Beachside bonanza Cha-am is holding its 8th "Kin Hoy, Do Nok, Tok Muek" festival from tomorrow to October 7. The event will feature a broad spectrum of shellfish dishes, including a chance to learn how to catch squids and have them cooked fresh for you as well as to watch birds in mangrove forest. The festival was first held in 1997, the year the economy crashed, and since then it has been a regular feature that brings together the Cha-am municipality and private sector in an attempt to promote its tourist potential, according to mayor Nugoon Pornsombounsiri. The event also includes other areas of Phetchaburi Province, like Bang Khunsai sub-district where visitors can take a boat ride and explore blood cockle farms. Meanwhile in Ban Laem not far from Bang Khunsai, tourists can visit green mussel and oyster farms. For people who don't want to bide their time by the beach, said the mayor, Cha-am has other diversions such as baiting squid and watching birds at dawn. The best time to nail squid is late in the night when the sea is still, said Vichien, a local fishermen, adding that the marine creatures are attracted to light. He takes home some 2,000 kilogrammes of squid every night using a huge net, but tourists are given an illuminated plastic tube fitted with hooks to bait squid, and it is effective as well. It took us 20 minutes to land our first squid, and then three more, which we later returned to the sea. Bird watchers must be up early morning. One of the places where they can admire their feathered friends is Laem Phak Bia Environmental Research and Development Centre, a royally-initiated project about 15 kilometres north of Phetchaburi town. Jiraporn Inchampa, an officer there, said that before the project was launched in 1991, there wasn't much trees growing in the area. But thanks to better waste management and participation of the local people, the natural environment has greatly improved. Today the area is covered with mangroves which are home to the collared kingfisher and some 200 other bird species. Populations of fish, crabs and other small animals are also growing. "We have been reclaiming lost land at a rate of 20 rai a year. About 200 rai of the centre's land now constitutes mangroves," she said. Another place popular among bird watchers is Khao Nang Phanthurat, the limestone hill that looks like sleeping giant north of Cha-am. The hill, designated as a forest park, is home to bird species that are different from those found along the shoreline. Organisers are hoping that the event will generate at least 20 million baht for local shops, hotels and restaurants. For further information, call the Cha-am district office at 032-471-038, TAT at 032-471-005-6; bird watchers contact Kob Trekking at 032-414-220. |
