Lampang – Community Model and National Park

Visit Huai Sam Kha Reservoir Project which operated under the Royal Agricultural Water Resources Development Project of King Rama IX. Water resources development for agriculture project according to the royal initiative.

Inherit and build on:
• Huai Sam Kha Reservoir Project
• Ban Pa Miang Community Health Learning Center
• Chae Son National Park

Huai Sam Kha Reservoir

Ban Sam Kha Way of Life – Upstream community model

Ban Sam Kha community is located adjacent to Mae Chang National Reserved Forest which is a watershed forest consisted mainly of plateaus and mountains.

The village is located in the lower part of the forest. It is a flat area suitable for farming and suitable for community-based tourism.

The basin is about 700-800 meters long and the walkway is about 1-2 kilometers long. The water is very clear with a variety of herbs and trees such as Ya Ka Sang, teak, Pradu and Mai Daeng can be found along the way.

Ban Sam Kha Development Plan

Back in the past, Ban Sam Kha Village had to face debt and water shortages. Thought leaders, such as Mr. Boonruen Thao Kham, have created development plan for the village with Teacher Sri Nuan Wongtrakul designed the curriculum for elementary schools in the community. The curriculum is called “Huay Sam Kha : Hed Pa Na Khao” which emphasizes on practical learning from the real problems in the village.

With management plan on water resources, campaign about forest fire prevention and weir building, Ban Sam Kha Community has water available for use throughout the year making more and more wildlife settle in the area. As a result, local people earn extra revenue from collecting forest products. Currently, there are over 10,998 weirs around the forest.

The use of chemicals for agriculture is prohibited here. Main product is the rice called Thunya-sirin rice which can be sold for 25-30 baht per kilogram. It has characteristics like riceberry rice which has a mixture of Lanna fragrant rice + jasmine rice + wild rice.

Settlement and Ethnicity – Ban Sam Kha Community

Hua Suea Subdistrict, Mae Tha District, Lampang Province

Sam Kha people are descendant of Lua people emigrated from Ban Lao Nong Pong and Ban Phrabat Nong Moo. The Lua people wandered into the forest and settled a village called “Ban Mae Yuak” named after a field of banana trees. Later, the village was flooded, they evacuated again by going up on the eastern foothills.

The name “Ban Sam Kha” derived from the story that one day a villager went hunting. He got a barking deer but unable to drag it back. Therefore, He used a knife to cut only one of its hind leg and brought the leg back. In the morning, the barking deer was gone because the big snake dragged the rest of its carcass back into the cave (At the current location of Ban Sam Kha). The villagers killed a dog and used it as a bait to lure the big snake. The end of the rope was tied to the tree at the entrance of the cave.

The next day, they successfully trapped the snake. The snake was dragged out of the cave and the snake meat was distributed to the whole village except the widow because she was not help dragging the snake.

When night falls, an angel transformed into an old man walked up the stairs and said to her “To night, if you hear anything, don’t leave the house because it can be dangerous”. The widow was frightened by the noise of a landslide. Therefore came out of the house to see what happened but found only emptiness, all houses disappeared. After that she went to pay respect to the Buddha image.

In the morning, the widow went out of the house seeing the village collapse. After that, she migrated to live in a cave at the north. It was later called Tham Ya Gek cave and the area the village collapsed was later called Pong Lom.

Later, Ban Mae Yuak had no bananas trees left due to the forest was destroyed. So the name was changed to “Ban Sam Kha” according to the lore of the 3-legged barking deer. Sam Kha in this case refers to Buddha, Dharma and Sangha.

Ban Pa Miang Tea Pillow Group

Community Health Learning Center

This trip, we will go to an ecological tourist attraction at Chae Son Sub-district, Mueang Pan District, Ban Pa Miang Community Health Learning Center where visitors get close to the way of life of the Ban Pa Miang community people.

Besides that, Ban Pa Miang community also offers many good products such as cute tea leaf pillows and deodorant dolls made from real tea leaves. The products have properties that help respiratory system and relieve stress.

Ban Pa Miang, a small and old village located in the middle of a large forest. The name of Pa Miang Village comes from Miang tree, the economic crop of the community.

Ban Pa Miang has abundant resources. The weather is cool all year round. There are miang trees that grow well under the shade of large trees on an area ranging from 300-1,000 meters. Young miang tree leaves can be made into snack and old miang tree leaves can be made into tea leaves pillow. It is a popular souvenir gift due to its properties such as relieving stress and absorb musty smell.

In addition, this community is in the watershed forest. Arabica coffee is considered as economic crop of the community and Arabica coffee that grown here does not involve any use of chemical substances. Ban Pa Miang is now open as a homestay and open for tourists to study the way of life in the community.

Visitors can take a walk in the village, see street art corners, enjoy with flower field, buys local products, and visit various learning bases, such as collecting miang leaves and making a tea leaves pillow.

Learn about the way of life of the community through activities such as product processing, tea leaves or miang collecting and tea leaves pillow making. And the fact that the products have been certified is one of the pride of the Ban Pa Miang community.

Ban Pa Miang community consists of a variety of groups namely tea pillow, homestay group, folk music groups, herb collecting group, and processed coffee making group.

Chae Son National Park

Before going home, we are going to Chae Son National Park. Enjoy with many beautiful natural resources such as waterfalls, hot pools and hot springs. Have fun boiling eggs in hot springs and taking bath in hot pools.