Thailand hilltribes, rainforests and beaches tour

Planet

This itinerary takes in both the cities and remote areas Thailand has to offer. In the big cities where pollution is a problem we strive to make as minimal an impact to the environment as possible. We use local transport systems, boats, bikes, tuk-tuks and of course walking to get to those sometimes lesser known destinations. In the rural areas we include local longtail boats and bicycles.

Elephant Valley near Chiang Rai is a semi-wild elephant project. Elephant care and conservation are at the heart of the project’s ethos. There is no direct contact between visitor and elephant permitted, however, visitors will follow close to the herd, observing how they interact with each other and how the mahouts care for them. Half of the profits from the visit fee go into a fund to protect wild Asian elephants and their habitat with a long term goal of reintroducing captive Asian elephants back into the wild.

At the beginning of 2018 we launched our ‘One Bottle At A Time’ initiative to replace disposable plastic water bottles with refillable canisters across our destinations. From March 2018 in Thailand, we will be providing refillable water canisters in our vehicles, meaning our travelers are not generating plastic waste through the daily use of water bottles (which on a full day of touring can be numerable). We also send our guests a wooden toothbrush to help avoid using hotels’ disposable plastic brushes, and educate clients about the limited recycling facilities in Asia, and best-practice regarding waste-reduction. Within our UK offices we operate strict recycling policies and make sure everyone in the office uses reusable crockery and cutlery.

People

Fang.
The entire region of Fang is a community-based-tourism success story, having transformed itself from a valley of opium-growers to an upstanding group of tea farmers via communal tourism initiatives. You'll find yourself welcomed with self-assured warmth as you join the locals to pick tea, learn to cook, trek in the hills and relax in the nearby hot springs.

Local partners.
We actively choose local guides and drivers, and work only with local travel partners. We insist that any travel partners we work with adhere to our responsible travel policies, and ideally put responsible tourism at the heart of everything they do. We work collaboratively with them to ensure an ongoing exchange of information, so we can all continue to improve our work around responsible tourism.