Tin mine becomes a tourism gold mine
11 Jan 2011
On the western border, Thong Pha Phum is a pleasant and easy place to hide out.Someone shouted "Here we are" as the four-wheel-drive truck approached the hilltop where a wooden sign was perched - and I was really glad to hear those words after half-an-hour of bumpy road.But when the truck got close to the sign, I found it read: "Steep, rough road 4WD only. Welcome to Somsak Mining." There was also an arrow sign, pointing down into the deep valley.
"Hold on tight, we are going down. It is just 20 minutes away," the driver laughed, as he once again tackled the bumpy road.In fact, it's not really a road. It's just rocky terrain along which our truck had to creep and climb carefully through the dense jungle.Here is Pilok, a small border town in Thong Pha Phum district of Kanchanaburi. And it takes quite a long drive to get there.
People may think Kanchanaburi is close to Bangkok, but I beg to differ.Muang district of Kanchanaburi is 128km, or just a two-hour ride from the capital. However, it takes another two hours on a mountain road to reach Thong Pha Phum, plus another hour or two, to Pilok via the narrow, winding road - depending on the vehicle and driver's skill.Still, many people find such a long journey is worth the effort.
When our pickup truck crossed a bridge spanning over a small shady creek, I saw an old lady standing in front of a wooden house surrounded by a flower bed and next to a stream amid the dense jungle."Please come in, enjoy the cake,", said Glennis Setabundhu as she greeted us all with smile.With a strong sense of relief, all the tourists threw their bags down and darted to the table where various cakes were laid out. Within minutes, nothing was left on the table.
Auntie Glen, as she is known in these parts, smiled warmly in the knowledge that her delicious baking can still please a hungry crowd.On the western border, Thong Pha Phum is a pleasant and easy place to hide out.Someone shouted "Here we are" as the four-wheel-drive truck approached the hilltop where a wooden sign was perched - and I was really glad to hear those words after half-an-hour of bumpy road.
But when the truck got close to the sign, I found it read: "Steep, rough road 4WD only. Welcome to Somsak Mining." There was also an arrow sign, pointing down into the deep valley."Hold on tight, we are going down. It is just 20 minutes away," the driver laughed, as he once again tackled the bumpy road.In fact, it's not really a road. It's just rocky terrain along which our truck had to creep and climb carefully through the dense jungle.
Here is Pilok, a small border town in Thong Pha Phum district of Kanchanaburi. And it takes quite a long drive to get there.People may think Kanchanaburi is close to Bangkok, but I beg to differ.Muang district of Kanchanaburi is 128km, or just a two-hour ride from the capital. However, it takes another two hours on a mountain road to reach Thong Pha Phum, plus another hour or two, to Pilok via the narrow, winding road - depending on the vehicle and driver's skill.
Still, many people find such a long journey is worth the effort.When our pickup truck crossed a bridge spanning over a small shady creek, I saw an old lady standing in front of a wooden house surrounded by a flower bed and next to a stream amid the dense jungle."Please come in, enjoy the cake,", said Glennis Setabundhu as she greeted us all with smile.
With a strong sense of relief, all the tourists threw their bags down and darted to the table where various cakes were laid out. Within minutes, nothing was left on the table. Auntie Glen, as she is known in these parts, smiled warmly in the knowledge that her delicious baking can still please a hungry crowd.
Somsak Mining Forest Glade is a wooden house with all life's necessities under one roof, and it is filled with decorative items that illustrate how much Auntie Glen loves where she lives.
Four decades ago, she married Somsak Setabandhu, a local who ran the family mining business in Pilok. They met in Australia, where he was studying for a master's degree. Due to difficulties in accessing Pilok 40 years ago, Auntie Glen lived in Bangkok while Somsak came back to her and their son once a week.When the mining business faltered because of a drop in the tin price, and Somsak got sick, Auntie Glen decided to move to Pilok. Since then, she has fallen in love with her home in the jungle.
Although she moved there for her ailing husband, who has since passed away, and his mining business, she was also intent on converting the house and the area into a tourist attraction."It is quite normal here if it rains non-stop for week. We have to light up the stove and dry the clothes in this room," mining manager Charlie Moonsutr explained as we walked into a room where clothes were hung all around.
"We are in the deep jungle and here it is quite cold all year long. Trust me, you need thick blankets here even in the middle of summer."The combination of comfortable weather and a cosy home amid the jungle was bound to attract travellers - particularly off-roaders. Various stickers on the door indicate just how popular the resort is with various off-road clubs.
