On this sleepy fishing island you won't find any of the large beach resorts that swamp Phuket—Thailand's biggest tourist destination an hour's boat ride away.
And that's the way people here like it.
"We want to incorporate tourism into our culture and not have it imposed on us," said Sompong Nunuan, a member of the Koh Yao Noi Eco-Tourism Club.
He is one of 75 fishers who have opened their homes to visitors as part of a home-stay program that allows tourists get to know the island's culture firsthand.
"If they see how we live, they will respect our culture and way of life," said Pairat Pumkratin, another fisher.
Koh Yao Noi has become a popular ecotourist destination, thanks largely to the home-stay program. The initiative was set up in partnership with a Bangkok-based nongovernmental organization, Responsible Ecological Social Tours Project (REST).
In 2002 the island even won the World Legacy Award, sponsored by National Geographic Traveler magazine and Conservation International, for best "Destination Stewardship." The award honors places that protect their nature and cultural heritage.
Natural Treasures
Fishing, not tourism, employs the vast majority of the island's 5,000 mostly Muslim residents, and a quick look around the island suggests that many of them are making a very good living.
Almost everyone drives a scooter. Satellite dishes dot the rooftops. Cell phones are ubiquitous.
Koh Yao Noi is proof that a fishing village can still flourish without mass-market tourism. And that development doesn't have to mean giving up one's traditions. Most new homes that are being constructed here have all the modern conveniences but are built the traditional way—on stilts.
The island's relative affluence represents a dramatic turnaround from where things were heading in the early 1990s.
