Ban Thon Community and Ban Thon Beach

Ban Thon is a Thai Muslim fishing community and beach in Khok Khian subdistrict, about 16 kilometres north of Narathiwat town and 3 kilometres from Narathiwat Airport. It’s known as the last place in the province still building ruea kolae — traditional wooden fishing boats with a bow and stern raised higher than the hull — entirely by hand. Entry is free and the beach is open access, with no fixed hours.

Kolae hulls typically run 10 to 12.5 metres and are painted with a mix of Melayu, Javanese, and Thai motifs: kanok flame patterns, upturned and inverted lotus, naga heads, a flying Hanuman, and Burong Singha — a mythical creature with a lion’s body and a bird’s head, shown gripping a fish, believed by local fishermen to bring luck and diving skill at sea. Locals describe living without a kolae as like living without clothes — the boats are as much identity as equipment. Alongside full-size working boats, craftspeople build detailed miniature kolae as souvenirs, and the village sells other local handicrafts: woven krachut sedge and screwpine-leaf products, budu fish sauce, and fish crackers, several of which are known province-wide as Narathiwat souvenirs. A scatter of restaurants and small guesthouses sit along the beach road.

Ban Thon isn’t set up as a formal tourist attraction — there’s no ticket booth or visitor centre, just a working fishing beach where boats are moored, repaired, and repainted in the open. Mornings are the most active time, when fishermen mend nets and boat-builders work on hulls; the beach is also close enough to the airport that watching planes on approach is a casual pastime for locals sitting out on the sand.

Insider Tip: If you see someone working on a hull, it’s normal to ask to watch — boat-builders here are generally happy to explain the motifs and construction to visitors who show genuine interest, rather than treating it as a photo-only display.

Watch out: Narathiwat is part of Thailand’s Deep South, where a long-running separatist insurgency has led several governments to advise caution around travel in the region. Incidents rarely target coastal villages or tourist sites, but check your government’s current travel advisory before visiting and avoid unnecessary travel after dark outside the main town centre.

There’s no public transport directly to Ban Thon; a car, motorbike, or taxi from Narathiwat town is the practical way in, and the drive takes about 20-25 minutes. The beach connects loosely with Hat Narathat and the Bang Nara Estuary closer to town, both of which also display kolae boats if you can’t make it out to Ban Thon itself.