Kho Phra Thong Home Stay Project

Stephanie FalzoneSuza Khy

Michelle Honda

Introduction-Heard about it at Ban Talay Nok- We saw the opportunity to be a positive influence on the sustainability of the project

Ban Lion

•Upon arrival, we realized many of our original ideas had already been set in motion•Such ideas included a community map, a language guide, and activities to do with visitors•Academic Context: providing information about establishing community based tourism in response to post tsunami village development

Claudio (Naucrates) Mangrove Expert

Por (MAP) Translator/ Community Coordinator

Not pictured: Ning (MAP) Mangrove Action ProjectMonica (Naucrates) Sea Turtle Expert

Methods

We went from house to house with our translator to do informal interviews and took written notes

Home stay results

Aad, Jip, and Koy: our homestay family

Tours of the island

Mangroves Savannah

Cooking classes

Results of our interviews

Focus of interviewsWhy they want to participate, what they hope to gain, what they would like to share

What we found outSimilar opinions they all wanted to share their language, culture, bring awareness about the existence of Koh Phrathong

Discussion: Services Provided

Sign making

Certificate making for garden competition

Working in the Community Garden

Attending a Community Meeting

Providing valuable information for the organizations involved in developing the home stay program and the village

Discussion: Knowledge Gained• Social Sustainability

– Indicators: involvement of villagers to community activities; having an official representative to address their needs; establishment and execution of plans for the entire community; open and honest communication amongst the villagers; env education

• Economic Sustainability– Indicators: having a stable income; making sure the money

goes to the locals; good management of community fund• Ecological Sustainability

– Indicators: lessening the ecological impact of their activities; engaging in sustainable practices (composting, recycling, water use);

Village Results• Village needs – better water system because they only have 2

wells and one that works but is silty; needs a leader to gather all the communities together; lack of a proper school system (no teacher); waste management

Water ElectricityCommunity Leader

Waste Management School Total

Water x WaterCommunity Leader Water Water 7

Electricity Water xCommunity Leader School 0

Community Leader

Community Leader x

Community Leader 6

Waste Management Water Water

Community Leader x School 0

School Water SchoolCommunity Leader School x 4

Pair Wise Ranking: Village Needs

Social, Economic, Ecological Sustainability

– Because the village is young and with people coming in from all different villages, the village is slowly establishing itself.

– They are working towards more conservation and sustainable efforts but there is always room for improvement

• (i.e. improving community relations, waste management, water distribution, community fund)

• What we know now: gained the villager’s perspective of their motivations to joined the cbt, their expectations, the relationship between the villagers and MAP & NAUCRATES

Our research project is unique because we’re performing a preliminary analysis of the cbt before it launches

Discussion- Limitations

• Our information may have been biased because our translator was part of an outside organization that had come to work with the community

• It was also difficult to get the opinions of villagers who were not active and involved in community organizing.

• Most of people interviewed were reluctant to seem too opinionated because it is part of Thai culture not to criticize

• The weather also proved problematic• Our research method required a lot of time on the part of the

villagers and were not able to get to all of the houses we wanted to

Conclusions

• Education can make villagers more aware of the value of their natural resources instead of imposing outside opinions

• The villagers want to move towards sustainable living, but have difficulty doing so because of factors beyond their control.

Special Thanks to….Claudio, Monica, Por, Ning, all the villagers, and our

homestay hosts!!!