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Dear Friends and Supporters, We'd like to give a special acknowledgement to Ban Talae Nok this month for winning the Kinnaree award for "Outstanding Performance: Best Eco Tourism Attraction" in this year's Thailand Tourism Awards. This special recognition validates the efforts that the homestay hosts, local guides, and handicraft cooperative have put forth into making community-based tourism in Ban Talae Nok a success. Great work, everyone! September was hectic even by our standards! We bid farewell to several members of our staff, and between the tearful farewells we managed to move into a smaller but more vibrant office nearer to downtown Kuraburi, and were privileged to host 10 wonderful guests. In September we welcomed a former NATR volunteer, a CBT professor from Japan, a visitor from the Middle East, two members of Wild Asia's assessment team, and a long-term volunteer English teacher from Scotland. Thank you for your continued support of our work. Erik and the Andaman Discoveries Team |
 Breaking News!
Andaman Discoveries to Attend World Travel Mart
Andaman Discoveries is attending the World Travel Mart in London, November 10 - 13. We're looking for affordable accommodation in London for three staff. If anyone can help by providing housing or offering suggestions, we would be very grateful! | |
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Special Programs - Celebrate the Holidays in the North Andaman!
Looking to do something different this holiday season? Then come join the villagers of the North Andaman, who invite you experience their traditional culture and diverse eco-systems in an authentic and non-intrusive way. Andaman Discoveries has designed several customized itineraries for the holidays designed to give visitors an unforgettable village experience.
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Ban Talae Nok Receives "Best Eco Tourism Attraction" Award
The Eco Tourism club of Ban Talae Nok won the silver Kinnaree Award for "Outstanding Performance: Best Eco Tourism Attraction" in this year's Thailand Tourism Awards, presented by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT). "I'm very proud of our village. There are communities who are supported by larger organizations, sometimes even by the government, and still couldn't win the award," said village chief Raywat Harnjit.
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Children's Library at Local Temple - Opportunities for Everyone
Here at Andaman Discoveries we make sure that communities benefit directly from our volunteer groups, and welcome proposals from all villages in the region. Last month, we were delighted to receive requests from Wat Phasarn Temple children's library and several other villages for English camps for the local children. Activities included coloring, races and of course old classics like the "Hokie Pokie" with 30 very energetic children!
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Samakeetham Temple - Paving the Way to Safety
Conservation activist and community leader Khun Likid of Tung Rak community was so impressed with last year's International Volunteer Society volunteer's bridge-building efforts at the conservation centre, that he invited this year's group to build a path at the local temple. "There is no safe access to the area of worship," explained Khun Likid. "The community thought this would be a worthwhile activity for the volunteers and a great way for them to learn first hand about Buddhism."
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Guide Training in Ban Talae Nok
As part of Andaman Discoveries' ongoing community development initiatives in Ban Talae Nok, we conducted an assessment and training for local guides to identify individual strengths and weaknesses. Armed with a checklist for each guide, we spent the morning carrying out simulated tours and role plays and assessed how the guides performed.
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September Visitors and Volunteers
Andaman Discoveries hosted several visitors this month including: Julia from Qatar, Matt and Louisa from the United Kingdom, and Anja from our new partner Grace Tours.
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North Andaman University - Spreading the Word
Over the past two months, Andaman Discoveries has been privileged enough to work with universities from three continents. In September, we welcomed Nahoko Shimizu, a lecturer in tourism studies at Hagoromo International University in Osaka, Japan. Nahoko came to observe our programs, interviewing villagers, government officials, and local conservation activists.
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Wild Asia Assessment - Two Years in a Row!
Andaman Discoveries has again been short-listed for Wild Asia's responsible travel awards. This annual award was created to identify, share, and inspire best practices in tourism to encourage responsible operators and to promote the evolution of sustainable destinations in Asia. This month we were honored to host Rebecca Thomason and photographer Peter Walker for several days in Ban Talae Nok.
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Visit from Olivia Daniel, former NATR Volunteer
Olivia Daniel is no stranger to the village of Ban Talae Nok: she was a volunteer for three months in Ban Talae Nok before the tsunami. After the disaster, Olivia's care for the villagers led her to volunteer with NATR (the NGO that would eventually become Andaman Discoveries). When she and her friend Rich Edwards decided to travel in Thailand for two weeks this year, there was no doubt in their minds where they would spend the bulk of their time.
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SEED Grant - Site Visit from GTZ
As part of the SEED grant Andaman Discoveries recently received, Tobias and Sebastian of GTZ Thailand took a day out of their holiday to brave Kuraburi's monsoon rains and meet with Andaman Discoveries. GTZ is a German organization committed to sustainable development, including countries devastated by the tsunami. Tobias was interested in assessing the organization firsthand and reporting back to the SEED committee.
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Long-Term Volunteer: Karen Spackman
This month Andaman Discoveries welcomed Karen Spackman, who joins us from Stirlingshire, Scotland, via Andaman Discoveries' new partner TWIN UK. Karen is currently piloting two new long-term volunteering programs: teaching English at the Temple Kindergarten, and vocational English at the Kuraburi hospital. "This is turning out to be such a fantastic experience for me, I have been made to feel part of the team as well as the community since arriving in Kuraburi. Working with the local children and nurses has really helped transform me from being just another tourist to a valued member of the town," said Karen.
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Goodbye Pi Su
 At the end of September we said farewell to our longtime handicrafts coordinator Suwanna "Su" Anantakal. Su was living in the village of Bak Jok at the time the tsunami struck. After the disaster, Su developed her skills in making cards from recycled paper as a source of income. She joined North Andaman Tsunami Relief's handicraft initiative in early 2006, eventually taking over as handicrafts coordinator. She remained with the organization through its evolution to Andaman Discoveries.
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Andaman Discoveries is North Andaman Tsunami Relief's
commitment to long-term sustainable development.
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Copyright 2008 Andaman Discoveries
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