Visit Phana

VISIT PHANA was the theme of the community-based tourism that was on the agenda of the Amnat Charoen Provincial authorities earlier this year. Nothing much seems to have come of it so far, at least as far as the Provincial initiative goes. That may in part be due to the change in government. Not because a change in government necessarily results in the abandonment of all previous policies, but because budget allocations inevitably have to be looked at again in order to reassess priorities.

But in Phana itself some progress was made towards planning for community-based tourism. Perhaps it has taken a new direction, or at least a somehwat unexpected one, in that Don Chao Poo and the resident monkeys have become the focus; and the focus has been narrowed down further to the educational possibilities that they offer.

Another step towards community-based tourism in Phana has been the production of several leaflets, in English initially, but to be translated into Thai and possibly into Japanese.

Here is the content of the first leaflet.

VISIT PHANA 

THE TOWN OF FIELDS IN THE FOREST

Visit Phana and uncover the secrets of this little-known but historic and surprising town in the heart of Isan.

Phana just may be the best place you have never heard of!

Phana is famous for Phra Lao Thepnimit, the beautiful image in a 300-year-old temple: come and pay your respects.

 

Phana is famous, too, for the large tribe of long-tailed macaque monkeys in Don Chao Poo forest – come and feed them, or just sit and watch them.

 

But visit Phana and you can discover much more

Visit during one of the festivals – there is one every month, but the most lively is the Wat Phra Lao festival in February. Join the festivities at the temple. Take part in the bicycle rally around the town …

Come for the rocket festival in May. You can see the young women of Phana competing in traditional dancing as well as watch the firing of huge rockets.

Or Boun Pravet in March when the story of Buddha’s penultimate life is paraded on a banner and read in 13 chapters in a temple.

Or celebrate Loy Kratong at the big pond in Don Kwan village in November.

Visit on market days – Wednesday and Saturday mornings – but you must be up early as most of the action is between 6.30 and 8.00 a.m. The market meets again on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons from about 4 – 6 p.m.

Come to Phana and eat gai yaang with som tam and sticky rice, or duck noodle soup, Korean BBQ perhaps.

Or a local speciality: Jao Hawn.

 

Visit the Traditional Medicine Centre for a massage or a sauna – or spoil yourself and have both!

Ask to see how traditional herbal  medicines are produced — and then buy some to ensure your health and comfort.

 

Hire a bicycle to visit the nearby villages. Watch weavers at work at their looms or dying thread; take a tuk-tuk to Ban Soi in Tambon  Chan Lan and see the complete process of silk production from mulberry leaf and silkworm raising to the finished cloth.

Take a picnic to Fai Rong Hin (the Model Agricultural Centre) in Tambon Phra Lao. Enjoy the quiet serenity and take a look at the livestock and find out how farmers are advised to adopt a more self-sufficient and sustainable style of farming.

 

Don’t forget to take a look at those fields in the forest.

 

 

Phana Garden Resort is waiting to welcome you.

Get to Phana by bus from Amnat Charoen or Ubon Ratchathani. Or take the a/c coach service from Bangkok to Khong Jiam.

But don't forget your destination:

Phana

Come on!

Surprise yourself

with an unforgettable visit.

Comments

[Martyn]

Lawrence, the Visit Phana leaflet reads as a very good positive for your community's efforts to boost tourism in the area. I'm sure tourism will improve if the leaflets are distributed to the right sources. Hotels, bus stations, travel agencies etc. And please do hurry to print the information in Thai because there's 50 million potential visitors out there.

I'm sure Yingluck and her Red Army will rubber stamp a project which is rooted in the heart of Isaan. Big Brother will surely see to that.

Good luck to the Visit Phana project, one day I intend visiting Phana myself.

[Lawrence]

Hi Martyn. Not sure about the rubber stamp, depends on whether they prefer the carrot to the stick. Phana could be punished for persisiting in voting for the opposition (as it now is). So we might not get any help in distributing leaflets. I've done a couple more and I'll put them up here sometime.

We look forward to welcoming you and Wi to Phana one day. Udon it is not, though. Timing is the essence: October to April.

[Paul]

Phana have a bank? I heard they going
to built a Tesco Lotos there soon. Is
this true?

[Lawrence]

Hi Paul. A bank? Not really. There's a small branch of the BaaC (Bank of Agriculture and Credit, I think) which is a savings and loan bank for farmers. They have a Western Union sign outside, though. There are two ATMs, one at the new bus station/market, the other outside Tetsaban Phana offices.

A Tesco Lotus seems unlikely. There is a Tesco Express at Trakan, 22 kms away. Our new market is flourishing, main meetings are on Saturday and Wednesday mornings, with smaller meetings on Monday and Thursday evenings. Haven't heard anything to suggest more is on the way. We still don't have a 7, a matter of pride, I think.