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Staying as a guest of a community can be a highly rewarding experience, adding real meaning to a holiday and creating opportunities for a genuine cultural exchange leaving all parties wiser and more enlightened to cultural differences.
Koh Yao Noi is a tiny island in Phang Nga Bay, the sea that lies between Phuket and the Thai mainland, where the population is overwhelmingly Muslim fisherfolk who still living a largely traditional existence, and who are well aware of the dangers of mass tourism development in their villages.
Phang Nga offers the classic sea images of tropical islands, palm fringed beaches, coral reefs and teeming marine life. It is therefore, obviously, in the cross-hairs of the big tourism developers who, having already exploited Phuket to the full and much of the Krabi mainland too, are eagerly searching for new places to plant their big hotels and bar strips.
This local initiative is designed to help reinforce the independence of the people of Koh Yao Noi, helping to protect their mores and customs from unwanted interference, and allowing them to choose the kind of visitors that they want to welcome – those who will respect them and their way of life. If you are one of those people, this will be a rewarding addition to your visit to Thailand.
In October 2008, Guardian journalist, Andrew Spooner, paid a visit and this is what he had to say bout his visit: http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2008/nov/11/thailand-ethical-holidays-homestay.
Notes
This community home stay can be incorporated into a Symbiosis tailor made holiday to Thailand that can be adapted and tailored to meet your dates, preferences and passions. Please contact one of our bespoke holiday planners to create the ideal itinerary for you.
4 Day Homestay (sample)
Day 1 [L, D]
Pick up from your hotel or from the airport and transfer to Bangrong Pier. Boat the public boat to Koh Yao Noi, an island located in a stunning bay littered with towering karst limestone islets, famed for being the film location of the James Bond movie “Man with the Golden Gun”.
On arrival at the island, your guide will first bring you to the Community’s “CBT Club”, the meeting place for leaders of the Community Based Tourism initiative on the island. There will be short briefing about the community, its history and present life, and there will be a chance to discuss plans for your stay – what you would like to see and learn, what aspects of their community most interest you, etc. Thereafter drive to the home where you will be staying. Meet your hosts and enjoy a family lunch with them.
Afternoon take a tour of the island, during which you may visit:
• A fish trap maker
• The Women’s Centre and batik painting studio
• A coconut shell handicraft workshop
• A village of stilt houses in a mangrove forest
• Rice fields
• Sunset at the western pier
Return to your “home” for dinner and the night.
Day 2 [B, L, D]
Rise at around 6.30 when the community begins to go about the daily routines of life. Breakfast will be served by your host family, before setting off to the jetty to join community fishermen on their boat for a morning of traditional fishing (net throwing). Stop for a picnic lunch on one of the thousands of islets in the bay. There will be some time for some rest and relaxation, snorkeling and swimming too.
After lunch discover more about the fishermen’s techniques, for example bringing in the catch from crab nets set the previous evening.
Return to shore, visiting the fish market before returning home to your homestay. After freshening up, join your hostess in a cookery “class” to learn the techniques and recipes of some specialty local dishes as she prepares the evening meal for the you and the family. Overnight with your family.
Day 3 [B, L, D]
Arise 6.30. After breakfast with the family, set off for your chosen day’s activities which may include, for example:
• Batik painting and printing at the Women’s Centre workshop
• Visiting a rubber plantation to learn how latex is tapped, collected and processed ready for sale to the traders
• Learn some of the skills used in creating useful or decorative items from coconut shells
Late morning, head for the jetty and board a local style boat for a trip out into Phang Nga Bay. Explore some of the islands, swim, snorkel and enjoy lunch on a remote beach somewhere.
Return to Koh Yao Noi, visiting a lobster farm en route. After refreshing at home, head to the CBT Club for a final collective farewell dinner with Community leaders (including your homestay hosts, of course). Overnight at your homestay.
Day 4 [B, L, D]
After breakfast with the family, bid your hosts farewell and return to the jetty to catch the public boat to Phuket or to Krabi (not included) and your onward journey.
ENDS
Notes
• The timings and schedules for the suggested activities will be dependent on tides.
• This is only a sample itinerary. You may choose which activities most interest you and adjust accordingly, so long as it does not cause disruption to the lives of eth community
• Koh Yao Noi is a Muslim community and the traditions and sensitivities of the people should be carefully respected. Please do not wear skimpy clothing or consume alcohol in public. There are some hotels and guest houses on the island and it is possible to buy and consume alcohol, but please constrain your drinking to within these establishments.
Notes
The cost shown above is per person for minimum 2 people. There may be additional costs during peak season periods (Christmas and New Year, Easter).
What People Say
From: joanne smith <********@bigpond.net.au>
Subject: Re: Koh Yao Noi Community Homestay, Thailand
Date: 9 April 2010 13:25:36 GMT+07:00
To: Christopher Gow <chris@symbiosis-travel.com>
Hi Chris
Well we are back from our holiday in Thailand and I just wanted to thank you for organizing the raft house and community home stay. It was absolutely fabulous. In so far as organisation, it was spot on, we encountered no problems or delays and everyone was so friendly and happy, particularly Tom who was our guide while we were at the raft houses. His passion for the outdoors is addictive and we all learnt so much about the wildlife in the Thailand jungle. The food, where do I start - simply, it was amazing and plenty of it. The suggestion that we might like to stay at Kata Beach was a good one. It has the best of both worlds, quiet but enough shopping to keep anybody happy and what I would call low key bars and restaurants, lively but not over the top. Our favorite beach was Kata Noi as Kata Yai was a bit on the busy side. Kamala Beach was a great way to spend the last 3 days as it was just a sleepy relaxed place with a village feel to it although I wouldn't call it a village.
Once again thank you so very much for putting so time and effort into the organization of our holiday. It was just PERFECT !!!!!
Good luck with your Eco Tourism project. I hope all goes well.
Warmest regards
Jo & Phil Smith
