Life change holiday for women in Thailand
How this holiday makes a difference
Environment
The company is committed to remaining small, restricting the number of people undertaking holidays, retreats and programmes at any one time, thereby allowing us to truly cater to individual need and preference, and to minimise any negative affect on the surrounding environment.
Community
We use a few hand picked small locally owned boutique hotels. These range from a secluded mountainside retreat villa resort to city centre “oasis” and all fall within our responsible and ethical travel policy. In fact, most go well beyond it giving substantial amounts of their incomes to local schools and Buddhist temples. Many of the hotel staff, managers and owners have become our good friends and treat all our guests with the kindness and thoughtfulness that has made Thailand such a special destination. One of our hotels popular as a base for our Womens Holiday is The Puripunn Baby Grand Boutique Hotel.
The Puripunn Hotel employs mainly Thai people, makes a major contribution to the appreciation of traditional art and culture, donates regularly to the local temple and offers work experience placements to young people hoping to work in the hotel industry. It is active in regeneration plans for the immediate locality and has recently sponsored upgrading a local museum within the grounds of the local Buddhist Temple.
We ask our clients to join us in achieving our aim of ensuring that our presence in Chiang Mai brings positive benefits to the area and its people. This will be achieved by: making regular donations to The Vieng Ping Childrens Home, a local charity providing residential and community care for children whose parents have either died or cannot look after them, maintaining an attitude of respect to people and the environment, at all times and using the services of local businesses, buying local products and visiting attractions which provide employment for and understanding of the local community.
Many local crafts people can benefit from visitors buying their work rather than mass produced souvenirs. One of our team members, Son, who will be your guide on your chosen outings, can advise you on what is available and where to find it. Chiang Mai also has a huge selection of locally owned small restaurants, cafes and street food stalls. You will miss a great opportunity to sample some of the most delicious and inexpensive food in the world if you don’t try as many of these as possible. We are very happy to recommend both special dishes and places to eat them.
Please bring, or be prepared to purchase, suitable clothes for visiting the many very special temples in Chiang Mai. Our staff will advise according to your chosen itinerary. A certain amount of bargaining is an accepted part of many transactions including market purchases and tuk-tuk rides. This can be fun if conducted with mutual respect and in the knowledge that the traders need to earn a living. The Thai Royal Family are revered and respected by the people of Thailand and anything said to undermine them is likely to cause offence. It is fascinating and informative to learn from local people, about the contributions made by King Bhumibol and Queen Sirikit to Thai life and economy.
