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This tour is aimed at introducing our travellers to the people, culture and country of Thailand, and not cocooning them from it. This is helped by the tours and activities we include, having some free time to explore, and keeping our group sizes small (max 12, normally 6-10) and also running the tour privately for families, couples or groups of friends.
We take responsible travel very seriously, and have given some details below of how this is implemented on this tour.
Local people:
- We chose our local suppliers in Thailand very carefully and are very impressed with their attitude to responsible tourism in their country, and to supporting local people and different regions not normally visited by many tourists. They have helped us incorporate their beliefs and our own principles into our itineraries.
- We use fully-trained Thai tour leaders, guides and reps, rather than flying in Western leaders whose knowledge and love of the country will never be as full or passionate.
- We use small locally owned and operated hotels wherever possible, and the tour also features 2 nights in tribal village huts, where your stay directly benefits small families and village communities.
- The elephant trekking and bamboo rafting is run with the assistance of the local tribal villages to their benefit.
- One of the highlights of the tour is finding and enjoying local Thai food in a wide range of small restaurants and snack shops.
- We give information and advice to our travellers on how to respect local customs and religious practices, giving them a greater understanding of the local people and culture.
Environment:
- The long journey between Bangkok and Chiang Mai is done using the overnight sleeper train instead of flying, so reducing extra pollution and energy use.
- Explanations are given during the adventure trekking section of how the local people manage their forest resource and how we can help them to sustain it. This includes using renewable bamboo for our rafting rather than man-made materials.
- We have a recycling policy in our UK and local offices and re-use or recycle the information booklets we provide to every client on arrival wherever possible.
- We do not produce a glossy brochure, concentrating on a comprehensive website, and providing as much information to our travellers as possible electronically, reducing the use of paper and inks.
Local projects & charity support:
- We donate £2 for every person travelling on this tour to the Border Green Energy team to help this dedicated group build community micro-hydro systems and train Karen Thai villagers to operate, maintain and repair solar electric systems
- Our travellers are welcome to arrange visits to these projects and to support them personally if they wish.
- The company also supports further projects and charities internationally. Responsible tourism: We send all our travellers a copy of our responsible tourism policy before their holiday, and encourage them to read it and join us in following the ideas and suggestions contained within it.
A little local knowledge goes a long way. It turns a good holiday into a truly memorable one. We choose tour operators with a deep connection with special places - people who live and work in the destination and who have fallen in love with it.
So travelling with them is not just a brief stay somewhere, it's a real connection with the people, the landscape, the culture and the environment. It's like really living somewhere and enjoying the peace and quiet or the pace and excitement of the place as much as the people who live there do.
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You can trust responsibletravel.com reviews because, unlike many other schemes, reviews can ONLY be written by people who we have verified have been on the holidays. In addition, we don't run these holidays ourselves - our only interest is giving you the best independent advice.
