Enhancing Sustainable Livelihood Skills
The Bohin Conservation Group comprises: 1) Women's Group; 2) Rubber plantation; 3) Aquaculture and Fisheries Group; 4) Small Enterprise - small grocery that also sells locally-made fish products and batik and tie dye products.
The main activities of the Women's Group are to:
-
Cook meals for groups that visit the homestay as study tours, company CSR tours, international college student field trips to learn about coastal and marine environment.
-
Make batik and tie dye products for sale to tourists and at handicraft exhibitions. Teach students to make these products and also teach the students how to cook Thai food.
3C has raised funds to support their endeavors and ambition to make higher quality batik and tie dye products. Currently, the Group mainly makes batik fabric pieces, and tie dye t-shirts and scarves. They would like to enhance their skills to produce batik bags and clothing, as well as improve their tie-dye designs. With the enhanced skills, the Women's Group would be able to sell more products and thus receive more income to support their families.
A follow-up visit in November 2022 brought 3C’s Executive Director and Operations Director to Bohin, accompanied by 2 more visitors. It was an opportunity to discuss project startup with the women, examine their needs, and also to help fund raise for the project.
During the trip in May 2022, 3C also met international students doing a semester abroad at Chiang Mai University's International Sustainable Development Studies Institute. The students were undertaking their coastal and marine management course module and conducting fieldwork in Trang. 3C helped to translate some aspects of their classroom lecture when talking with a local conservation leader at Phru Chud Village. 3C also joined the students on their mudflat and seagrass survey at Mod Tanoi Village, helping them to identify the observed species for their biodiversity survey.
