Famously delicious ‘Koh Yao Pla Ching Chang’, a specialty of Phang Nga Province, is known as the most delicious in Thailand, generating millions of baht in income per month, and is a source of income and way of life for the Koh Yao community.
Mr. Witun Boonsob, Kamnan of Tambon Phru Nai, and Mr. Anupong Asarat, Deputy Mayor of Koh Yao Yai Subdistrict, Koh Yao District, Phang Nga Province, took reporters to Laem Yai Pier, Tambon Phru Nai, Koh Yao District, Phang Nga Province, to watch fishing boats catching eelfish that had returned to dock and fishermen loading fresh eelfish from the boat onto pickup trucks to be delivered to factories on Koh Yao Yai. The eelfish had been boiled on the boat and placed in tau (shallow, wide, round plastic baskets) stacked in layers. When tasting, it had a salty, oily taste.
Then we were taken to see the production process of dried anchovies at the ‘Khwanruthai Plakatok’ anchovy factory in Tambon Phru Nai, where workers and factory owners were working frantically, putting th
e anchovies in an oven. When they were dry, they were taken out and put into a basket before being put into a machine to separate the fish by size. They then sorted the fish for quality, removing other types of fish and other debris, before sorting them into bags again for customers to pick up and sell. It was found that Koh Yao’s anchovy products were exported outside the area, costing several million baht per month.
Mrs. Kwanruthai Nawiwong, aged 60, revealed that the Chingchang is a type of fish similar to the central anchovies. It is a small surface fish that lives in schools and is abundant in the seas of Koh Yao. Originally, there were boats that went out to catch them and brought them to sell to factories. She has built her own processing factory about 6 years ago, taking fish from the boats of her family and relatives that went out to catch them and processing them before selling them to factories and merchants who send them to sell outside the area, both in the provinces and abroad, at a price of 15
0-170 baht per kilogram.
The deliciousness of the Koh Yao Pla Ching Chang, which has a reputation as ‘the most delicious in Thailand,’ comes from our use of large fishing boats. When the fish are caught, they are immediately boiled on the boat, resulting in a complete fish with good flavor, a little oily and salty. If left out, fresh fish will burst open and their heads will fall off, making them tasteless and immediately lose their value.
Mr. Witoon Boonsop added that the Chingchang fish has become an important resource for local villagers. By catching and processing it into dried fish or crispy fish, the Chingchang fish not only generates income for local fishermen, but is also a main ingredient in local dishes. Chingchang fishing has been a part of the community’s way of life for a long time. The villagers have adapted to make Chingchang fishing environmentally friendly so that this fish source will continue to exist for the future. The conservation and sustainable management of marine resources is somet
hing that the community places importance on in order to maintain the balance between nature and the way of life, culture, and tourism that are truly connected to local wisdom.
Source: Thai News Agency