SUSTAINABILITY

Providing more responsible and sustainable travel has become a focus of our company. We are making steps that can provide a positive impact and benefit both the traveler and the people and places visited. We prefer to work with suppliers and partners who place this approach as the basis of everything they do.

Our approach to responsible and sustainable travel

COMMUNITY AND CULTURAL IMPACT

We support local businesses and communities. We do this by working with local businesses such as small hotels, local restaurants and local suppliers.

We also encourange our guests to visit Community Based Tourism (CBT) projects, which we can include in any of our programs. This gives travelers the opportunity to experience and learn about the community and the environment through hand-on activities led by local community guides. These may include trekking, agricultural practices, traditional fishing, cooking lessons, traditional weaving and crafts and more. Our small groups are low impact and are informed how to interact in a culturally sensitive way within the community. CBT programs are designed and managed by local people to support community and environmental projects and build skills for community members. The benefit for our guests is that they can experience and learn about local people, their lives and culture.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

We make steps to minimize the environmental impact when providing travel services. We encourage activities such as trekking, kayaking, rafting and cycling in our programs. Where possible, we also encourage using public transportation options and promote rail travel as a means of long-distance travel in Thailand.

COMMUNITY BASED TOURISM

There are numerous communities with Community Based Tourism CBT based activities all over Thailand. Get in touch with us for more information. Read about some of our favourite enterprises.

BAAN RAI KONG KHING

Chiang Mai Province

The community enterpise is located just outside Chiang Mai, where guests can learn and share in the local culture. Stay at the homestay overnight and enjoy Northern Thai cuisine using organic ingredients. Try a unique form of massage known as Yam Khang, which involves hot coals and masseurs using their heated feet. Try making local desserts such as Kai Phan and Khanom Kok. Prepare an offering for monks on their morning round then join a bicycyle tour of the area, stopping at Wat Ton Kwen Temple.

BAAN PHRA BAT HUAI TOM

Lamphun Province

Located in a peaceful rural setting near Lamphun and the large temple Phra Bat Huay Tom. Experience the way of life of the local Pga K’nyau Karen people.homestay overnight and take part in organised activities. View knife-forging, one of the main occupations of the locals. Learn about the silverware-making process, wicker-making and hand-woven cotton fabrics unique to the Pga K’nyau. Take a bicycle ride in the countryside and visit Phra Maha That Chedi Sri Wiang Chai, modelled after the Shwedagon Pagoda in Myanmar.

BAAN NA TON CHAN

Sukhothai Province

The villagers of Baan Na Ton Chan have created a sustainable tourism project, by working together to show the community’s culture through traditional ways and providing homestay accommodation. They grow rice and fruit, make Pa Mak Klon fabric, colored by soaking fabrics in mud to soften the threads and make wooden furniture Try weaving Lai Song Pee Nong baskets, sample Khao Pueb, a traditional rice parcel and tradional noodles and stay at a host family’s house to immerse yourself in the community.

Pineapples at Bang Rong, Community Based Tourism, Phuket

BAAN BANG RONG

Phuket Province

This Muslim community is on the east coast of Phuket where guests can take part in activities for an insight into a traditional way of living. Take part in a Pateh bag workshop, a famous handicraft in this community. Visit a pineapple farm and observe how the fruits are grown and harvested. See how a rubber tree is tapped, an important product for this community. Then learn about a crab conservation project, releasing some crabs into a mangrove forest. Observe how coconuts are harvested and learn how to make the coconut dessert khnam tom.