Being declared Thailand's first global geopark is a major boon for Satun. But it does mean that some things have to be done differently.
After the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) made the announcement in April, Visud Prakob, the village head of Ban Tha Kham Khwai in Thung Wa district, was told to discontinue one of its most popular tourist activities -- feeding brahminy kites.
"Tourists liked it when dozens of wild birds flew close to our boats to get food. Feeding the kites was a tourist highlight. But when we learned that we were wrong to offer the service to visitors, we stopped it right away," he said.
Ban Tha Kham Khwai is located within the 2,597km² area in Satun province which is listed as a global geopark, one of eight in Southeast Asia (alongside four in Indonesia, two in Vietnam and one in Malaysia). A geopark is defined by Unesco as a single unified geographical area where sites and landscapes of international geological significance are managed with a holistic concept of protection, education and sustainable development.
Satun Geopark covers 72 sites in four districts of Satun province -- Thung Wa, Langu, Manang and Muang. The sites can be grouped into three categories. The first is karstic sites such as Tham Le Stegodon cave and Phu Pha Phet cave.
The second is fossil sites which are mostly found in Thung Wa and Langu districts. The fossils here are from the Paleozoic era (542 to 251 million years ago). The third is a group of islands including Tarutao, Lipe, Khai and Hin Ngam.
The man behind Satun's rise to global geopark status is Narongrit Thongprue, chief of the Tambon Administrative Organisation (TAO) in Thung Wa. It all started when he built a local museum to exhibit fossils found in the district a decade ago.
The first fossil was found in Tham Le Stegodon cave in 2008 by a villager. He went inside the cave with friends to fish for giant river prawns and came across a strangely shaped rock with eight ridges on its surface. It was later identified by a team of experts as the jaw and two teeth of a Stegodon, a proboscidean with a physical resemblance to present-day elephants, which walked the earth 1.8 million years ago.
"Satun is the only province in the South in which a Stegodon fossil has been found," said Narongrit. With the support of the Department of Mineral Resources, his museum project expanded to a national geopark after many types of fossils were found throughout Satun. In August 2014, the government announced that Satun was Thailand's first geopark. Then this year came global recognition from Unesco.
"In the past, tourists who came to Satun passed Thung Wa to board speedboats to Koh Tarutao or Koh Lipe, or the ferry to Langkawi in Malaysia. But now that Thung Wa is part of the global geopark, more tourists are coming to visit us. We are promoting Satun as a destination for geotourism," he said.
Geotourism is knowledge-based tourism -- an integration of the tourism industry with conservation of the environment, culture, heritage sites and the well-being of local people.
With that in mind, Narongrit visited many communities and introduced new tourism routes to allow visitors to experience local culture along with the beauty of nature. The tourist information centre is located at the TAO office in Thung Wa.
Part of the programme is to visit Ban Tha Kham Khwai, which still offers a boat ride along the Thung Wa River to see brahminy kites (but not to feed them), the mangrove forest and sanlang mangkorn, a long sandbar that emerges in the middle of the sea at low tide. Visitors get the chance to try local food and shop for handicraft products.
At Suan Khuankhong in Thung Wa, you can try a traditional snack called khaonieo mokhao mokaeng ling, which is made with the pitchers of Nepenthes mirabilis, or the common swamp pitcher plant. The pitchers are stuffed with glutinous rice cooked with coconut milk and sugar cane.
Suan Khuankhong is a small farm belonging to Worawit Khuankhong, who grows only the pitcher plants. The plants were once everywhere in Thung Wa, but are now hard to find. Worawit wants to preserve them for future generations.
"I have a workshop where visitors can try making our local snack. They have fun and also learn about the pitcher plant," he said.
Another stop you can make is Chim Melon Farm in Thung Wa district, owned by Chayapat Lawsupunporn, a Japanese melon lover.
"When I returned home six years ago, I couldn't find my favourite fruit here, so I started growing my own," he said. Within a 1 rai plot of land, he set up net houses for growing honeydew plants.
The orchard is open to visitors. He also produces melon juice and jam and plans to introduce melon wine in the future.
"I like creating new products so that when visitors come to my farm, they have something they can bring back home," he said.
The last stop on the tour is the most important one. Everyone who goes to the global geopark in Satun ought to visit Tham Le Stegodon, where the 1.8 million-year-old fossil of a Stegodon jaw was found.
"Tham Le used to be a closed cave. In the past, we had to climb Wang Kluay mountain to go inside. During the dry season, the cave was where we fished for big river prawns," said Samrit Thipmanee, the chairperson of Tham Le Stegodon Tourism Club.
After the fossil was found and the Tambon Administrative Organisation of Thung Wa decided to promote the cave as a tourist destination a decade ago, the locals and the authority helped find an entrance and exit to the cave.
Today, visitors can ride a kayak along the river. The route is 4km long. Inside the cave, they can see the spots where fossils were found.
"Every tourist who visits Tham Le Stegodon is lucky," said Narongrit, the chief of TAO in Thung Wa. "You have an opportunity to explore the oldest land in the Kingdom. The land dates back more than 500 million years. There is no place in Thailand like ours. You have to come to Satun global geopark."
Ban Thung Kham Khwai Tourism Club offers tour packages with the option of a half-day boat trip for 800 baht per person or a full-day boat trip for 1,000 baht per person. The trip includes watching brahminy kites and island hopping. The packages are available to groups of at least 10 visitors. Prices include one meal, one break and travel insurance.For more information, visit Facebook at bit.ly/2QX3Usp (Thai language only) or call the village head Visud Prakob at 087-479-2904 and 082-833-4404.
Suan Khuan Khong is open daily. Call Worawit Khuankhong at 087-479-2904 and 086-284-2008.
Chim Melon Farm is open daily. Visit facebook/chimhydroponics for more details or call Chayapat Lawsupunporn at 081-839-8022.
Tham Le Stegodon Tourism Club offers a kayak service to tour inside the cave at a price of 300 baht per person. The service is available to groups of at least eight visitors. Individuals or smaller groups must pay 2,400 baht. The fee includes a long-tail boat ride to the mainland, a snack and a cold drink.
Contact the TAO in Thung Wa for advanced bookings at 074-789-317 or visit thungwa.go.th or or its Facebook page at goo.gl/zB99mk
