Wednesday 9 May 2012

Pak Phanang


Pak Phanang is a sleeping little town in Nakhon Si Thammarat province, South Thailand. It's on the east coast, just below the "knee-bend" which is the kick-off point for Samui Is. Nakhon Si Thammarat city (or "Nakhon" for short) has quite a few foriegn teachers and "farang" men who have married Thai women, but mostly it is off the usual tourist track. Where we are living in Pak Phanang is even further off the tourist track. In fact, if we see tourists here we think they must be lost!

Pak Phanang used to be a very important rice growing and trading area. One hundred years ago (and earlier), ships would come from Indonesia and China to buy rice. As transport methods have changed, so has the status of Pak Phanang - in a downhill manner. There is still a large population here, but many folks in surrounding districts say that Pak Phanang is in a dead-end. That is, the road going through Pak Phanang doesn't head anywhere else.

Pak Phanang is quite a major centre for primary and secondary education, but I'll write about that in another blog. It's also a major centre in the bird-nest industry, but that's the subject of another blog too. And there's the King's project - the water gate - but I'll leave that for another day also.

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