By Sorravit
The 1st Pulling Crab Festival has recently taken place at the Cha-Am lookout. Organized by the Cha-Am Municipality between 12 and 20 February 2011, this festive event was joined by a lot of Thai and foreign visitors. Aiming to promote tourism in Cha-Am and support local fishing which is a profession that has been carried out for a long time in Cha-Am, the 1st Pulling Crab Festival also encourages constant breeding of blue crab and establishing of local blue crab banks to preserve this marine creature.
Local fishers of Cha-Am, particularly those in Saphan Yok Community, enjoy a unique way of catching and freshening blue crab. After catching it from the sea, the fishers will put the crab into a sack and hang it at the bridge post. They said that this way could freshen the crab for a longer time than any other modern methods. Currently, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is promoting the crab pulling of Saphan Yok Community as the unmissible Unseen Thailand 3 for visitors to Cha-Am. Those who joined the festival could taste the fresh blue crab with juicy meat. The crab was sold at reasonable prices, too.
According to the Petchaburi Governor Mr. Chai Panitpornpan, the 1st Pulling Crab Festival enables Cha-Am to show its potential in tourism promotion and foster local intellect on fishing at the same time. Besides, the more visitors come to the festival, the more income local fishers will gain as they can sell a lot of blue crab. The Cha-Am Mayor Mr. Nukul Pornsomboonsiri was also thankful for the TAT, Singha Corporation, the Tourism Business Association of Petchaburi and the Cha-Am Merchants Club which provide active support for the event. Most of all, he thanks all visitors who chose Cha-Am as a holiday getaway and enjoyed the 1st Pulling Crab Festival. Highly favored among Thais and foreigners alike, the Pulling Crab Festival will be organized again next year.
