Southern seaside province has much more than sea, sand and sun for visitors to cherish.
Despite its stunning natural attractions and diverse culture, Trang, a centuries-old southern port city, is often overlooked by tourists in favour of the more popular and famous Phuket and Krabi.
Thung Khai Peninsular Botanic Gardens in Trang's Yan Ta Khao district boasts Thailand's first canopy walkway.
Besides its 199km of beautiful coastline facing the Andaman Sea, Trang has much more for visitors to see. It boasts two rivers as well as many beaches, forests, mountains and waterfalls.
Those who love trekking or exploring the jungle have several interesting choices including Khao Chong Waterfall and Khlong Lamchan Park. The lesser-known Thung Khai Peninsular Botanic Gardens in Yan Ta Khao district covers 2,600 rai (416 hectares) of lowland peat swamp forests. But its most outstanding attraction is Thailand's first canopy walkway, 175m long and 18m high, in an evergreen forest.
Walking the jungle bridge, visitors will have an opportunity to learn more about evergreen forests. Such a forest has four layers. The highest, called the Emergent Layer, is 31-40m above the ground. It comprises the tallest trees, which include mersawa (krabak) and Dipterocarpus gracilis (yang manmu) that can withstand heat and strong winds. It is home to bats, squirrels, flying lemurs, birds and insects. Next, at 21-30m, is the Canopy Layer which boasts large trees with thick foliage like mersawa (krabak), hopea (takian) and Resak tembaga (khiam).
Around half of all plant species in this world belong to this layer. It is where animals such as birds, flying lemurs, squirrels, slow loris and insects, live. At 15-20 metres above the ground is the Under Storey Layer where only 2-15 per cent of sunlight can penetrate. It has bushes and small trees, birds, squirrels, butterflies, gecko, snakes and insects. The lowest is the Forest Floor Layer which is home to 4-12m-tall trees, small plants, grass and mushrooms that only two per cent of sunlight can penetrate. It is inhabited by so creatures big and small, as well as insects.
Breakfast in Trang is like no other place in Thailand. Here, people enjoy a big set of dim sum, Chinese-style barbecued pork, coffee and tea for breakfast. For them, breakfast is as important as lunch or dinner because many of them have to work in rubber plantations since the wee hours. After work, they need a big meal and good rest.
Apart from the canopy walkway, Thung Khai has a peat swamp trail, palm and fern gardens, a garden of rare and endemic plants, several others and accommodation for tourists.
In downtown Trang, visitors will see a combination of Thai, Chinese and Western cultures mirrored through architecture. Buddhist temples and Chinese shrines stand alongside Sino-Portuguese buildings and local-style panya (hip-roofed) houses. Strolling around markets and sampling the food, tea or coffee is a nice way to explore Trang and the lifestyle of the local people.
As Trang was a busy port city going back centuries, it has a multicultural population made up of Thai, Malay and Hokkien Chinese. Its cultural diversity is also reflected via an array of food ranging from spicy to its unique breakfast, big and sumptuous, where a must _ barbecued pork _ is so popular that Trang hosts an annual festival to showcase this delicacy.
Auspicious yet unknown to most visitors is a ceremony called Kin Niew in which wedding couples and their guests are served sticky rice with chicken curry. This dish is reserved for weddings only and the message is one of everlasting love.
Having explored these lesser-known attractions, visitors can turn their attention to beaches and the 40 or so islands that make up the Trang archipelago.
Chinese-style barbecued pork is a special local dish. Every September, Trang hosts a festival where barbecued pork is sold at special prices and features a fancy parade and cooking contests.
Set against the backdrop of limestone mountain and a cave is a 5km stretch of white sandy strip in Chao Mai National Park. The park 20km long boasts several popular spots such as Pak Meng, Yao, Chao Mai and Chang Lang beaches and islands such as Koh Muk, Koh Chueak, Koh Waen and Koh Kradan.
All in all, Trang has a range of attractions fit enough to suit visitors of every taste. Exploring the popular as well as less popular aspects of a cultural melting pot like Trang rewards visitors with a complete perspective on this southern province.
TRAVEL INFO
- The best time to visit Trang is between December and May. You can travel there by train, car, bus or air.
