Amidst the waves crashing onto the sandy beach, adorned with the iconic mermaid statue that is a symbol of Samila Beach in Mueang District, Songkhla Province, three young tour guides—Senya, a sixth-grade student and a local, and Brian, a second-grade student, along with Gam, a young guest tour guide from Nakhon Phanom—are discussing and launching the documentary program "Young Tour Guides for the Southern Community," episode on Singhanakhon Community, Songkhla Province.
Brian Gam, are you coming to Songkhla?
แก้ม What does "howling" mean? We're not dogs.
Seya It's not about the cheek. The word "Hoon" from Songkhla isn't about a dog, but it means "used to." Have you ever been here?
The children's conversation brought smiles and laughter to the viewers before the young tour guides took them on a ride in a motorized tricycle to experience the charm of an old community on the shores of Songkhla Lake, where Thai Buddhists, Muslims, and Thai people of Chinese descent live together harmoniously. They also sampled local dishes and harvested Khlu tea leaves, resulting in a program filled with fun, smiles, and the children's vibrancy, following the success of the "Little Tour Guides of Isaan" program.
"We wanted to implement this project nationwide, but we couldn't do it all at once. So, we proposed seeking funding from the Safe and Creative Media Development Fund to do it gradually, region by region. The first region, which we did in the Northeast, received a very positive response. Many people showed interest, and the Tourism Authority of Thailand even disseminated it widely. The process of implementing the project..." “The ‘Young Tour Guides for Southern Community Lifestyles’ project is an extension of the ‘Young Tour Guides’ project in the Northeast. Although the South has many tourist attractions, there isn't much discussion about community lifestyles, arts, and culture. That's why we wanted to make this our second project in the South. Children in the South are quite potential and talented because most of the provinces are located in tourist areas.”
Napatsorn Pongvichit, from Idea I Do House and project head, explained the origins of this documentary series, which is in its second season. Following support from the Safe and Creative Media Development Fund in the strategic category for 2024, they opened applications for children aged 8-11 from eight southern provinces. Children were asked to submit video clips introducing tourist attractions in their respective provinces. Over 200 children expressed interest, and 20 were selected to receive training in storytelling and tour guiding skills. These 20 children will serve as junior tour guides for community tourism in the eight southern provinces: Phuket, Krabi, Phang Nga, Trang, Satun, Phatthalung, Songkhla, and Nakhon Si Thammarat, for a total of 10 episodes. As a special feature, two winners from the northeastern junior tour guide project were invited to participate with the southern junior tour guides, allowing the children to exchange cultural experiences.
“When people think of Southern Thailand, they usually picture beaches. But our project goes deeper than that, taking us to small, strong communities to showcase community-based tourism. For example, in Krabi province, we organized a program to release stingless bees back into the forest to conserve nature. This allowed the children to experience and help carry on this tradition, learning about nature and tourism at the same time.”
Napassorn explained the unique aspect of the tourist attractions, where young guides take viewers on a journey to experience novel and interesting stories unlike anything seen before. However, this comes with challenges, as animals, children, special effects, and wire stunts make filming difficult. This doesn't even include the long journeys across provinces and the difficulties in accessing the unseen tourist destinations of each community, requiring special care for the young guides participating in the program.
"The main obstacles to this project were the extensive travel across multiple provinces, which are very far apart. Having child tour guides from the Northeast join the filming for every episode required special care. We also faced challenges with the children's school schedules; sometimes they had exams, forcing us to adjust filming plans. The tight travel schedule also caused significant fatigue for the team, despite their stamina. They woke up at 4 or 5 in the morning to film all day almost every day. Furthermore, we encountered weather problems due to the frequent rainfall in the southern region."
Napassorn recounted some of the obstacles and difficulties encountered during filming, highlighting the perseverance required from the entire team and the children. Ultimately, they successfully produced the 10-episode documentary series, "Little Tour Guides for Southern Community Lifestyles," each 15 minutes long, which was then released online via Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok. The series has garnered over 580,000 views, exceeding the guaranteed target of 100,000 views. Behind-the-scenes clips continue to be posted, some of which have gone viral, leading to many more children applying to become little tour guides.
“The team's joy comes from seeing the children share stories about their hometowns. There's a sense of pride in their eyes as they tell their stories. From another perspective, it's witnessing the kindness and generosity of the communities in many areas. This project was very tiring, but our team did it wholeheartedly. Despite the large scale of the project and limited budget, we felt we had to make it happen. Thinking about the children gives us positive energy every time.”
Napassorn concluded with a proud laugh before excusing herself to prepare for the next season of the Northern Thailand Junior Tour Guide project.
