The home stay experience in Thailand – Koh Yao

Home stay accommodation in Thailand is becoming more and more popular – in fact demand is growing across South East Asia, and it’s not just because it’s cheap. Taking advantage of accommodation like this is a great way to experience what Thai village life is really like, far-removed – but often not far away – from the bright lights of Phuket, Koh Samui, Bangkok and Chiang Mai.

Travel writer Deborah Dickson-Smith sampled the simple life in Koh Yao, only a 35-minute ferry ride from Phuket in Phang Na province. Here’s what she had to say about her experience.

Having taken the short ferry ride from northern Phuket, I enter a different world alighting at Manoh Pier on Koh Yao and beyond that I have no idea what to expect, or indeed where to go. My homestay host is called ‘Uncle Bao’ and I’m greeted at the pier by his son, Lee, riding a scooter. He looks at my luggage and scratches his head. “We come back for it.”

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And so we head into town – a school, police station, mosque and a row of shops surrounded by rice fields. Before long we turn into a grassy driveway, I’m led to my little bamboo hut, introduced to Mrs Bao and told to be ready at 12 o’clock for lunch. Mrs Bao smiles sweetly while her son enquires about food allergies and then he disappears to take care of my luggage.

I finally get to meet Uncle Bao an hour or so later at lunch in the family kitchen, where he explains village life to me and suggests a few outings. This is a Muslim household and in fact, I learn over lunch that 98 per cent of villagers here are Muslim.

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After lunch, Lee comes to take me for a tour of the island on the back of his scooter. We head first to a small fishing village, then to a quiet sandy beach lined with cafes and a few souvenir shops and on to an over-water village, built around a long jetty that stretches through mangroves. I’m then shown around one of the rubber plantations that dot the island, competing for space only with rice fields. Rubber is still collected in a coconut husk tacked to the trunk of each tree, the same method used for over 100 years, with the diagonal tracks in each trunk refreshed every morning.

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As we circumnavigate this small island I get glimpses of the tall limestone islands of Phang Nga Bay which I’m heading out to explore tomorrow, but for now, there’s nothing to do but relax until dinnertime.

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Over dinner I learn a bit more about Uncle Bao’s village, and about Uncle Bao himself. Bao has been running this homestay for over 25 years, having struck upon the idea while trying to protect his previous livelihood: fishing. It was around then that the large commercial fishing trawlers came into the bay and took away the villagers’ livelihoods virtually overnight.

Bao tried petitioning local government to have the boats stopped, to no avail, and so took his fight to Bangkok. It was there he struck upon the idea of recruiting university students to help, and invited groups of students to his village, to see for themselves what was happening, and fight the fight for him in the nation’s capital.

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His strategy proved successful in two ways; the commercial fishing boats were eventually prohibited from fishing these waters; and along the way, Bao had discovered a new income stream, homestay accommodation, which was fast becoming popular among the backpacker tourists. Homestays were established in villages all over the island, fishermen returned to work and the villagers were all so grateful they voted Uncle Bao in as their local member of parliament.

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Which brings me here, to this quiet little alcohol-free island, now a thriving tourism destination, far away from the madding crowds of Phuket and Krabi. Where I can spend my days lounging in the hammock on my veranda, maybe go to the beach, wander aimlessly through rice fields and rubber plantations, or take an island-hopping tour of Phang Na Bay.

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I opt for an island hopping tour the next day, accompanied by Uncle Bao, on a long tail boat skippered by his brother-in-law. We explore a few limestone islands, some with caves and dripping stalactites, some with white sandy beaches and at least one populated with a large family of crab-eating macaques who scramble over the rock s to check us out.

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I can’t remember when I last felt so relaxed – and it’s not because I’ve been forced into a digital detox – there is free wifi here, and fantastic mobile reception. I just don’t feel compelled to use it, inspired by the simpler life around me.

Stay: Mr Bao’s Homestay and Bungalows. 32 Moo 1 Koh Yao Noi, Phang Na. Email: dusit999@hotmail.com

Getting There: Thai Airways fly twice daily from Sydney to Bangkok and daily from Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth. Connections to Phuket are pretty fast and efficient. Ferry transfer to Koh Lao is from Bang Rong Pier.

Free-wheeling in Bangkok

Guest blogger and award-winning Australian travel writer Louise Southerden finds there’s more to the Thai capital than temples and tuk-tuks on a Bangkok bike tour.

Imagine a bike-friendly city and you’ll probably think of, say, Copenhagen or Amsterdam. Not an Asian city, and definitely not Bangkok, that sprawling stopover of a capital inhabited by 12 million people and better known for tuk-tuks than bike trails. Continue reading “Free-wheeling in Bangkok”

Camping in Koh Laoliang, a hidden gem in Trang

Award-winning Australian travel writer Louise Southerden tries “sea camping” on Thailand’s hidden island paradise, camping in Koh Laoliang.