"Though Pilok was a very remote area and quite difficult to access in the past, it was rich in minerals," Charlie said. "While mineral prices were high, labourers from Thailand, ethnic people from along the border and Burmese people all struggled to get here for a well-paid job in mining. It was quite a hey-day that time. A lot of evidence of our glory days remains around here."On the western border, Thong Pha Phum is a pleasant and easy place to hide out.Someone shouted "Here we are" as the four-wheel-drive truck approached the hilltop where a wooden sign was perched - and I was really glad to hear those words after half-an-hour of bumpy road.
But when the truck got close to the sign, I found it read: "Steep, rough road 4WD only. Welcome to Somsak Mining." There was also an arrow sign, pointing down into the deep valley."Hold on tight, we are going down. It is just 20 minutes away," the driver laughed, as he once again tackled the bumpy road.In fact, it's not really a road. It's just rocky terrain along which our truck had to creep and climb carefully through the dense jungle.
Here is Pilok, a small border town in Thong Pha Phum district of Kanchanaburi. And it takes quite a long drive to get there.People may think Kanchanaburi is close to Bangkok, but I beg to differ.Muang district of Kanchanaburi is 128km, or just a two-hour ride from the capital. However, it takes another two hours on a mountain road to reach Thong Pha Phum, plus another hour or two, to Pilok via the narrow, winding road - depending on the vehicle and driver's skill.
Still, many people find such a long journey is worth the effort.When our pickup truck crossed a bridge spanning over a small shady creek, I saw an old lady standing in front of a wooden house surrounded by a flower bed and next to a stream amid the dense jungle."Please come in, enjoy the cake,", said Glennis Setabundhu as she greeted us all with smile.
With a strong sense of relief, all the tourists threw their bags down and darted to the table where various cakes were laid out. Within minutes, nothing was left on the table. Auntie Glen, as she is known in these parts, smiled warmly in the knowledge that her delicious baking can still please a hungry crowd.
Somsak Mining Forest Glade is a wooden house with all life's necessities under one roof, and it is filled with decorative items that illustrate how much Auntie Glen loves where she lives.
Four decades ago, she married Somsak Setabandhu, a local who ran the family mining business in Pilok. They met in Australia, where he was studying for a master's degree. Due to difficulties in accessing Pilok 40 years ago, Auntie Glen lived in Bangkok while Somsak came back to her and their son once a week.
When the mining business faltered because of a drop in the tin price, and Somsak got sick, Auntie Glen decided to move to Pilok. Since then, she has fallen in love with her home in the jungle.Although she moved there for her ailing husband, who has since passed away, and his mining business, she was also intent on converting the house and the area into a tourist attraction.
"It is quite normal here if it rains non-stop for week. We have to light up the stove and dry the clothes in this room," mining manager Charlie Moonsutr explained as we walked into a room where clothes were hung all around."We are in the deep jungle and here it is quite cold all year long. Trust me, you need thick blankets here even in the middle of summer."The combination of comfortable weather and a cosy home amid the jungle was bound to attract travellers - particularly off-roaders. Various stickers on the door indicate just how popular the resort is with various off-road clubs.
"Though Pilok was a very remote area and quite difficult to access in the past, it was rich in minerals," Charlie said. "While mineral prices were high, labourers from Thailand, ethnic people from along the border and Burmese people all struggled to get here for a well-paid job in mining. It was quite a hey-day that time. A lot of evidence of our glory days remains around here."
The next day, I'm ready to tackle the bumpy road again and Charlie takes me out to explore Pilok.
He drove off the main "road" and climbed up a steep hill to park in front of a rocky mountain that features a number of tunnels."The miners dug these tunnels in search of the minerals such as tin, wolframite and gold. They dug in an east-west direction because the mineral line always runs in a north-south direction."."Did they find the minerals?" I wondered."No, they did not. If they had, you would not see this mountain," he laughed.
From that rock mountain, you can see a small village nestled in the valley below, right on the Thailand-Burma border. Hugh gas pipes and telecommunication towers can be easily seen among the small old houses.This is Ban E-Thong and the pipes are part of the Petroleum Authority of Thailand's 260km pipeline carrying gas from Burma's Yadana field in the Andaman Sea to supply a 4,600 megawatt power plant in Ratchaburi.
"Once here was a very bustling tin-mining town, when mining businesses were in their glory days. Thousands of miners, hundreds of merchants, shops, theatres and a casino kept this place busy around the clock," Charlie said. "Here it is just 50km from the sea. In the past, many Burmese merchants came weekly to offer fresh seafood at very good prices.
