Floating Footy at Kho Panyee

So by now you’ve probably seen the below video from Now This News doing the rounds on social media

The soccer pitch itself is located in the fishing village of Kho Panyee in Phang Nga Bay off the coast of Phuket, southern Thailand. According to our tour guide the village was founded by two Malaysian families (Wikipedia suggests that the families were Indonesian) as a refuge from which to practice their Islamic faith. Nowadays more than 1,500 people live in the village built on stilts, allegedly descendants from the original families that settled there late in the 18th century.

Unfortunately, on the day we visited the weather was inclement and the floating soccer pitch was in a state of disrepair. The locals were only interested in selling us the same cheap and tacky trinkets that were available at every other marketplace around southern Thailand, and the overall feeling within the village was one of depression and bitterness.

Thankfully we were able to visit the little primary school that was filled with colour and laughter, but if you are planning a trip to Kho Panyee I would suggest doing so on a sunny weekend.