We're 40 km off Chanthaburi town, at Khung Wiman beach, close to a fishing village. This area is much more popular with local tourists (mostly on the weekends) than to Westerners. There are only a few resorts and simple, local-style eateries along the beach.
The most eye-catching development is the bicycle route attached to the main road.
The resort and the close 20 acres farm is owned by Bronwen from New Zealand and Surin, her Thai husband. The farm is situated in a wetland conservation area called White Water Lake. The couple spend the weekdays working in Bangkok and stay at Faa Sai from Friday evening till early Monday morning only. They run the place together with the family of Surin's brother. They put tremendous work into building the resort, garden and farm during the past 10 years. The resort area had only a few trees in the beginning. Now it's a blooming eco-garden with hundreds of plant species, most of them endemic to Thailand.
The different types of basils growing on the farm are especially tasty, we couldn't stop adding it to our meals, prepared by Sula, Surin's sister-in-law.
She is the boss in the kitchen and also keeps an eye on the staff and garden. It takes us a couple of days to break through her walls and become regular part of the resort life, be involved in cooking our meals, making our own salads, starting the day watering the garden together. We have the chance to experience a weekly shopping with the staff to fill the kitchen with delicacies at a local market (video is coming).
Spending hours together with Bronwen in the weekend is amazing. We are so grateful for each and every moment she shares with us, spreading not only interesting but useful information, stories about the garden, the resort and also their way of life. She opens up their world, answers our questions, teaches us by showing good techniques, like how to collect the cows’ manure or how to create a proper EM.
Her energetic personality and instructions makes us fulfill all the weekdays with tiring but enjoyable duties: creating new compost piles - mixing the kitchen compost, cow and chicken manure, leaves and EM; transporting rice straw for the three lovely cows to the farm from the nearby field; composting and planting new vegetable beds; composting fruit trees like papaya and durian.
It is not easy to keep up with the old gardener, Lung It while we load the truck with straw. He seems to have an endless source of energy and smile.
During a break at the farm, we feed the cows with bananas and the fish in the lake. Not to mention our little meditation sessions at the hut in the middle of the lake together with Tania, another volunteer from London.
Besides the five hours of work per day, we explore the area by bike, go to the sea for a swim and enjoy the magnificent sunsets at the beachside.
We use our day-off to take a bike excursion to the nearby Kung Kraben reserve dedicated to conserving and planting mangroves.
It's heart-aching to leave Faasai: in a week time, we slowly recognize more and more tiny beauties and secrets of the garden: its special trees, flowers and herbs. Also people start to be more and more welcoming, sharing thoughts, feelings and private life details. Probably it is high time to say goodbye and use our freshly acquired knowledge – thanks to Bronwen – at another place.
The most eye-catching development is the bicycle route attached to the main road.
The resort and the close 20 acres farm is owned by Bronwen from New Zealand and Surin, her Thai husband. The farm is situated in a wetland conservation area called White Water Lake. The couple spend the weekdays working in Bangkok and stay at Faa Sai from Friday evening till early Monday morning only. They run the place together with the family of Surin's brother. They put tremendous work into building the resort, garden and farm during the past 10 years. The resort area had only a few trees in the beginning. Now it's a blooming eco-garden with hundreds of plant species, most of them endemic to Thailand.
The various herbs and plants serve as ingredients for their self-made soaps, oils and balms and some are used in the restaurant, too.
The different types of basils growing on the farm are especially tasty, we couldn't stop adding it to our meals, prepared by Sula, Surin's sister-in-law.
She is the boss in the kitchen and also keeps an eye on the staff and garden. It takes us a couple of days to break through her walls and become regular part of the resort life, be involved in cooking our meals, making our own salads, starting the day watering the garden together. We have the chance to experience a weekly shopping with the staff to fill the kitchen with delicacies at a local market (video is coming).
Spending hours together with Bronwen in the weekend is amazing. We are so grateful for each and every moment she shares with us, spreading not only interesting but useful information, stories about the garden, the resort and also their way of life. She opens up their world, answers our questions, teaches us by showing good techniques, like how to collect the cows’ manure or how to create a proper EM.
Her energetic personality and instructions makes us fulfill all the weekdays with tiring but enjoyable duties: creating new compost piles - mixing the kitchen compost, cow and chicken manure, leaves and EM; transporting rice straw for the three lovely cows to the farm from the nearby field; composting and planting new vegetable beds; composting fruit trees like papaya and durian.
It is not easy to keep up with the old gardener, Lung It while we load the truck with straw. He seems to have an endless source of energy and smile.
During a break at the farm, we feed the cows with bananas and the fish in the lake. Not to mention our little meditation sessions at the hut in the middle of the lake together with Tania, another volunteer from London.
Besides the five hours of work per day, we explore the area by bike, go to the sea for a swim and enjoy the magnificent sunsets at the beachside.
We use our day-off to take a bike excursion to the nearby Kung Kraben reserve dedicated to conserving and planting mangroves.
It's heart-aching to leave Faasai: in a week time, we slowly recognize more and more tiny beauties and secrets of the garden: its special trees, flowers and herbs. Also people start to be more and more welcoming, sharing thoughts, feelings and private life details. Probably it is high time to say goodbye and use our freshly acquired knowledge – thanks to Bronwen – at another place.
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