A day out on Koh Phra Thong

Saturday morning P’Nat and I took an early boat out to Koh Phra Thong Island. We arrived in Ta Pae Yoi Village, where excited kids were already waiting for us, and ready to have a nice day out on the island. Today we’re going to take the Thai and Moken kids out to the ‘savannah’ on the island, and teach them a bit more about local resources on the island. We call this area a ‘savannah’ as the area has a grassland ecosystem and the trees are highly spaced so that the canopy does not close. This area on Koh Phra Thong is the only savannah in the whole of Thailand.

The kids and I learned a lot about the different trees, bushes, and animals in the savannah. We went on a small scavenger hunt, looking for ‘hed’, the Thai word for mushrooms. We also collected big shells, of which P’Noon, our local guide from the village, could tell us a lot about. Afterwards we took a ride on a tractor, one of the only means, apart from a motorcycle, of getting around the island and took a lovely ride up to Golden Buddha Beach Resort. Although it started to rain pretty heavily, we were all still up for a nice swim in the ocean and a great slice of pizza.

We got absolutely soaked by the rain, but all in all we had a wonderful day out and learned a lot. The kids enjoyed the tractor ride, enjoyed their time in the savannah, learned more about their island, and that’s what it was all about.

–        Kathy