Ko Pha-ngan - TourismThailand.org

40
Beautiful Ways of Life, Thinking of
the Inclined Coconut Tree at Wok Tum Bay
A tour of the western beaches starts from Thong Sala, from
where there is a little road running around Nai Wok Bay and Plai Laem
Bay to Wok Tum Bay. Seabed along this area is muddy and shallow,
not suitable for swimming. Besides, it is covered with mangrove forests,
alternate with a few small beaches with bungalows and few large
resorts. However, as villagers in the area earn their living from coastal
fisheries, visitors can observe their ways of life and their dockyards
of small boats. In another aspect of life here, villagers often spend
time during the day when the tide is out, finding Hoi Klom or rounded
clam, and spear prawns during the night. In picking Hoi Klom, they use
a technique handed down from their ancestors, by pouring a drop of
used vegetable oil on the sea surface which will make water clearer,
allowing them to see rounded clams lying on seabed and easily to be
picked. Hoi Klom is sweet tasting and good for frying with basil leaf or
oyster sauce, or to be cooked in coconut milk. The Hoi Klom festival is
held once a year during June to July when the Phattaya wind blows
in with the arrival of more clams. In the festival jointly organized by
the Provincial Administrative Organization and the municipality,
tourists and villagers compete in picking as many Hoi Klom as
possible and together enjoy a variety of clam dishes. The festival is a
well-known activity of Wok Tum Bay. There is also an ecological
conservation activity in which dead corals are dropped into a specific
41