Songkhla - Samila beach

Songkla

Samila Beach in Songkla

What I know about the area was called Baw Sang. Since it is a translation by sound, the name of this place could spelled in more than one way. I took special notice of this place since I knew that they made umbrella out of wax papers. Something nostalgic that in my early years umbrellas available to ordinary people were not made from cloth yet.

Even more fascinating was that these wax papers were made in situ, from the bark of a tree. Since 1995, I always long to be back to see how progress had degenerated this place. I saw the slow transition. No one except those with memories would want such bulky and smelly umbrella.

By 2006, the place had indeed changed dramatically. What was once waste land, is now an industrial and tourist hub. Authority named the place as Northern Handicraft Capital. The Borsarng & Sankampaeng Road. [In dialect - San Kampaeng sounded like Kampong Bahru]

What could be sold and wanted by tourist are here. All concentrated into one long road. The looks of the shops? Huge factory style building. The list of merchandise - Lacquer ware, Celadon, Silk & textiles, Wood carving, Umbrella making, Silverware, Hill tribes crafts and Sa paper products. We even visited one that handled Jewelry and Jades.

Back to the topic of umbrella. In 1995, they were producing paper umbrella with diversification. Painting on cloth. Today, they do not make umbrella any more but display a production line to lure visitors to the show room. The staff r artist did a variety of painting, like Making door gift for Club Med.

On the way to Songkla

First trip with friends. Though quite familiar with Krabi by then, our mission was to make it to Pee Pee Island.

As expected with stops along the way, we arrived in Krabi by late afternoon The ferry leaves at 2.30 pm So, took the opportunity to look around Krabi town.