Family Thailand jungle and islands vacation

Planet

On this trip we incorporate a domestic train journey from Bangkok to Surat Thani, we also use public ferries to travel to the chain of islands making up Ang Thong National marine park helping to reduce our carbon footprint.

Our local partners in Thailand are always looking for new ways to reduce plastic waste and lessen our impact on the environment. Two current initiatives include providing reusable water bottles which dramatically cuts plastic waste. Guests are asked to refill their bottles from filtered water reservoirs on board vehicles and located in many hotels.

The second initiative is replacing all complimentary wet tissues with a safe and more ecologically friendly alternative that are compressed and expands upon contact with water. Called pure napkins, they are hypoallergenic and take less time to decompose.

As a travel company we are continually looking for ways to improve and are proud to be ‘Responsible in everything we do’. Education is key, and so all staff, Tour Leaders and partnering suppliers are trained in responsible and sustainable tourism. At our Head Office, we continually strive towards a sustainable and planet-friendly working environment, including having solar panels installed and a company commitment to reducing our plastic usage.

People

All local tour leaders go through an intensive training programme including English language and background history, religion and geography; useful life skills to develop their career in travel and tourism.

Furthermore we support local communities by incorporating an ever increasing number of social enterprises into our supply chains including restaurants and workshops producing local crafts that our groups get the opportunity to visit along the way, providing much needed additional income and enhancing community engagement.

We stay in locally run guesthouses and hotels along the way. In Bangkok we take part in a Muay Thai boxing lesson at a local gym. Rather than basing ourselves at a beach resort on the islands in the Gulf of Thailand we include a host of activities such as island hopping in Ang Thong marine park, a cookery lesson and a trip to see pink dolphins in their natural environment; all of which are organised through local businesses.

As a company we have valuable and longstanding partnerships with UK charities Toilet Twinning and Send a Cow, plus many smaller initiatives and projects around the world. We’re members of the UK travel industry body AITO because we believe it’s important to share our knowledge and experience, as well as learn from other operators.