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For many years, the Karen people in this region have lived in fear of persecution by National Park authorities, who claimed their farming practices were destructive and attempted on many occasions to evict them. The villagers knew that this was far from the truth – Karen culture is intimately connected to the land, and Karen people have a deep respect for nature. Their lifestyle was being misunderstood by the lowland Thai people.
The challenge was: how does a remote minority village, high in the mountains, win public understanding and support?
With the help of a local NGO, The Project for Recovery of Life and Culture (PRLC), and our Bangkok based NGO, the community developed a ‘Community based Tourism’ program to invite guests to stay in their community and share their day to day life. Within 2 years, the community had become well known as a ‘learning centre’ to understand Karen life. Many journalists came and were deeply impressed by the lifestyle and spirit of the people. They wrote articles about the sustainable farming practices of the Karen which had an impact on public perceptions, and begun to soften the attitude of local government. Community members gained many skills from working in tourism as community guides and hosts – including analysis, planning, presentation, communication and management. These skills helped community members to communicate more effectively with local authorities, and they were eventually able to forge a compromise which gave them more rights, more hope and more space to live their lives. 7 years later, the village is the hub of an 11 community-wide network, which is working to develop ‘CBT for Community-based Natural Resource Management.’
In addition to skills and voice, tourism has also been a useful income source for local people, contributing up to 10% increase in the income of active group members. Tourism has also proved to local youth that people from all around the world are interested in their lives – stimulating a sense of pride in their community and culture.
This holiday is part of the responsibletravel.com and Conservation International Community Based Tourism Programme to support and promote community based tourism ventures that offer significant conservation and development benefits to local communities.
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