26 AUGUST 2019 / TRAVELANDLEISUREASIA.COM
views,” she says. The couple bought a small
fisherman’s home in 2012. “It was a real shack,”
she recalls, “It was more like camping, but it
was amazing to be right over the water like
that, with a perfect view.”
Anticipating demand for homestays, the
couple opened other spots in around town,
including Wooda House, a more upscale two-
story pier home with polished-wood furniture
and a large deck, and Sweet Life Community
Guest House, with seven rooms, including two
that have air-con and private balconies.
For me, the highlight of the week is the
Sunday community market (Old Town Pier
Road; open 7 a.m. to noon). Locals turn out in
droves to buy barbecued snacks, fish delivered
fresh from local boats, Malay cotton sarongs,
and intense southern-Thai curry pastes.
Another feel-good shopping stop is Hammock
House (jumbohammock.com; 66-84/847-2012),
which sells sturdy, beautiful hammocks hand-
woven by the Mlabri, a small, enigmatic tribe
in northern Thailand who lived as hunter-
gatherers until 50 or 60 years ago.
Along the main street, a handful of family-
run restaurants, most with open-air seating on
wooden piers over the sea, cook up everything
from southern-style seafood to pizza. For local
fare such as kung phat sataw—a spicy stir-fry
of prawns and a strong-smelling local bean—a
favorite is Pinto (66-85/883-4049; dishes from
Bt180), a narrow longhouse decked out in blue
paint and decorated with ceramic-coated metal
pinto, multi-layered Thai tiffins. I also enjoy the
delicious heirloom curry recipes maintained by
Muslim grannies at Old Town Seafood (66-85/
448-4032; dishes from Bt150), adjacent to t he
main pier. Visitors can learn to prepare
delicious southern Thai recipes on their own at
Cooking with Mon (cookingwithmon.com;
66-86/843-6204; Bt1,600 per person), an open-
air, hands-on cooking school that, no doubt,
will help create a few new memories. CLOCKWISE^
FROMT
OPL
EFT:
J
EYTSUEN^SUJATAWA
NGM
O;COURTESY^OFSW
EET^
LIFECOMM
UNITY^
GUESTHOUSE;^ JEYTSUEN^SUJATAWANGMOThere is no beach here, and the bay’s ebb-
and-flow exposes gray tidal flats for several
hours a day. But steep, forested peaks rising
immediately to the west complete a mountain-
to-ocean perspective that makes up for the lack
of seashore. Besides, opposite Old Town there’s
Koh Por, a 15-minute longtail boat ride away
(Bt300 per person). Dotted with deserted
stretches of pearlescent sand, the island also
has a small village, a school, and thousands of
coconut palms.
Maayan speaks of the evolution of Old Town
from a day-trip to an overnight destination.
“When I first visited in 2011, it was as a tourist,
walking through the little shopping street,
eating fresh seafood and enjoying the gorgeous
CLOCKWISE FROM
TOP LEFT: Sataw,
the southern Thai
stinkbeans; tidal
flats at sunset;
Pinto restaurant is
named for Thai
tiffin boxes.WANDER