You might expect Kok Na Sai to be beautiful. But what you’ll discover is a deeper sense of beauty—serene, pure, brave, humorous, and protective. The hour-and-a-half drive from bustling Bangkok fills you with excited anticipation: to see a quiet landscape, taste the flavours of Lao Vieng cuisine, interact with the locals, and immerse yourself in the cultural activities that await.
As you step out of the vehicle, your senses are immediately awakened—the air is fresher, the fields are greener, and flowers and trees dot the landscape. Birds chirp in the background, harmoniously blending with soft traditional music and the welcoming voices of the locals.
Dressed in traditional Lao Vieng clothing, you’ll receive a warm briefing from the village head, Mrs. Wanida Srimen, locally addressed as “Khun Kai”. She leads a group of locals dedicated to preserving and passing on their cultural heritage to future generations.
It’s not every day that transformative learning journeys begin with a lively, traditional harvesting dance called “Ten Khao Jekchoey.” Each lyric and movement in the dance tell the story of Jekchoey Rice, an Indigenous variety whose seeds travelled with the Lao Vieng people from Laos to Sao Hai. The dance reflects the rhythms of life here, with every step honouring the land and its gifts.
The activities feel less like a checklist of experiences and more like a seamless journey into a community’s living traditions — a warm invitation into the lives of those who have carried these practices across generations. Each moment holds the intimacy of being guided by an aunt, an uncle, or a grandmother, their hands deftly moving through motions they’ve known since childhood, their stories adding depth and meaning to every gesture.
The Jekchoey rice pounding, for instance, is far more than a practical task. As the wooden lever rises and falls with rhythmic grace, a story whispers through the sound — a tale of courtship. In olden times, this was a ritual of love: the young man operates the foot pedal, activating the heavy wooden arm to pound the rice, while the young woman stands opposite, sifting and stirring the grains to separate the hulls. Each rhythmic thud becomes a quiet conversation, a chance to steal glances and share smiles. If the woman feels no spark by the end, the next eligible bachelor steps up to the pedal, hopeful that his steady rhythm might win her heart.
Another captivating tradition lies in the preparation of a local delicacy, bamboo rice. Legend says that if one is cold-hearted, their rice will take longer and not taste as good. But if one is kind-hearted, the rice cooks quickly and tastes divine.
You might hear the elders share endearing “during my time” stories as you engage in cooking classes. One recalls, “During my time, we didn’t have enough money to buy snacks. So, my mother would make Lao Vieng crepes by grinding rice into flour using a stone grinder, cooking it, and adding whatever ingredients we had at home.”
When you leave, you carry memories and a profound connection to the Kok Na Sai community — as if you’ve lived their stories. The community bids you farewell with mortar-pounded rice flour and a philosophy distilled into one powerful truth eloquently put forth by Khun Kai, “We may not have the ocean, nor the mountains, but what we have is people.”
For Discova’s partnered communities, this isn’t just poetic rhetoric — it’s an economic strategy. Their storytelling-centred tourism model has drawn young adults back from cities where they worked in factories, allowing them to train as local guides. This will enable them to continue their ancestral legacies and provide a decent living wage for themselves and their families. The growth of purpose-driven, local tourism and guide enrolment over the years proves the model’s success. For this community, cultural preservation isn’t about freezing traditions in time but fuelling their organic evolution through dignified engagement. When done right, a cooking class can provide fair wages to farmers and cooks, fund organic gardens, and inspire apprenticeships to prevent youth migration. It is purpose-driven travel at its finest — where every visit empowers, preserves, and transforms.
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