Skip to main content

Panbang Boys

A group of eleven passionate Panbang boys came together in 2012 and formed the first community-based ecotourism company. They call it the River Guides of Panbang. They are river guides. They work in a group and are so good at what they do. They are highly enterprising people in Panbang known for their commitment to their mission.

One of their aims is to work for the "preservation of the rich biodiversity under the corridor of Royal Manas National Park" while creating eco-tourism in the locality. They own two rubber boats and provide tourists an unforgettable experience of floating on the mighty Manas river.

In March 2016, when I was there, the Group was busy building a line of eco-camps, away from Panbang town. The camp is built with the financial support from Bhutan Foundation on one of the members' private land. These camps are built using wood and bamboo, sourced locally. While they may appear like rows of village houses, roofed traditionally using leaves, they would be fitted with latest amenities, I was told. It has been many months since and it would certainly be a great pleasure to see how they have turned up after everything was complete. We were also told that Bhutan Foundation would be conducting their Board meeting at the camp.

The camp will attract many visitors to the place and also provide unique experiences of staying in a remote village but also enjoy modern facilities and float down the Manas with the trained 'river guides'. The eco-camp will also be a wonderful place to conduct workshops, conferences and retreats during winter months.

Some of the members are my former classmates and schoolmates. I have great respect for these people for literally venturing into an untraversed water and having succeeded in capturing the market. Today, the place attracts hundreds of Indian tourists, bird watchers, adventurers, photographers.

Panbang is a small town in Zhemgang under Ngangla Gewog and is now becoming the center of major economic activity. Before the coming of Gomphu-Panbang National Highway, one had to travel through India to reach the town from bordering places like Gelephu, Phuentsholing, Samdrup Jongkhar and Nganglam in Pema Gatshel.

Panbang today has a lower secondary school and a middle secondary school, a BHU (Basic Health Unit), RNR (Renewable Natural Resource) Center, branches of Bank of Bhutan and Bhutan Development Bank. 

Note: River Guides pictures by RGP while the eco-camp pictures are from my personal collection
Labels:

Comments

  1. Amrith Bdr SubbaMay 12, 2016 at 8:53 PM

    I think the Panbang boys truly deserve a big round of applause for such a wonderful initiative. Thank you for sharing their extraordinary story. I am sure what they are doing is worthy of emulation. They should be the role models for today's youth.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nawang P PhuntshoMay 13, 2016 at 3:36 PM

      Thank you Amrit sir for going through this post and leaving a comment. Panbang Boys are truly remarkable and I hope they continue to inspire many more youth to make village more interesting!

      Delete
  2. Karma ThinleyMay 19, 2016 at 3:45 PM

    Innovation leading self employment. Doing something different from what mass do is a formula for success. Thumbs up Panbang boys. And your writing always inspires.....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nawang P PhuntshoMay 19, 2016 at 4:10 PM

      Thank you for going through the post. Panbang boys are inspiring indeed. They have found out their niche and maybe one day our young people who are loitering in Thimphu and other towns will soon find their calling in rural villages. That way we can to some extent reverse the rural-migration trend that worries us all.

      Delete
  3. AnonymousMay 25, 2016 at 4:43 PM

    exemplary, role model and very very very farsighted boys panbang, thumbs up! keep working hard.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

So what do you think?

Popular posts from this blog

Utpal Academy - Bhutan's first All-girls High School

Academic Block Welcome to Bhutan’s first all-girls school. Isn’t that wonderful news to all our parents? Certainly, as a parent of a one-year old daughter I am excited about the coming of a school exclusively dedicated to the needs of girls. Our girls need special treatment, which we can for sure entrust the responsibility to Utal Academy, Paro. Dinning Hall I really like the name – Utpal – in Buddhist world, Utpal is another name for lotus flower, which is believed to grow from mud and yet blossoms into a beautiful and majestic flower. It stands for purity and many deities are depicted holding flower Utpal, more prominently Jestusn Dolma, the Goddess Tara. Symbolically, it also stands for the transformation of our girls. What an apt name for the school! Hostel Room The Principal’s message posted on the academy’s website promises providing our young women an “opportunity to participate fully in a wide range of extracurricular activities to develop skills and qualities that
9 comments
Read more...

Community of Bhutanese Bloggers Conceived

And finally it happened. I must say that it was by far the most attended Bloggers Meet. In the past we had bloggers agree to attend and cancel at the very last minute. But on June 24, 2015 – almost 100% of bloggers, who confirmed came. I would like to thank everyone for keeping his/her words, especially those who had to come all the way from Wangdue or Paro. Thank you! 35 Bhutanese bloggers met in Thimphu. We were honored to have the presence of senior bloggers like Aue Yeshi Dorji and Dasho Sangay Khandu. The meeting assumed more significance because of their presence. Equally, we were happy to have many young bloggers in whom we see so much enthusiasm and potential. On top of many things that transpired during the Meet, one of the most significant outcomes was the unanimous decision reached to form a formal group of bloggers, a platform aimed at encouraging and inspiring more bloggers around the country. The members decided that we will call it Community of Bhutanese Blogger
16 comments
Read more...

When FIVE is more than FIVE HUNDRED

Bhutanese parents complain that our children are exposed to so much foreign content and that they might soon forget our own root. Some parents also feel that their children respond well and better to stories that have Bhutanese characters and places in them. That's why the need for more and better Bhutanese books in the market. And we have only a handful of people who are committed to making this happen although the financial return is almost none.   Bhutan can boast of not many writers. Here writing or publishing aspect of writing is an expensive hobby. In the first place, it is difficult to convince people to publish their writings and many leave it before they are halfway. Publishing is a complicated process. But here it is even more complicated since our publishers are not publishers in the real sense of the term. They would only 'publish' (print) school textbooks and in that they are only being wise - averting risks to their businesses.  Recently, the whole
17 comments
Read more...