What better way to pick up the rhythms of a sleepy Sukhothai hamlet than a short stay at a villager's house?
YVONNE BOHWONGPRASERT
To experience rural life in Sukhothai at its best, sampling the hospitality and home cooking of the residents of Ban Na Ton Chan is a must. A long asphalt road lined with lush vegetation leads to a sprawling teak house owned by Sa-ngiam Sawaenglap, the first villager to sign up for a homestay programme when it was launched here a year ago.
Located in the north of the province, in Ban Tuek, a tambon of Si Satchanalai district, this farming community is home to 270 families, but since most of the young adults have had to seek work elsewhere the population largely consists of children, their mothers and the elderly.
Sa-ngiam, a wonderfully outgoing woman who insisted we call her Pa (Aunty), had organised a cooking demonstration for us at the home of a neighbour who also takes in guests and runs a small restaurant in front of her place. We were to learn how to make a local delicacy called guay tiew phra ruang or khao perp. A soup made with pork stock and containing slices of pork and very tasty square dumplings (only one per portion, sadly), this is found nowhere else in the country, we were assured.
 |
| For close encounters with pachyderms in their natural surroundings, check out Boon Lott's Elephant Sanctuary. |
 |
| Weaving is a good source of supplementary income for the village women. |
"Khao perp is a unique for its dumplings which we make by wrapping a mixture of beansprouts, egg, wun sen [vermicelli/'glass noodles'] and morning glory in rice paper and then steaming these over a charcoal brazier," Sa-ngiam explained as Dao, her neighbour, demonstrated the various steps involved in the process. She shared her work surface, a large wooden dining table, with several dozing cats who were seemingly unperturbed by all the noise and commotion going on around them.
Later, during the course of a leisurely lunch - which besides khao perp included a mouth-watering version of choop baeng thawt (vegetables dipped in chilli paste, then tossed in egg and then in a rice-flour batter before being deep-fried) - Sa-ngiam did a bit of public relations work for the village, detailing for us what sets Ban Nan Ton Chan apart from other settlements in the area.
"Visitors tend to find our culture and traditions rather unique; that's because our forefathers came from Lampang and Uttaradit. When they settled in Ban Na Ton Chan, centuries ago, they brought with them their beliefs, their customs and particular ways of doing things and their own dialects - that's why, even to this day, we speak with a different accent from other people in these parts!"
It was Sa-ngiam, an active member of the village council, who spearheaded efforts to launch the homestay project, reasoning that it would be good for the old folks to have something to occupy their time while their children were away working in the city. Most of their guests so far, she said, have been either civil servants or small groups of students on field trips accompanied by their teachers.
Later, on a tour of the village we visited a household where baskets are woven from cane and another where ornaments and various handicrafts are fashioned from coconut shells. Some of the local women also make exquisite homespun textiles to supplement their income.
Wong, a man in his 70s whom everyone addressed as Granddad, caught our attention with his meticulously carved wooden toys created from off-cuts discarded by a small furniture factory run by his neighbour, Kosol Soodsakorn. After watching Wong whittle a piece of wood into a little doll, we dropped by Kosol's workshop, arriving just in time to see him putting the finishing touches to a chair made from a portion of the roots of some massive tree.
 |
 |
 |
| Making `guay tiew phra ruang'. |
Sa-ngiam Sawaenglap, pioneer of the homestay programme at Ban Na Ton Chan. |
Homestay guests are welcome to try their hand at making wooden furniture. |
"Every morning we go out into the forest to collect old roots and branches that, depending on their shape, we can turn into tables or chairs or seats for swings," Kosol said. "It's a good source of extra income. And I'm always happy to talk about my work to homestay guests when they come by to have a look."
The owners of several orchards and vegetable plots around the village welcome visitors. And if you feel like exploring further afield, a popular half-day excursion is a visit to Boon Lott's Elephant Sanctuary, about two kilometres away. Set up in 2005 by a young British woman named Katherine Connor and her Thai husband, Anon, this 250-rai property is home to nine Asian elephants plus an assortment of dogs, cats and chickens. It also offers full board in two traditional wooden houses.
A homestay package at Ban Na Ton Chan (accommodation, dinner, breakfast and a guided tour of the village) costs 350 baht per night. For details, phone
Sa-ngiam Sawaenglap on 089-885-1639 or 055-677-209. For information on the area, phone the Tourism Authority of Authority on 055-611-196 or
email tatsukho@tat.or.th. Visit http://www.blesele.com/cms/home.html for more details on Boon Lott's Elephant Sanctuary.
Prev
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Next
