In my line of work, I have been supporting local businesses both professionally and personally for more than 15 years. I could say I am very proud and happy of my work and the chances to be involved with community development. For the love of job, more than just salary it is a feeling of accomplishment which resulted from our hard work. Not only it is far, but it is also very difficult to access to this place, sometimes we have to take the boat ride and sometime we take Kouyun only. However, the feeling of helping them makes us very proud. There are various ways we are helping them
- Help to develop the infrastructure
- Help to develop skills to run local businesses
- Help to promote them through network
- Use their service whenever possible
- Recently, adding their businesses into Google Map. This one is quite a challenge because most of the communities local at rural areas and very remoted. Google doesn’t know these places, hence once I tried to add these places on Google Map, they did not get approved.
Here, I would like to share how we are helping them with signboards or information boards. To Google Map, this may not be necessary but in real map, it is very important to have signboard or information board at destinations, especially in remoted areas. In remote areas where Google map cannot recognize and due to limitation of internet service or phone reception, information boards and signboards are important. In place without the service (and till these days), signboards are very important to give direction to people. Without these two, we use old and traditional ways: asking people for direction. We installed about 50 signboards in 4 provinces: Stung Treng, Preah Vihear, Kratie and Kompong Thom.
To make a signboard, there are procedure to follow.
- Local businesses, especially from the community initiative would need support from the government to help installed the information boards. If the government cannot install it, assistance from non-profit organization would be needed.
- The signboards have to be designed in accordance with the same pattern everywhere.
- Ideas, photos, sizes must be discussed with different stakeholders: local community, the government
- Logos of certain organizations or ministries must be displayed.
- Spelling check, name of places have to be sure double checked.
- Locations to be installed need to be approved by the government too. These information boards at installed at the destinations or some distance from the destinations.
These local tourism businesses could attract visitors, but with adding more photos and reviews, they rise to fame. Some google map of the site
- Chi Phat ecotourism site, my article about Chi Phat here in Connect
- Areng ecotourism site
- Chak Angre ecotourism site
- Taing You visitor centre
- Prey Veng ecotourism site
- Dong Phlet ecotourism site
Installation of signboards at Dataveuk CBET site at night