By: Somchai Huasaikul and Samila Naranode
Source: http://khabarsoutheastasia.com/
Residents of the Koh Yao islands in the Thai province of Phang Nga are successfully relying on ecotourism to preserve their traditional Muslim way of life.
Montira Dumnadee is one of them. She leads a collective of 13 women who produce the coconut-based confection babin from their family home on Koh Yao Yai island.
“We mostly take them to the pier and deliver them to resorts on Phuket, where they are given to guests as snacks,” she told Khabar Southeast Asia. “We source much of the coconut from our own plantation and others on the island. It is a sustainable business and we are proud of the reaction we get from people who try our delicious halal snacks.”
Muslims make up 90% of the population of Koh Yao Yai and neighbouring Koh Yao Noi island in Phang Nga Bay, between Phuket and the mainland. The bay’s karst formations were made famous in the James Bond film “The Man with the Golden Gun”.
To market Yao Yai’s natural beauty, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) this year launched a promotional campaign dubbed “Yao Yai, 100% Pure Island”.
“The slogan was developed to help promote the island as a new, natural destination with kind local people living in the traditional Muslim way of life,” TAT Co-ordination Centre leader Ladawan Chuaychart told Khabar in Phang Nga town. “Our current marketing plan for Yao Yai does not specifically target the Muslim market.
“We want to promote the island to anyone interested in its attractions and local culture,” she said.
Last year’s high season (typically November through March) was successful: the islands’ 36 hotels were booked to three-quarters full, according to some resort reports, Ladawan estimated.
For now, few foreign Muslim tourists visit. “Most of the Muslims who do come here as tourists are Thai Muslims seeking to study how the local people have been so successful at implementing community-based tourism,” she said.
Yao Yai alone has 18 mosques and does not offer nightlife attractions like Phuket, said Koh Yao Tourism Club head Kanakorn Sagarik.
“It’s mostly honeymooners, families on holidays and groups like that,” Kanakorn, who also runs the upscale Koh Yao Yai Village resort, told Khabar.
But his current promotional campaign focuses on Indonesia and Malaysia, as he expects to welcome more travellers from those countries once terms of the ASEAN Economic Community go into effect next year, making travel within the region more affordable.
“We are very well-prepared to welcome tourists from Muslim countries. Women will feel very comfortable here since most of the local women are veiled and all the food is halal .”