"We roamed the tiny village and found it pretty quiet. All the miners have gone, almost leaving behind a ghost town.However, I did notice groups of tourist coming in, and that guesthouses and coffee houses were thriving. Locals are getting into the tourism business as more and more people discover the joys of hiding away in this remote border town.
Source = bangkokpost
"Hold on tight, we are going down. It is just 20 minutes away," the driver laughed, as he once again tackled the bumpy road.In fact, it's not really a road. It's just rocky terrain along which our truck had to creep and climb carefully through the dense jungle.Here is Pilok, a small border town in Thong Pha Phum district of Kanchanaburi. And it takes quite a long drive to get there.
People may think Kanchanaburi is close to Bangkok, but I beg to differ.Muang district of Kanchanaburi is 128km, or just a two-hour ride from the capital. However, it takes another two hours on a mountain road to reach Thong Pha Phum, plus another hour or two, to Pilok via the narrow, winding road - depending on the vehicle and driver's skill.Still, many people find such a long journey is worth the effort.
When our pickup truck crossed a bridge spanning over a small shady creek, I saw an old lady standing in front of a wooden house surrounded by a flower bed and next to a stream amid the dense jungle."Please come in, enjoy the cake,", said Glennis Setabundhu as she greeted us all with smile.With a strong sense of relief, all the tourists threw their bags down and darted to the table where various cakes were laid out. Within minutes, nothing was left on the table.
Auntie Glen, as she is known in these parts, smiled warmly in the knowledge that her delicious baking can still please a hungry crowd.On the western border, Thong Pha Phum is a pleasant and easy place to hide out.Someone shouted "Here we are" as the four-wheel-drive truck approached the hilltop where a wooden sign was perched - and I was really glad to hear those words after half-an-hour of bumpy road.
But when the truck got close to the sign, I found it read: "Steep, rough road 4WD only. Welcome to Somsak Mining." There was also an arrow sign, pointing down into the deep valley."Hold on tight, we are going down. It is just 20 minutes away," the driver laughed, as he once again tackled the bumpy road.In fact, it's not really a road. It's just rocky terrain along which our truck had to creep and climb carefully through the dense jungle.
Here is Pilok, a small border town in Thong Pha Phum district of Kanchanaburi. And it takes quite a long drive to get there.People may think Kanchanaburi is close to Bangkok, but I beg to differ.Muang district of Kanchanaburi is 128km, or just a two-hour ride from the capital. However, it takes another two hours on a mountain road to reach Thong Pha Phum, plus another hour or two, to Pilok via the narrow, winding road - depending on the vehicle and driver's skill.
Still, many people find such a long journey is worth the effort.When our pickup truck crossed a bridge spanning over a small shady creek, I saw an old lady standing in front of a wooden house surrounded by a flower bed and next to a stream amid the dense jungle."Please come in, enjoy the cake,", said Glennis Setabundhu as she greeted us all with smile.
With a strong sense of relief, all the tourists threw their bags down and darted to the table where various cakes were laid out. Within minutes, nothing was left on the table. Auntie Glen, as she is known in these parts, smiled warmly in the knowledge that her delicious baking can still please a hungry crowd.
Somsak Mining Forest Glade is a wooden house with all life's necessities under one roof, and it is filled with decorative items that illustrate how much Auntie Glen loves where she lives.
Four decades ago, she married Somsak Setabandhu, a local who ran the family mining business in Pilok. They met in Australia, where he was studying for a master's degree. Due to difficulties in accessing Pilok 40 years ago, Auntie Glen lived in Bangkok while Somsak came back to her and their son once a week.When the mining business faltered because of a drop in the tin price, and Somsak got sick, Auntie Glen decided to move to Pilok. Since then, she has fallen in love with her home in the jungle.
Although she moved there for her ailing husband, who has since passed away, and his mining business, she was also intent on converting the house and the area into a tourist attraction."It is quite normal here if it rains non-stop for week. We have to light up the stove and dry the clothes in this room," mining manager Charlie Moonsutr explained as we walked into a room where clothes were hung all around.
"We are in the deep jungle and here it is quite cold all year long. Trust me, you need thick blankets here even in the middle of summer."The combination of comfortable weather and a cosy home amid the jungle was bound to attract travellers - particularly off-roaders. Various stickers on the door indicate just how popular the resort is with various off-road clubs.
"Though Pilok was a very remote area and quite difficult to access in the past, it was rich in minerals," Charlie said. "While mineral prices were high, labourers from Thailand, ethnic people from along the border and Burmese people all struggled to get here for a well-paid job in mining. It was quite a hey-day that time. A lot of evidence of our glory days remains around here."On the western border, Thong Pha Phum is a pleasant and easy place to hide out.Someone shouted "Here we are" as the four-wheel-drive truck approached the hilltop where a wooden sign was perched - and I was really glad to hear those words after half-an-hour of bumpy road.
