Ik Pahon (seated centre) soaking his feet in the hot spring after the gotong royong.
Kampung Panchor woman in traditional costumes help bathe a young visitor at the hot spring yesterday. — Photos by Chimon Upon
Ik Pahon (standing fifth left, front row) with other participants after the work party.
KUCHING: The management board of Panchor Hot Spring should initiate a more aggressive promotion campaign to attract more locals to drop by.
Tourism Ministry permanent secretary Datu Ik Pahon Joyik said there were many ways to promote the hot spring, and one of them could be by organising yearly Open Day.
Ik Pahon opined that such activity would attract visitors, especially locals from the surrounding areas who had not heard of the hot spring’s healing potential.
“The number of visitors has been increasing, especially during school holidays but we want everyone to know about Panchor Hot Spring, so I suggest the management board hold something like a carnival with a variety of events once a year.
“Offer 50 per cent discount to visitors taking a dip at the hot spring to encourage more local visitors,” he suggested.
Ik Pahon said it was up to the management board and the villagers to mull over his proposal.
He was officiating at the launch of a gotong-royong participated by the Tourism Ministry, government agencies and local community at Panchor Hot Spring about 40km from here yesterday.
Ik Pahon said the ministry would continue to help Kampung Panchor villagers maintain facilities at Panchor Hot Spring until they can stand on their own feet.
The hot spring at Kampung Panchor had great potential and with the involvement of the relevant government agencies and the local community, it could one day become a popular tourist spot.
“I understand that this place has been receiving lots of visitors from Korea, Japan and other Asian countries and we are confident the number will continue to grow,” he said.
According to community leader for Bukar area, Penghulu Sirau Lungkis from Kampung Pachor, the healing potential of Panchor Hot Spring was uncovered when a rich Chinese businessman recovered fully from a stroke after dipping in the hot spring a number of times.
“He wanted to develop the hot spring together with the kampung folks on a joint-venture basis but most of us wanted to do it on our own, so we opened up the place to the public with minimal facilities.
“The facilities were upgraded some time in 2012 when Mambong MP Dato Sri Dr James Dawos was Deputy Tourism Minister and he gave us some funds for the project,” he said.
Following the upgrading of the hot spring, they managed to get about RM10,000 per month from gate collection.
“Most people come here for health reasons or after hearing the testimonies of stroke patients who recovered after bathing in the hot water. Many of them became regular visitors,” Sirau said.
They would come alone or with family members.
“We are charging only RM4 per adult and RM1 per child. Our opening hours are from 7am to 10pm daily,” he said.
Among those present yesterday was director of Tourism and Culture Ministry, Suriya Charles Buas and representatives from government agencies.