Palm wood in Thailand

I happened to stuck in Thailand (Phuket).

Already experienced intoxication from local food and my body looks like one giant sub burn. So vacation is going fine.

Now there are tons of souvenir shops here, and they have lots of kitchen utensils made of palm wood (that's how they call it). Those utensils looks pretty good and happen to be cheap as well. This is an example of wood texture on those utensils:


I was hoping that I would be able to get some wood (just few blanks) for handles, but can't find any sources that sell it. Tried asking local, but they either don't speak English or just have no idea where I can get that wood.
I believe that's a coconut wood… and those trees are everywhere here.
But still no idea where to get it. Any advices?
Should I just stop searching for wood and continue with my intoxications and sun burns?

A picture of yesterday's sunset to keep you entertained.

 

Its a fibre more than wood and is a pain if its not stabilised to use on handles as it splits very easily.The usual sources often have stabilised red and black palm available.

 

i love the look of the end. with all the dots. i wish i could get an entire handle made with the dots on it

 

I would suggest looking around for some of the workshops where they are making stuff from the palm and try to buy from them.
Palm will have a portion of the log that is harder (outer ring of the log) and the interior will be softer and kind of pithy.
If you get some it is best to have it stabilized or at least saturate it with thin CA glue.

Thailand is also a good place to find Amboyna Burl.
Years back I bought a bunch from a veneer dealer over there.