Unseen Surat Thani In a remote corner of Surat Thani, villagers invite tourists to come and share their modest lifestyle. Like most villages in Thailand, Ban Tham Phueng is rather quiet. It nestles among lush vegetable farms, fruit orchards, rubber and oil palm plantations. What makes this village unique is its easy atmosphere and the warmth with which it welcomes tourists. "No need to lock your room, there are no strangers here," the village headman, Boonthan Boonchookham, said as he turned on the ignition key of his pickup truck. His kids, Natrika and Chanasak, promptly jumped in the seat next to me and we went out to explore the village. "Let's go to the waterfall," he said. The kids' pupils bulged with delight. "Yes, we have our own waterfall, although it is a small one." Bang Kuy is a small waterfall on the outskirts of the village. Water from the fall forms a stream that runs through lush vegetable farms nourishing pools surrounded by trees. Without a word the kids stripped and jumped into the stream. It was a hot day and they knew how to weather the heat. I followed the stream for a while and found the water clean and clear. "It never runs dry. Even during the driest period the water remains this level ...as you see it now," Boonthan said. "It is our lifeline actually. All villagers are farmers and we know that without water we would not survive. So when logging destroyed parts of the forest in the '80s, we began to conserve whatever was still left of our tress and sources of water." They are glad they made the right decision. Now their nearly 600-rai forest land is nourishing all forms of life. Beside water for their plantations, over half of the 394 households in this village depend on water piped from the stream. One morning, Boonthan led me to a limestone mountain for a bird's eye view of his village. From its crest, I could see the village nestled amid the cover vast rubber plantations, palm and fruit orchards. All are economic crops, but their market prices have remained incredibly low for quite some time, leaving the villagers fuming. So they decided to do something different and came up with the idea of opening up their orchards to visitors who could come and enjoy the shade of trees and on the way back buy fruits and vegetables and take them home. "Rambutan is three to five baht per kilogramme and durian seven to nine baht. As far as I can remember no fruit costs over 12 baht a kilogramme. So, we made an offer: eat as much as you can all for the price of 20 baht. "The result? Bangkokians went crazy when they heard about it. It was nearly a tenth of the price they were paying in Bangkok." The orchards attract a lot of visitors from June to August each year. If you think one day is not enough , the village also offers homestay. Tourist can choose between staying with a village family or in separate log cabins for privacy and jungle style experience, or in houses built on slopes surrounded by flower beds and offering stunning views of rubber plantations. "And they go for only 100 baht a night," he said, at which my draw dropped. Boonthan then drove me to a tunnel which led to a subterranean watershed jungle, a spring and other exotic features. Covered with sand, it looked like a hotspring with bubbles forming at the surface every now and then. But it wasn't hot or anything even close. Boonthan clapped and the spring seemed to awaken to sound as more bubbles formed at the surface. "I have tried to step on the sand but the spring seems to retaliate pushing me up. The big pool on the other hand tried to drag me down," he explained. The spring is fenced off to keep the water clear and clean, so I tried a smaller one next to it. Gingerly I tried to step on it and felt like an electric shock run through me. The spring actually contains a lot of gas. Pressure from my foot compressed the gas it was trapping sending it upward to the surface. "That's the way it is exactly," confirmed Boonthan and his kids giggled. We walked back to the car and that is when he revealed that the village did have a hotspring and also a cave that served as a refuge for members of the now-defunct Communist Party of Thailand. It seems that there are many things waiting to be explored in this small village, all the more reason why I should return there one day and look up everything it has to offer tourists. Ban Tham Phueng is in Phnom district of Surat Thani. The village is 10 kilometres off Highway 401 from the Km 63 marker. There are 17 families offering homestay to tourists. The village also has 30 private cabins for visitors. |