day trippers who make canoe trips along the mangrove forests always stop for seafood lunch.
Like other visitors to the community, we chose our activities. The typical choices are one-day or two-day trips for island hopping, kayaking or handicraft workshops, but you can stay even longer as the cost of accommodation is only 350 baht a night and there are more activities for you to do including learning muay Thai or learning to be a rubber farmer or a fisherman.
One of a popular activities is to visit Phet Pakarang Cave at Ko Thalu Nai.
"It's a local attraction that we will introduce only to our guests," said the village head.
We took a boat ride for about 30 minutes to the island in Phangnga Bay. The cave trip is designed for adventure lovers as you have to ascend a steep rocky path while gripping a rope to propel yourself up to the top. "Anyone can do it," said Wittaya Nonsi, the deputy village head who was our tour guide. He encouraged us to climb the rock, citing that even a 70-year-old woman managed to do it.
He showed us how to use the rope and guided us one-by-one until we all safely reached the top. I looked back and wondered how could we get back to the ground. Wittaya quickly explained that there was one way up and one down.
He brought us to see the calcite walls, using his torch light so we could see the faded, ancient paintings.
We also took the boat ride to Khao Tapu, the iconic island of Phangnga province. The island is also known as James Bond Island as it was a location setting for The Man With The Golden Gun (1974).
We also had a chance to explore the quiet fishermen's village of Ban Sam Chong Tai. We wandered around and ended up at a small khanom chin (fermented rice noodle) shop. One dish was only 20 baht and was served with many fresh and pickled vegetables as well as sliced pineapples.
We returned to Ban Sam Chong Nuea to complete our last activity. We joined a natural tie-dye workshop at the community's meeting hall located next to the pier. The villagers use barks of ton prong daeng (spurred mangrove trees) to dye their clothes. It gives a brick colour.
"It is old wisdom. Our ancestors dyed fishing nets in the boiling water of spurred mangrove to make the net more durable," said Wittaya, adding that after all colours are faded out, the barks will be sun dried and can be used as fuel later.
Normally villagers dye their clothes in the red brick colour as their uniforms for the homestay service. They also dye bedding sets, which are used at the homestays. Unfortunately, they do not yet have any natural tie-dye collections of bedsheets or pillow cases for sale, but only a handful of scarves, short-sleeve blouses and shorts.
Before leaving the island, I said goodbye to Aree.
"You are always welcome to stay in my house. Next time I can prepare a seafood barbecue for you," she said with a broad smile. It is an offer that I can hardly refuse.
Travel Info
- The most convenient way to visit Ban Sam Chong Nuea is to fly to Phuket International Airport (airportthai.co.th) and rent a car to drive about 40km to the pier of Ban Sam Chong Nuea (GPS coordinates: 8°18'20.7"N 98°25'10.8"E) in tambon Kalai, Takua Thung district.
- A boat ride to the village is about 10 baht. The village has four travel programmes including choices of boat trips and indoor activities. The fees start at 1,300 baht per person for a group of at least four people. The village also has a canoe rental service, which is priced at 100 baht for 30 minutes.
- A night stay is priced at 350 baht per person and 200 baht for dinner per person.
- Call Ban Sam Chong Nuea Village Head Surat Sumalee on 086-741-7949.