You’ve probably never heard of Koh Laoliang. I hadn’t either, until a fellow traveller recommended it to me as an idyllic place to spend a few days camping in Thailand. It’s The Beach, he’d said, minus the hand-drawn map, the suicidal Scot, the despotic Tilda Swinton and, as I would soon discover, the hordes of sun-seeking day-trippers who daily descend on Koh Phi Phi (in neighbouring Krabi province), where the movie was shot. Continue reading “Camping in Koh Laoliang, a hidden gem in Trang”

How Anantara Resorts are saving Si Kao’s dugongs

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Not far from Phuket, you can experience unique encounters with one of the world’s most endangered animals; dugongs in Si Kao.

These loveable ‘Cows of the Sea’ are sadly endangered, mainly due to loss of habitat, losing their seagrass grazing ground to coastal development. Anantara Resort Si Kao Resort has developed a new eco-tourism experience to help save them.

Si Kao is in the southern Thailand region of Trang, a coastal town around an hour’s drive south of Phuket which is famous for its dugong population. It’s the main tourist attraction here, but sadly, their numbers are decreasing. Latest estimates put their number at around 150.

Dugong Education & Conservation Centre by Anantara Si Kao

A few marine conservation groups are doing what they can to save this dwindling population, and they now have the support of Anantara Si Kao Resort. As well as supporting local conservation efforts, the resort’s sustainability manager, Mark Isenstadt, takes guests on a Dugong Experience day trip in which you can learn all about dugongs, their habitat, behaviour, threats and what we can all do to help.

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The long-tail boat tour starts with a lesson about sea grass – which is a lot more interesting than it sounds because Mark is a passionate story teller. Sea grass forms the main dietary component for dugongs, and sadly the world’s sea grass beds are disappearing due to coastal development. But that’s not the only threat to dugongs, as Mark explains, many are caught in fishing nets or injured by boats in the busy waterways that surround Trang and the islands in the southern Andaman Sea.

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A marine reserve has been established at Koh Libong, which is where the tour takes you next, to see these delightful ‘sea cows’ that once fooled short sighted sailors into thinking they’d seen a mermaid. The boat idles slowly through the marine reserve as the keen-eyed skipper looks out for dugongs, and while it’s hard for kids to stay quiet, the quieter you are, the more likely you’ll spot them.

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After an hour or so of dugong spotting, the tour takes you to a small fishing village for lunch before the next part of this adventure, this time using another traditional Thai form of transport, a tuk tuk. The tuk tuk takes you to the base of ‘Point Dugongs’, a tall limestone carst with a viewing platform at the top, which you reach by climbing through a series of caves. There’s not many places you can climb a mountain from the inside, it’s an adventure in itself passing through caverns, making your way to the top along narrow paths around large stalagmites and stalactites.

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The view from the top is spectacular, the perfect viewing point for dugong spotting, and it shouldn’t be long before you spot one or two in the clear water far below.

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While it’s an amazing view, it’s also clear from this height that the marine reserve is too small. Local conservation groups are trying to have the area increased, and a big part of this fight is educating local villagers on the benefits. Anantara is helping with this too. The resort is building a Dugong Education Centre, where they can bring locals and school groups, to teach them all about dugongs, how they can help save them – and perhaps benefit from dugong-related tourism.

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For more information, visit Anantara’s website.

Anantara Si Kao Resort - Aerial Overview

Swimming with a naked Russian on Koh Chang

Guest blogger and award-winning Australian travel writer Louise Southerden finds an unusual swimming companion on Koh Chang island.

I’m not quite sure what my first thought was on seeing the wiry, bearded man walking towards me along the beach that first morning. Sure, he looked normal enough, in his straw hat, shorts and T-shirt. But it was early (too early for the sunbathers that usually emerged after a late breakfast) and he seemed to be carrying a backpack (unlike your typical early-morning tourist out for some exercise before the heat became too intense). Continue reading “Swimming with a naked Russian on Koh Chang”

Hidden Gems of the North: Nan and Phrae

Guest blogger John Borthwick recently travelled north to explore a pair of hidden gems; two historic Thai towns.

“Nan and Phrae — where are they?” It’s a common response when you mention these historic, north Thailand towns. They might be off the major tourist trail but they’re still easily found: just head 560 kilometres up the highway from Bangkok and you’re in Phrae. Take a break there, and then roll 130 km further northeast to Nan. Continue reading “Hidden Gems of the North: Nan and Phrae”

Thailand promotes ecotourism and sustainable practice.

Earlier this month in an interview with Australian travel writer Deborah Dickson-Smith, Mr Amnuay Thiamkeerakul, Executive Director ASEAN shared information about TAT’s efforts to promote ecotourism and sustainable practice, as part of its “Discover Thainess” campaign.

This month at Thailand Travel Mart 2015 Plus, it was announced that Thailand’s marketing campaign, “Discover Thainess” will focus on high-spending, long-staying niche markets, including categories such as health and wellness, weddings and honeymoons, culinary tourism and marine tourism. Continue reading “Thailand promotes ecotourism and sustainable practice.”