But when the truck got close to the sign, I found it read: "Steep, rough road 4WD only. Welcome to Somsak Mining." There was also an arrow sign, pointing down into the deep valley."Hold on tight, we are going down. It is just 20 minutes away," the driver laughed, as he once again tackled the bumpy road.In fact, it's not really a road. It's just rocky terrain along which our truck had to creep and climb carefully through the dense jungle.
Here is Pilok, a small border town in Thong Pha Phum district of Kanchanaburi. And it takes quite a long drive to get there.People may think Kanchanaburi is close to Bangkok, but I beg to differ.Muang district of Kanchanaburi is 128km, or just a two-hour ride from the capital. However, it takes another two hours on a mountain road to reach Thong Pha Phum, plus another hour or two, to Pilok via the narrow, winding road - depending on the vehicle and driver's skill.
Still, many people find such a long journey is worth the effort.When our pickup truck crossed a bridge spanning over a small shady creek, I saw an old lady standing in front of a wooden house surrounded by a flower bed and next to a stream amid the dense jungle."Please come in, enjoy the cake,", said Glennis Setabundhu as she greeted us all with smile.
With a strong sense of relief, all the tourists threw their bags down and darted to the table where various cakes were laid out. Within minutes, nothing was left on the table. Auntie Glen, as she is known in these parts, smiled warmly in the knowledge that her delicious baking can still please a hungry crowd.
Somsak Mining Forest Glade is a wooden house with all life's necessities under one roof, and it is filled with decorative items that illustrate how much Auntie Glen loves where she lives.
Four decades ago, she married Somsak Setabandhu, a local who ran the family mining business in Pilok. They met in Australia, where he was studying for a master's degree. Due to difficulties in accessing Pilok 40 years ago, Auntie Glen lived in Bangkok while Somsak came back to her and their son once a week.
When the mining business faltered because of a drop in the tin price, and Somsak got sick, Auntie Glen decided to move to Pilok. Since then, she has fallen in love with her home in the jungle.Although she moved there for her ailing husband, who has since passed away, and his mining business, she was also intent on converting the house and the area into a tourist attraction.
"It is quite normal here if it rains non-stop for week. We have to light up the stove and dry the clothes in this room," mining manager Charlie Moonsutr explained as we walked into a room where clothes were hung all around."We are in the deep jungle and here it is quite cold all year long. Trust me, you need thick blankets here even in the middle of summer."The combination of comfortable weather and a cosy home amid the jungle was bound to attract travellers - particularly off-roaders. Various stickers on the door indicate just how popular the resort is with various off-road clubs.
"Though Pilok was a very remote area and quite difficult to access in the past, it was rich in minerals," Charlie said. "While mineral prices were high, labourers from Thailand, ethnic people from along the border and Burmese people all struggled to get here for a well-paid job in mining. It was quite a hey-day that time. A lot of evidence of our glory days remains around here."
The next day, I'm ready to tackle the bumpy road again and Charlie takes me out to explore Pilok.
He drove off the main "road" and climbed up a steep hill to park in front of a rocky mountain that features a number of tunnels."The miners dug these tunnels in search of the minerals such as tin, wolframite and gold. They dug in an east-west direction because the mineral line always runs in a north-south direction."."Did they find the minerals?" I wondered."No, they did not. If they had, you would not see this mountain," he laughed.
From that rock mountain, you can see a small village nestled in the valley below, right on the Thailand-Burma border. Hugh gas pipes and telecommunication towers can be easily seen among the small old houses.This is Ban E-Thong and the pipes are part of the Petroleum Authority of Thailand's 260km pipeline carrying gas from Burma's Yadana field in the Andaman Sea to supply a 4,600 megawatt power plant in Ratchaburi.
"Once here was a very bustling tin-mining town, when mining businesses were in their glory days. Thousands of miners, hundreds of merchants, shops, theatres and a casino kept this place busy around the clock," Charlie said. "Here it is just 50km from the sea. In the past, many Burmese merchants came weekly to offer fresh seafood at very good prices.
"We roamed the tiny village and found it pretty quiet. All the miners have gone, almost leaving behind a ghost town.However, I did notice groups of tourist coming in, and that guesthouses and coffee houses were thriving. Locals are getting into the tourism business as more and more people discover the joys of hiding away in this remote border town.
Source = bangkokpost
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