Organised under the Siamese Heritage Trust’s cultural landscape programme, “AGENDA 2022- 23: Cultural Landscape and Sustainable Development”, this study trip investigates issues in landscape management in the culturally and biologically diverse Andaman beaches of Krabi and Phang Nga. The trip is to be led by Associate Professor Dr Kitichate Sridith (Division of Biological science, Faculty of Science, Prince of Songkla University), a distinguished scholar who has spent decades exploring beach forests in Thailand and abroad. This journey takes you to spring forests in Krabi, undisturbed beach forests in Phang Nga and offers an opportunity to learn about the everyday life of the Moklen people in Baan Tap- Tawan, also in Phang Nga.

The participants will explore the plant communities in a variety of natural settings, particularly the spring forests. These plant communities which develop around the natural spring are still barely known to the general public today. In Krabi, the participants will visit a system of subterranean natural reservoirs around the limestone mountains, natural spring forests, as well as spring forests that have been organised by the local administration as a site for eco-tourism.

In Phang Nga, the participants will visit Khao Lampi-Hat Thai Mueang National Park, home to the most complete and beautiful sand dune beaches in the Thai peninsula. The area is abundant with Cycad (ปรง), Sea Lettuce (รักทะเล), Pandanus tectorius (เตยทะเล), sedge (กกทะเล), Beach Morning Glory (ผักบุ้งทะเล), Launaea sarmentosa (ผักลิ้นห่าน), East Indian arrow roots (ท้าวยายม่อม), These plants belong to a community of plants rarely found in the casuarina-lined beaches. Apart from the beach forests, the participants will also visit a “coastal heath forest”, an area situated inland from the beach forests, often misunderstood as a denuded forest because of its appearance. In fact, this area is rich with reserved humidity, whose condition evolves across the seasons. The coastal heath forest is where we will find another rich community of plants, such as various kinds of orchids, Styphelia malayana (เข็ดตะขาบ), Schizaea dichotoma (ตานซ่าน/ตานส้าน), Downy/Rose Myrtle (โทะ), Indian Birthwort (กระเช้าผีมด), and Mos. As the site of confluence between the distribution of plant species from the northern and southern hemispheres, the beaches of Thai Mueang are difficult to match in terms of biodiversity.

Apart from the exploration of nature, participants will have the opportunity to experience the everyday life of the Moklen people at Tab Tawan village – a sand dune community that was declared Thailand’s first protected cultural district in 2010, as an area where the ethnic way of life, culture, and identity are preserved. Having lived in connection with the sea for centuries, the Moklen hold a belief that no one has ownership over natural resources. However, whether they are still able to maintain their tradition, way of life, as well as social securities, sustenance, and spiritual space, is the point of concern where we invite all of you to explore, through their cultural performances, storytelling, and local natural reserves.

This study trip will revaluate how we calculate the values of the natural and cultural landscape, especially in places that have not yet attracted public attention. It will invite us to question our approach to protecting and managing these areas, in ways that would allow us to fully respect their pre-existing values.