Khmer people often have the habit of living in rural areas, their lives are closely linked to agricultural production. Over time, many places where Khmer people live have also formed craft villages from the working and production habits of the people...
About 11km from the center of Soc Trang city, the Khmer weaving village in Phu Tan commune, Chau Thanh district has been established for hundreds of years. From simple materials such as bamboo, with the skillful hands of the people here, they have created labor tools, household items... Especially in recent years, people have developed these tools into sophisticated souvenirs to serve tourists visiting and shopping... This is also a lovely gift for tourists to bring back to their relatives after each visit to Soc Trang.
Right in the center of Phu Tan commune, there is an exhibition area for traditional weaving products of Thuy Tuyet Rattan and Bamboo Cooperative. Not far from the commune is the warehouse of the cooperative's products. Having the opportunity to visit these places, visitors will be overwhelmed by hundreds of products from consumer goods to decorations, gifts... made from rattan, bamboo, bamboo... According to Ms. Truong Thi Bach Thuy - Director of Thuy Tuyet Rattan and Bamboo Cooperative, the cooperative is currently aiming to create production and business linkages combined with tourism and service development among households, thereby gradually enhancing the value of the craft village and promoting products to visitors.
"Currently, the cooperative has over 700 products. The products here are supplied to the domestic market and the export market. For exports, most are consumer goods, such as laundry baskets for restaurants and hotels. We also do construction with rattan and bamboo, such as homestays, resorts, and tourist areas," said Ms. Truong Thi Bach Thuy.
More experiences for visitors
The Khmer people in general and in Soc Trang province in particular have a very diverse and rich culture, from festivals, temple architecture, musical instruments, folk dances to traditional costumes... In recent years, besides promoting and preserving identity, Soc Trang province and the Khmer people have also paid special attention to exploiting these cultural features to develop tourism.
Every year on the 15th day of the 10th lunar month, a large number of Khmer people from all over the village and tourists gather on the Maspero River, Soc Trang City to enjoy the Ooc Om Boc festival - Ngo boat racing. Coming to the festival, tourists especially show their excitement when they see with their own eyes the Ngo boats with brilliant colors and patterns, 25-30m long, carrying 50-60 people swimming and racing with each other.
Ms. Tran Thi Que Huong - a tourist from Dong Nai province participating in the festival said: "This is the first time I have attended this festival, it is really grand, the atmosphere is very exciting. This could be a big festival for the people here, so many people gather to both visit and watch the matches here".
In particular, Soc Trang with 93 Khmer pagodas with unique architecture and distinct characteristics is becoming an attractive destination for tourists. A typical example is Botum Vongsa Som Rong Pagoda with a history of 600 years, located on Ton Duc Thang Street, Ward 5, Soc Trang City. Recently, the pagoda has become a popular tourist destination because of its unique Khmer architecture; in which, the stupa and the statue of Buddha Sakyamuni Nirvana are the highlights. In particular, visitors coming here can also visit the display of traditional costumes of the Khmer people, experience wearing Khmer ethnic costumes with colorful, delicate colors and unique features. These are the costumes worn in weddings, festivals or in the daily life of the people.
Ms. Thach Thi Tha Sari, the manager of the traditional costume display area in the Som Rong Pagoda grounds, shared that on weekends, holidays, and Tet, a lot of tourists come to visit the pagoda. In particular, when coming here, tourists really enjoy wearing traditional Khmer costumes and taking souvenir photos. "There are many types of costumes, very diverse, mainly from the Khmer people, there are also apsara and ro-bam dance costumes... many types for tourists to choose from, and the prices are also reasonable, so tourists really enjoy the experience."
Promote cultural tourism
To preserve and promote cultural values associated with tourism development, Soc Trang province has issued many Resolutions and support policies, including focusing on tourism development with the orientation of "developing spiritual tourism, festival culture... raising the stature of unique festival events of the three ethnic groups Kinh - Khmer - Hoa".
According to Ms. Duong Thi Ngoc Diem - Vice Chairman of Soc Trang City People's Committee, many Khmer Theravada pagodas have become tourist attractions such as: Som Rong Pagoda, Doi Pagoda, Pem Buol Thmay Pagoda, Chroi Tum Chas Pagoda... From the province's support policies, investments have been made to improve the green - clean - beautiful environment, meeting the needs of people and tourists.
"In line with Resolution 05 of the province, Soc Trang city has initially completed the documents to submit to higher levels to support this tourism policy. For Som Rong Pagoda (Ward 5), phase 1 support is 100 million VND to build public toilets. Currently, it continues to receive tourism policy support in phase 2 with a capital of 1 billion VND to continue construction and investment in items to attract tourists to visit. As for Mahatup Pagoda (Bat Pagoda), we are also completing the documents to send to the province, because this is a national historical relic, so the province is also submitting to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism for comments on investment, restoration, as well as architectural renovation at this location to develop tourism", said Ms. Duong Thi Ngoc Diem.
Soc Trang also focuses on building unique and distinctive tourism products to attract tourists based on Khmer cultural factors, such as developing unique ethnic art products to serve regular tourists at tourist destinations in the province, including du ke stage art, Robam art, Romvong dance and Khmer five-tone music... Thereby, preserving and promoting the traditional cultural values of the locality, contributing to building Soc Trang as a land of heritages and cultural festivals with unique characteristics, while exploiting the values of these heritages to serve tourism development.
Source: https://vov.vn/du-lich/soc-trang-xay-dung-san-pham-du-lich-tu-van-hoa-khmer-post1096655.vov
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