THE FORMER capital of the ancient Langkasuka Kingdom, Pattani province in Thailand’s far south has traditionally been feted for its multiculturalism, though sadly the ongoing violence has kept it well off the tourist path for more than a decade.

But not all the residents have given up on drawing visitors to their home. On a recent visit that saw a group of journalists wrap up a tour of all three southernmost provinces, we were taken around China Town by Melayu Living, a club of innovative artists who are hoping to bring tourists back to this thriving trading hub on the bank of the Pattani River and the border of Thailand and Malaysia.

Pattani’s China Town is located on Anoru Road and lined with old Chinesestyle houses built in the reign of King Rama III

The group has also collaborated with the Association of Siamese Architects under Royal Patronage to create maps and guidebooks to illustrate the city layout and indicate the locations of tourist attractions.

Along the 1.4-kilometre walking route, visitors can learn about history, enjoy some local delicacies and get a feel for the simple way of Southern life. Contrary to the negative pictures painted by the media, it’s normal to see Muslims sitting alongside Chinese-Buddhists eating roti and drinking coffee or tea and sharing space in an art gallery.

Sulaiman “Lee” Chemae is our tour guide for the walk and one of my travel companions greets him not with “hello” but a question – “It is safe to roam on foot?”

Lee doesn’t appear put out. “This area is like the yolk of an egg, protected by checkpoints controlled by armed soldiers. So, yes, tourists can feel safe. I admit we can’t guarantee 100-per-cent safety but we can recommend places to which visitors can go as well as those best avoided,” he says.

China Town is populated by Hokkian Chinese, whose ancestors migrated from Fujian and set up shop on Anoru Road. Lined with old Chinese-style buildings mostly constructed during the reign of King Rama III, it’s home to the Lim Ko Nieo Shrine, worshipped by local residents and seafarers alike to ask for fortune, success, good health and protection. Built in 1634, it was originally called Leng Chu Kiang Shrine.

Legend has it that Lim Ko Niao crossed the South China Sea from China to Pattani to bring her brother back home to be with their dying mother. The young man, Lim To Kiam, declined her request, preferring to stay in Pattani because he had married a daughter of Phraya Tani and converted to Islam. Lim Ko Niao was frustrated by her brother’s refusal and ended up hanging herself from a cashew nut tree. The villagers later carved a wooden statue to her memory.

Lim Ko Nieo Shrine is always packed with pilgrims and seafarers praying for protection and good fortune. 

A short distance from the shrine is the former residence of taxman Luang Wichit Sulkakorn. Made from wood and cement, the main structure has been maintained to celebrate its long history.

When Wichit and his family moved out, the house was turned into a Thai dessert shop by Xuan Lui Kowittaya and became the first grocery on Anoru Road. Today, it’s under the care of the Kamolwittaya family.

“In the past, the Chinese residents traded with sea merchants from Singapore, Malacca and the Malay Peninsula, while the Muslims made their living from fishing. King Rama III recognised the potential for border trade, so he sent a tax collector to Pattani, making our community stronger,” Lee explains.

Next door is the White Building, which was constructed in 1883 by Luang Cheen Kananurak. Anan, the third generation of the Kananurak family, recently had it completely refurbished and gave it a more modern look.

The building is divided into three zones linked by walkways from the front building to an old wooden house in the middle. There is a kitchen and a lush courtyard at the back, where the air-raid shelter hastily constructed during World War II, has been turned into a fish and lotus pond.

Commonly known as Baan Kongsee, the bright blue, 150-year-old house was constructed by another tax collector, Luang Samret Kitjakorn Jangwang – an ancestor of the Kanaurak family, during the reign of King Rama III.

The roof has a perforated design that resembles ancient currency, symbolic of fortune, while the front of house features two windows to protect against inauspicious happenings in line with feng shui beliefs.

The structure is built with glazed bricks coated with white honey-mixed lime and oversize earthenware tiles cover the floor. The living room has a huge stand to accommodate the many statues of Chinese deities.

Baan Kongsee boasts traditional Chinese architecture and is based on feng shui philosophy. 

Khun Phitak Raya, the two-storey house in the corner of the compound now belongs to Senator Anusat Suwanmongkol, who runs the Pattani’s

CS Hotel. He has poured some Bt8 million into restoring the old structure, working with skilled craftsmen from the Fine Arts Department.

Lee leads us to Pattani Phirom Road, once home to a theatre, a smattering of opium dens, Chinese-style taverns, a foundry and gold shops. Surrounded by European-style buildings, the Melayu Living club has set up its own In_t_af Cafe & Gallery and this has become a hip hangout for Pattani’s younger generation.

