Kathun Reservior

Katoon ReservoirThe massive flooding in 1988 which was a hydro geological incident: flood and landslide, mentally affected the villagers’ feelings then as it happened at nighttime while they were asleep. There were landslide and flood which brings logs causing over 400 households in 3 villages to be wrecked, and resulting in damage to them.The natural disaster caused losses to rice fields, rubber plantation and it caused over 200 villagers to death. The survivors had to evacuate to other places. Besides, the place was also a tin lode road from which most of the villagers whose occupation was ore mine earned a living. This village also had a main road that was used for travelling to Surat Thani province which was important at that time. Katoon Reservoir is a big sized reservoir which holds over 12,500 rais. It is a royal development project for the development of water resource for relieving flood in both banks of the lower part of the Tapi river. The villagers can benefit from the reservoir in several ways. For example, the reservoir can help relieving flood in cultivated areas and households on the banks of the Tapi river. They use the water from the reservoir for cultivation and for raising big sized fresh-water fish, and the villagers alsouse the reservoiras a place for local fisheries such as, using “Yor” ora square dip net to catch fish and casting fishnet. Moreover, Katoon Reservoir is entitled as “Switzerland of the South of Thailand” because of its atmosphere and beautiful scenery which is good for traveling and recreation. Nakhon Sri Thammarat together with Air Asia Airlines also cooperates in supporting the place to be one of the interesting tourist attractions in the southern part.The scenery of the reservoir is wonderfulsince the remnants of the village which was drown underwater can be seen from the reservoir, and because of the mountain range which stretches 4 sides around the reservoir to Wieng Sra District in Surat Thani province. The way of life of villagers in that area: casting fishnets, catching fish and rowing boats for leisure, also makes the tourists feel tranquil.Nowadays, Katoon Reservoir is opened as a tourist attraction where tourists can go cycling around to see the atmosphere of the seas of mountains, getting off the boat in the morning or in the evening to observe the lineage of fogs hovering all over the place. The tourists can also go fishing, practicing feeding fish or seeing the remnants of the underwater village with the old people’s heresy which takes about an hour and the tourist should book the boat beforehand. Furthermore, from December to April,the period when the scenery is the most beautiful, the tourists can spot a lot of terns which migrate to stay at the reservoir. Forest trekking is also an interesting activity for those who love challenges. The tourist can visit the beautiful Nhan Nam Waterfall along the trail. Apart from the activities, there are also restaurants where cookers catch fresh fish from the reservoir and cook the fish instantly for customers ,and coffee shops where people can possess bird-eye view to see the panoramic view from the top of the reservoir. Moreover, there are various kinds of resorts for tourist to stay. Those who are interested in visiting the reservoir can contact for further information from Baan Katoon Ecotourism Club, Tel. 0-7548-3118, 08-7882-6127 or Baan Katoon Tai Travel and Environment Management Center, Tel. 08-5789-1235, 08-6050-9784.