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Getting a Taste of Community-Based Tourism in Koh Yao Noi, Thailand
If the approach across Phang Nga Bay feels like a movie sequence, that's because these craggy limestone islands and blue lagoons have harbored the likes of James Bond and a scantily clad Leonardo Dicaprio on more than one occasion. Phuket, Thailand's overdeveloped pleasure dome, shimmers in the distance. Against all odds, the down-to-earth island of Koh Yao Noi holds out, its inhabitants banding together to keep the tourism industry local and small scale. Book a homestay and you'll get assigned to the next available family. Most of the participants are fishermen who love their way of life so much that they refuse to sell out. Tag along as they boat out to the paradisiacal waters where they spend their days fishing. Back home, you feel like family—and in Thailand that means eating very, very well—so much so that adventurous foodies seeking Thai home cooking (along with kayakers and divers) are among the program's most ardent evangelists.
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