“It’s not easy to teach other local residents what this art space is all about, which is setting aside fear of violence and bringing tourists to Pattani. Even with the support of the provincial officials, it took us a few years to persuade the Chinese residents to open their houses and welcome visitors,” Lee says.

Our sightseeing tour ends at the present-day shopping district on Ruedee Road, home to a block of colonial buildings influenced by British construction designs with a gap between them to prevent fire from spreading. This street once housed a big market that sold fabrics and spices and was operated by Indian entrepreneurs.

The newly opened Sky Walk offers a panoramic view of the Gulf of Thailand and the swamp forest. 

“Before the violence, this area was really colourful. It was lined with restaurants and always packed with foreign labourers and local fishermen. Because of its proximity to the huge fish market and pier, some Bt100 million changed hands every night,” Lee says.

“We want to promote other tourist routes that take in artisan villages and encourage people to take a cruise to a swamp forest in Yaring district so that visitors can experience our culture.”

Just a 15-minute drive away from downtown Pattani next to Her Royal Highness Princess Galyani Vadhana Garden is the recently opened Pattani Adventure Park, which is billing itself as the best vantage point for admiring Tachee Cape and azure waters of the Gulf of Thailand.

The 400-metre skywalk stands as high as a three-storey building and can hold up to 400 kilogram per square metre, thus ensuring safety for all visitors. It’s also connected to a long nature trail on the ground, home to a lush massive swamp forest.

A mere 35 kilometres from town is

Sai Khao, which won the Most Outstanding Community-based Tourism Award back in 2007 for its eco-cultural tours and homestay services. Local residents have modified their vintage Jeep trucks to transport visitors to the Namtok Sai Khao National Park, where a golden statue of the Buddha looks down at visitors from the top of the mountain.

Baan Sai Khao village arranges farm tours in a jeep. 

“The province invested Bt32 million to construct the Buddha statue and it took 41 years to complete. It is a great viewpoint to look out over the verdant landscapes of Sai Khao district,” says Uncle Chanin Siannin, the head of Baan Sai Khao community.

The mountain is also home to a sacred pond, which the monk Luang Pu Tuad discovered during a pilgrimage in the jungle, a huge snake-like rock attached to the steep cliff and the Sai Khao waterfall, which is a popular picnic spot for local families.

Our day out ends with a visit to the massive rubber plantations and orchards, where we’re allowed to pick durian, bananas and rambutan straight from the tree and stock up on such snacks as preserved garcinia and miang kham made from banana to remind us of our visit.

IF YOU GO

>> Tourists can arrange a walking tour with Melayu Living by visiting its Facebook page.

>> The eco-cultural tour organised by the Baan Sai Khao community costs Bt500 per person. For a private tour by jeep, you pay an additional Bt1,000. For more information, call (089) 737 9553.

BORDERED TO the west, north and east by Pattani, Narathiwat and Songkhla and to the south by Malaysia, the landlocked province of Yala is a veritable showcase of Malay, Thai and Chinese culture.

The provincial capital, which is laid out like a spider’s web with a park at its centre, is the much-loved home of master craftsman Phiya Sawanpruk, owner of the Sri Yala Batik brand. In 2005, he converted his house, just 10 minutes away from Yala Railway Station, into an art studio and it is from here that he proudly presents his batik fashion garments and home furnishings.

An artisan at Sri Yala Batik demonstrates her craft.

One of his proudest achievements is reviving an ancient fabric known as pa la nging. Once popular in Thailand’s three southernmost provinces, it’s a luxurious yok dok brocade silk with motifs of gold leaves and local flowers that merges tie-dying, printing and batik techniques.

“I first discovered the pa la nging textile in my grandmother’s room. In the past, civil servants used pa la nging to make sarongs and turbans but it vanished almost a century when the newer generations turned away from sericulture to cultivating rubber trees and other economic crops,” says Phiya, who graduated in crafts and arts from Rajamangala University of Technology Rattanakosin.

“I’ve worked with skilful weavers in Khon Kaen’s Chonnabot district on developing designs for hand-woven gold-thread silk and cotton to conserve our traditions. Khon Kaen’s cotton is famous for its soft texture, which looks smooth after being dyed making it ideal for batik.”

All pa la nging fabrics are organically dyed using extracts from local plants – banana gives brown and green, Indian almond, clay orange and lac, pink. Phiya also carves his own woodblocks for printing more than 200 different patterns including tiles, balusters, saba banana and khao tom mad (steamed sticky rice wrapped with banana leaves).

“I paint the fabric piece by piece, making them into one-of-a-kind artworks,” Phiya says, adding that he also lectures at several universities around the country to pass on his knowledge to the next generations.”

Shophouses in Betong are adorned with street arts depicting the local lifestyle. 

