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All our vacations are deliberately designed to be as socially responsible as possible, and we work with local people on a highly individual basis.
On this vacation, you will get an unrivalled insight into Thai culture and you will meet a wide range of ordinary people on an 'equal' basis, not just those involved in the tourist industry to 'serve' you. You will learn about real life in Thailand, both traditional and modern, sustainable ways of living and farming, local festivals, dances etc. We find people who will show these to you and compensate them accordingly, this helps local efforts of keeping traditions alive.
You will spend most of your time areas away from the main tourist destinations, therefore providing additional income in local economies that may not normally benefit from revenue from tourism. Whether a housewife takes you to her local market to buy food to prepare dinner, or you pop into the village co-operative to browse their handicrafts, your vacation will help the very places and people you visit.
The accommodation on this itinerary is small and local, within existing buildings or built with comparatively low impact to the environment. When you do stay in a 'conventional’ hotel in Bangkok, it is a Green Hotel, which uses solar energy for heating the hot water and room sensors that automatically turn off lights and appliances.
We encourage visiting less places and spending more time there, this allows richer experiences and also has less impact on the environment than constantly moving from one place to another. Whilst we do use private cars and minivans (not shared transport), where possible our vehicles are fuelled by LPG. We encourage exploring local areas by foot or bicycle.
This vacation includes meeting elephants but not riding them, you will learn why when you spend time at Elephant Nature Park. This is a showpiece of wildlife conservation in Asia, with a passionate founder who has been named Time Magazine's 'Asian Hero of the Year' for her efforts. Not only does Elephant Nature Park provide a refuge for elephants from all over Thailand, often previously-abused, but it spreads knowledge on humane training and elephant welfare to the wider community, as well as providing hands-on medical assistance to elephants who are not lucky enough to live here.
It goes without saying that we also provide cultural guidelines and travel, including responsible travel information.
We invite every traveler who books a vacation via us to send in a review. Because we don't run the vacations they're completely independent and unedited... remember to read between the lines though, as two people on the same vacation can have different views!
