Takhian Tia Tourism Community

Takhian Tia is a coconut-farming community in Bang Lamung district, about 30 minutes from central Pattaya, that opens its groves and workshops to visitors through a community-run tourism enterprise. Entry is free; activities are led by local residents rather than a tour company.

The area grew rice for generations, but locals switched to coconut farming once they found the soil and climate suited it better — that’s the trade you’re actually seeing here, not rice paddies. Visitors cycle along quiet lanes through the coconut groves, watch (or try) traditional husking and cold-pressed coconut oil extraction, and taste coconut coffee, a local speciality that mixes fresh coconut water into the brew. Craft sessions cover pandan-leaf folding, eco-print fabric dyeing — pounding leaves and local plants onto cloth to transfer their natural colour — and gua sha technique. Ban Roi Sao, a heritage house named for its hundred wooden support columns, holds a small collection of everyday artifacts and displays on the community’s history.

Insider Tip: Ask about the coconut oil demonstration specifically — it’s hands-on rather than something you just watch, and the cold-pressed oil and coconut snacks made on-site are sold afterwards as souvenirs.

The community group — the Takhian Tia Community Tourism Enterprise — is genuinely active, not a defunct listing. It hosted a Thammasat University-organised training visit for local-government officials from around the country in July 2026, held up as a model for community-managed tourism. Group visits (schools, companies, study tours) are the norm; solo travellers should contact the community or a local operator ahead of time rather than turning up expecting a formal ticket desk.

Watch out: There’s no set entry fee, but the workshops depend on villagers being available to run them — arriving unannounced may mean cycling through quiet lanes with nothing laid on. Booking ahead through Chonburi tour operators or the sub-district office gets you an actual guide.

Comfortable clothes you don’t mind getting a little dirty, sturdy shoes, and sun protection make sense for a morning spent in the groves. It’s a slower, more hands-on stop than most Pattaya-area day trips — worth it if you want to see how a farming community actually works rather than a staged version of one, less worth it if you’re short on time and haven’t arranged a guide. For another community-heritage stop in the same district, the Ban Chak Ngaeo Ancient Chinese Community covers a different, Chinese-Thai side of Bang Lamung’s local history.