Visitors to his studio will be fascinated by the collection of fashion apparel for men and women, as well as totes, shawls, scarves, key rings and tissue boxes. The pa la nging textiles, meanwhile, are available at King Power, leading resorts and on Thai Smile flights.

“I want to help women in the community to generate more income and our members can earn at least Bt5,000 a month. I also want to invite tourists to my home, where they will see the Muslim and Thai-Chinese Buddhist villagers living and working happily together and not focus on the violence in this part of world,” Phiya adds.

Leaving Yala, we drive through the breathtakingly beautiful Bang Lang National Park towards Betong, the southernmost town in Thailand.

We explore the small town on foot and admire the stunning street art that covers many walls and portrays the Thai-Chinese lifestyle including old coffeeshops, dim sum shops, vegetable stalls and Betong’s iconic post box.

The clock tower circle is a popular shopping and dining venue and is home to boutiques, barbers, Chinese and Thai restaurants, noodle shops and bakeries. Here too we find the roti pushcart run by two young girls, which has been highly recommended to us by a group of military volunteers. Its popularity is evidenced by the long queue but soon we are munching on roti that are crisp on the outside and soft on the inside and smothered in egg, banana and coco powder.

Two Muslim girls serve roti from a pushcart near Betong’s clock tower. 

The next morning, we leave Betong at 5 to travel to the summit of San Kala Khiri Mountain. Crowded with Thai and international tourists, it’s the best vantage point in Aiyoeweng district to take in the beautiful sea of mist though we are unfortunate with the weather and see only one per cent of mist.

We continue to Piyamit Tunnel in Tano Mae Ro district, once a stronghold of the Communist Party of Malaya. Spread over one kilometre under the mountain, it was built in 1976 with multiple entrances to serve as an air raid shelter and to store food.

Hemmed in by a tropical forest, the Piyamit Histories Museum is boasting a rare collection of old weapons, self-produced prosthetic legs, black-and-white photographs, kitchenware and musical instruments. Also on view is a Chinese shrine and an imitation smokeless stove made of clay.

“We had almost 1,000 members who wanted to fight for democracy. The battles continued for 50 years and in 1987 our party split after the Thai government offered us 15-rai of land per family for farming,” says Uncle Sue Chong,68, who serves as a tour guide.

IF YOU GO

>> Sri Yala Batik is at 85 Soi Weruwan 12, Amphur Muang, Yala. Call (087) 837 4007 or check out the Sri Yala Batik page on Facebook.

>> Piyamit Tunnel is open daily from 8am to 5pm. Tickets are Bt40 for adults and Bt10 for children.

Catering to the whole family, the resort boasts two freeform infinity pools overlooking the whitesand beach at La Ba Gao Bay, which boasts clear, protected, shallow waters perfect for swimming and snorkeling.

The resort also offers plenty of engaging activities with a fitness centre, yoga classes, tennis court and watersports centre. Four restaurants include kids’ meals, and babysitting and childfocused services are also available, as well as a schedule of activities collectively known as the Phi Phi Family Playground.

“Parents choose to stay with us because they want their children to get away from the screen and enjoy nature with fun, energising, activities to fill their day,” says general manager Chao Treenawong.

All the rooms, bungalows, suites and villas are designed for three or more occupants, and many come with an extra sofabed suitable for a child. There’s also a spacious twobedroom Family Bungalow, also with a sofa bed, perfect for four or more guests. Meanwhile, cots and extra beds are available on request.

When it comes to dining, families have plenty of choice with international buffet breakfasts, a la carte lunches and dinners, as well as snacks, icecream, juices and fruit served from the pool bar or bean/Co caf้. There are also plenty of dishes designed specially for younger guests.

The unique Phi Phi Family Playground ticks all the family friendly boxes. Youngsters are kept entertained with a Little Islanders Programme for 310 year olds while older kids can enjoy the Young Explorers Programme, specially designed for 1016 year olds with activities that range from crafts to swimming classes, kayaking adventures to beach games and fitness boot camps, cooking classes to handson sustainability workshops.

Creating a healthy connection between families who stay at the resort and the environment is part of the ethos at Phi Phi Island Village Beach Resort and new Marine Discovery Centre launched earlier this year as an interactive attraction to showcase local marine life with colourful displays and an integrated clownfish and bamboo shark nursery onsite.

“The centre not only teaches families about how we’re taking an active role in protecting Thailand’s endangered marine species,” explains the GM. “It also encourages young people to get involved and feel connected to the destination, which adds tremendously to their enjoyment.”

Another family friendly bonus at Phi Phi Island Village Beach Resort is that guests looking to book a late summer getaway or an early winter vacation in 2018 can take advantage of the Early Bird Promotion with a special 15% discount for bookings made 60 days in advance.

For more information, please call (075) 628 900 or visit reservations@phiphiislandvillage.com.