The area around Khlong Thian and the lift bridge offers a view of Cha-am through the livelihoods of its coastal residents. Fishing boats, equipment and the community’s seafood trading areas are all part of how people earn a living. Allow time to explore at an easy pace, while respecting the spaces where residents continue to work every day.
Learn about pu chak: Understand seafood through the way it is kept
“Pu chak” takes its name from a method of keeping blue swimming crabs alive. The crabs are placed in mesh bags, tied to ropes and lowered into the water. When a customer arrives, the bags are pulled up. This practice is associated with fishing life around Khlong Thian and the lift bridge, and also gives Cha-am’s Pu Chak Crab Festival its name.
Understanding the term helps visitors appreciate how fishers care for crabs before selling them, revealing some of the work behind the seafood they eat. A single crab involves a fishing trip, care after the catch and the process of selling it. If you would like to watch the bags being lifted, ask locally first. This is part of everyday trading, rather than a scheduled demonstration for tourists.
As you walk around, you can observe equipment being prepared and catches being handled after they come ashore. Keep access routes clear and leave fishing equipment untouched. When buying seafood, confirm the species, weight, price and any cooking or packing services. The selection and quantities may vary from day to day, so choose from what is available rather than expecting to find everything you had planned.
Learn about sang kor and fishing livelihoods at the crab bank
One activity visitors can learn about is the blue swimming crab bank in Khlong Thian. Female crabs carrying eggs outside their shells are brought in for hatching, after which the larvae are released into the sea. The crab bank gives the eggs a chance to develop into larvae, instead of the females being sold while still carrying them.
Newly hatched larvae are tiny and must pass through several further stages of development. Releasing them does not mean that every one will grow into a crab that can eventually be caught and sold. Learning about this process offers an understanding of both the work involved and the limits of resource restoration. If you are interested in seeing the process, contact the people responsible beforehand to arrange a suitable time.
“Sang kor” is a way of providing habitat for marine life. It is made from natural and locally available materials such as bamboo, rope, coconut fronds or branches. These are tied together, secured to concrete blocks or other weights, and placed underwater near the coast. The structures serve as fish shelters, sometimes described as artificial reefs made from natural materials, attracting aquatic animals to gather around them. Local residents work together to look after marine resources and provide sheltered places for these animals. This community approach is intended to support the recovery of the marine environment.
The Khlong Thian small-scale fishing group has also organised activities to build sang kor, or fish shelters, to provide additional habitat and refuge for aquatic animals. These activities are an example of cooperation between coastal communities and marine resource agencies. However, the presence of fish shelters alone does not confirm that fish populations or incomes have increased. Those outcomes require monitoring. What visitors can learn is that people who depend on the sea also take a direct role in caring for the resources on which their livelihoods rely.
Ask permission before photographing people, and choose a convenient moment if you would like to talk. Buying from community vendors, taking your rubbish away and leaving room for people to work are simple ways to visit respectfully. The trip may end with a seafood meal, but along the way, visitors can learn about the lives of Cha-am’s fishers and gain some understanding of the people behind that meal. Visiting in person offers an opportunity to experience this part of the town for yourself.
