Ecotourism – Ban Khao Bai Sri Underground Water Storage Tunnel, Chanthaburi Province

     Chanthaburi Province is well-known for its natural tourist attractions, particularly seaside destinations and agricultural tourism, such as fruit orchards like durian, mangosteen, longan, salak, and bananas, which attract many tourists, both Thai and foreign.

     Ecotourism sites also convey local wisdom in agriculture and conservation, such as the Khao Bai Sri community in Tha Mai District. In this old community, most people are farmers growing fruit in orchards. The community of Khao Bai Sri has joined together to manage its resources for tourism, using local wisdom to collect water for year-round use. They use a small area converted from gem mining in the Khao Ploy Waen Subdistrict to create underground water tunnels. First, they invert basins in the garden overnight, from the evening to the following day. If there are a lot of water droplets on the basin, it indicates that the site has a spring. Then they dig down, like digging a well. The average depth is 10 meters, and the springs can be found. They then search at the same depth in rows, about 10-15 meters apart, passing through the bottom at a width of about 1.5 meters to form a water storage tunnel. In each garden, there may be 5-6 wells with a tunnel running through and connecting them to one another. They can store about 100,000 liters of water. Water can be scooped up or pumped up when they want to use it. This water storage method is traditional wisdom transmitted through generations and helps retain soil moisture throughout the year.