By train it takes 15 hours from Bangkok to Trang. Trains-rapid and express-depart Hua Lamphong railway station daily at 5:05pm and 6:20pm.
If driving there, take Highway 4 (Bangkok-Chumphon) and get on to Highway 41 (Surat Thani-Thung Song- Huai Yot-Trang).
Air-conditioned buses depart Bangkok's Southern Bus Terminal for Trang at regular intervals daily. It takes 12 hours to get there.
- Nok Air operates two daily flights from Bangkok to Trang; flight time is one hour and 10 minutes. From now until April 30, the airline is offering a special package which includes Bangkok-Trang round-trip airfares inclusive of a boat trip to islands such as Koh Phi Phi, Koh Lanta, Koh Ngai, Koh Kradan, Koh Mook, Koh Laoliang, Koh Lipe and Langkawi (Malaysia). Upon arrival at Trang airport, passengers are transferred to coaches and high-speed ferries which take them to their destination. The price starts from 1,990 baht. For more information, call 1318 or visit www.nokair.com.
Glutinous rice with chicken curry, a local dish reserved for weddings only. Brides and grooms together with their guests savour this dish during Kin Niew ceremonies in a gesture of lasting love.
The Sino-Portuguese architecture of shophouses downtown Trang stands out. It reflects the influence of early European settlers who arrived in south Thailand prospecting for tin and rubber. There are rows of such shophouses where the front and ground floor served business ends, while the second floor was living space.
Local people like to eat roti and sip coffee or tea at night. Sipping the brews while chatting with families and friends is a way for them to relax and socialise.
A specially designed postbox at Pak Meng Pier. This one depicts colourful fish and marine creatures native to the sea around Trang.
Green tuk-tuk taxis are a popular mode of travel around Trang city. Fares are reasonable and vary according to distance.
A view of Koh Kradan from a boat. Koh Kradan, covering 600 rai (240 acres) of land, is west of Koh Muk and Koh Libong. Koh Libong is where a lot of dugongs, symbol of the province, can be seen from the shore. Also, divers should not miss popular dive sites like Koh Chueak, Koh Ma and Koh Ngai. Koh Ngai is famous for staghorn coral, disc coral, vase coral and barrel sponge (Xestospongia testudinaria) while Koh Chueak is wellknown for many kinds of corals and fish. Striped anchovy, moorish idol and longfin bannerfish are abundant here, but Nemo fish were less seen in recent years.
Pak Meng Pier is where tourists can board boats which depart regularly to Trang's major islands and hire chartered boats to smaller islands. Before their entry, they must pay an admission fee to the Hat Chao Mai National Park. The fee per head is 40 baht for Thai adults, 20 baht for children, 200 baht for foreign adults and 100 baht for their children.
A seal show at Trang Aquarium in the compound of Rajamangala University of Technology Srivijaya. A few well-trained seals know how to imitate human gestures like greeting and nodding, play with a ball and frisbees, jump across circles and more. There are two shows daily on weekdays and four daily on weekends.
A sea turtle is among the many kinds of marine creatures in the aquarium ranging from plankton to big fish and sharks.
Wooden animal carvings, especially of the dugong, which is a symbol of the province, make excellent souvenir items from Trang. They are made of a kind of local wood called `thep tharo' which has a pleasant aroma and is considered auspicious.
Hand-woven silk from Trang's Sai Bor and Na Muen Sri communities make popular souvenirs.
Small adventure seekers will enjoy swimming and clinging onto a rope through a narrow tunnel almost 100 metres long to the Emerald Cave (Tham Morakot) on Koh Muk. People prefer doing this even though this cave is accessible by small boat during low tide. Once you emerge at the other end of the dark passage, you'll be greeted with an emeraldcoloured pool and a delightful beach surrounded by high cliffs.
Pak Meng Beach at sundown. This beach is part of Hat Chao Mai which was declared a marine national park in 1982, covering Kantang and Sikao districts. To get to this beach, board a passenger van on Tha Klang Road opposite Tha Klang Market. The park headquarters on Chang Lang Beach is about 47km from downtown Trang and accessible via Trang-Sikao-Pak Meng Road.
Credit: Bangkok Post (www.bangkokpost.com)
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