Thailand tailor made holiday, elephants, jungle & beach

Planet

As with all our holidays, the accommodation you will stay at has been chosen to meet at least our basic environmental criteria, which include putting in place measures to conserve energy and reduce water usage and providing advice on how you can reduce your own footprint while you’re there. All the places you stay at buy their food locally, cutting down transport emissions and helping local farmers. Many of them have also been awarded the ASEAN Green Leaf certification which additionally covers air quality, waste management and co-operation with communities, amongst other areas.

We have an eye on low-impact tourism, especially in Khao Sok park, where we've chosen simple jungle treehouses and a floating huts on Chiaw Laan lake. There's not a lot of tourist infrastructure but the lack of aircon and limited electricity is more than made up for by your closeness to nature. Domestic flights are normally the most convenient way to get around the country, but we can substitute trains, which is a great way to reduce carbon emissions and appreciate the natural beauty of the Thai countryside. We are also concerned with animal welfare and the elephant sanctuary has been chosen specifically for its high standards of welfare and leadership in phasing out elephant rides in the Thai tourist industry.

We see protecting the environment as crucially important in all our holidays, which is why our local partners are pioneers of responsible tourism in Asia. They are certified by Travelife, the leading international tourism sustainability certification, which covers all aspects of the supply chain from environmental issues, biodiversity and human rights to labour relations. Their ethos is to “tread lightly”, which entails anything from turning off idling engines and selecting eco-friendly transportation to using biodegradable cleaning products, properly disposing of waste or recycling when possible. They vet their suppliers to ensure their practices are in line with their environmental standards and apply the same principles to their own operations.
We have an eye on low-impact tourism, especially in Khao Sok park, where we've chosen simple jungle treehouses and a floating huts on Chiaw Laan lake. There's not a lot of tourist infrastructure but the lack of electricity is more than made up for by your closeness to nature. There are domestic flights included for convenience but we can substitute trains, which is a great way to see the countryside. We are also concerned with animal welfare and the elephant sanctuary has been chosen specifically for its high standards of welfare and leadership in phasing out elephant rides in the Thai tourist industry.

We see protecting the environment as crucially important, especially in beautiful and fragile areas like Khao Sok national park. For this reason, we have chosen local partners that are leading the Thai tourism industry on the environment and are certified according to Travelife's rigorous standards. They are also developing new kinds of holidays that combine ecotourism and community tourism, for example working with the Doi Tung royal project which helps hill tribe people to protect their lands and traditions, or developing holidays at organic farms and the Petchaburi wildlife centre.

People

Creating social and economic benefits for local people is the central goal of our company and as such we try to incorporate meaningful interaction with local people in all our holidays. One of the best ways of doing this is by staying at family-owned guest houses which also spreads income from tourism more widely - particularly important in beach areas that can become dominated by big resorts. We can also make your trip even more memorable by incorporating community-based stays in your itinerary.

If you'd like to stay at a hotel, we have chosen ones that employ all or nearly all Thai staff, provide them with training to further their careers and which give something back to the community through donations or selling local handicrafts. We also buy in services from small businesses wherever possible, helping spread the money from tourism to more people. For example our canoeing trip in Khao Sok park was created by local villagers interested in sharing and preserving their special environment.

With the decline of working elephants in Thailand, many mahouts have lost their jobs and their elephants end up in exploitative camps aimed at tourists. Our elephant experience helps to support the mahouts' families as well as putting the animals' welfare and happiness first and advocating for wider changes in the elephant tourism industry.

Our Thai partners are as involved in community development as they are in environmental issues and support local charities, enterprises and organisations, helping to maximise the benefits of tourism to local people. Wherever possible this support is part of the holiday itself, for example shopping at fairtrade shops or dining in restaurants run by vocational institutions that train young and disadvantaged people. They share our belief in travelling with respect and encourage this by giving a booklet with responsible travel tips to every visitor.