Thailand Responsible Travelers

As travelers of any age, you are responsible for making the choice to protect the remaining few special places and special cultures on our planet. Choosing a truly responsible tour operator can be very tedious and frustrating. Almost everyone has joined the ecotourism bandwagon. You should hold yourself and the tour operator whom you choose to join accountable for your impact on both Nature and the cultures in the areas where you travel.

The money you spend can add to the problems that exist in the tourism industry (and there are many) or you can send a message to the government’s tourism and national park departments and to the local people. You are here to respect them, their wonderful environment and you won’t settle for anything less than a meaningful, low impact adventure.

Thailand Misinformation for Travelers

It is understanably easy to fall for wild claims, scams and outright misinformation. Many websites use words like "pristine" and "virgin" and "rare" but in many cases nothing could be further from the truth. A few nice photos of lush vegetation and clear water to accompany flowery words make it difficult to interpret the truth.

Phi Phi Island would fall into this category. Phi Phi is honestly a mess. The government has threatened several times in the past to take it back over from the local mafia families that have built hotels and bungalows on national park land. Don’t take my word for it, just Google ‘Phi Phi environmental damage’ or something like that and you’ll get plenty of info. One site you could check is site. Here’s a quote:

“Unplanned and rampant development had led to a litany of environmental problems—overcrowded ports and roads, litter-strewn beaches, and turquoise seas awash in carelessly discarded bottles and cans. In fact, tourism officials and local environmentalists had become so concerned that in November 2004, a month before the tsunami leveled hundreds of shops and all but two of the island's dozens of accommodations, the Thai land-use planning agency scheduled its first public hearing to discuss rehabilitating the Phi Phi Islands.”

Choosing a Responsible Tour Operator

For starters, any tour operator you consider should be licensed by the Tourism Authority of Thailand. This is one of the first steps in forming a legal company. The TAT gives license numbers. If you don’t see that number on the website, ask for it. That’s a good start.

Now, unfortunately, a lot of people claim to have guides who are trained to international standards when in fact they aren’t. They could have expired certification or they could just be outright lying about it. This too is something that you can check. At the bare minimum, any guide for any tour should have an up-to-date first aid certificate. Not all first aid certificates are the same however. A certificate that is geared specifically for the guides type of activity that he/she guides. In other words, a nature tour guide should ideally have a first aid certification that is focused on outdoor adventure.

International awards for tourism are handed out like candy. Join a club or an organization, fill out an application, make your company sound nice on paper and you're well on your way.

Companies that have no real interest in minimizing their impact on the environment somehow get international awards by rather large governing bodies in the field of ‘ecotourism’. For example, there are mass tourism companies whose business is centered around 4X4 offroad tours. There's actually an ad for All Terrain Vehicle eco tours on Phuket. Sorry, but neither of these are eco tours. There’s no solidly agreed-upon definition, but a tour that doesn’t involve using a bit of muscles and does involve using non-renewable resources is not really part of the definition... at least in our book.

There is a lot of misinformation when it comes to the flora and fauna of Thailand. Common mistakes include called a Slow Loris a sloth... it's not. Sloths are in Central and South America. Monitor lizards are often called Inguanas... they're not. Every bat that you see is not going to be a vampire. There are no hummingbirds in the Old World. They are only in the New World. There is a large family of moths, Hawk Moths, that look and act just like hummingbirds, but they're not. The point is, just because someone is local or they claim to know all about Nature, it doesn't mean that they do.

And, there are claims of wildlife sightings that probably aren't real. The chance of there still being tigers in Khao Sok are next to zilch... unfortunately. But, there are tour operators who claimed to have seen them and their tracks. They never seem to have a photo of the tigers though...hmmm. Listing what "could" be in a park or conservation area is a long way from actually knowing where to see said animal. You'll notice that the photos on our sites are from our trips.

Furthermore, the type of jungle in Southern Thailand is NOT rainforest. It's either tropical monsoonal forest or tropical evergreen. It used to be rainforest, but as the majority of the native species have been replaced with non-indigeonous deciduous species, the climate has changed. Rainforests don't have a dry season. There is a DEFINITE dry season in Southern Thailand.

What about elephant trekking camps? They all claim to be running these tours to help the unemployed elephants. Well, first of all elephants are unemployed. The mahouts are unemployed. It is not the necessary conclusion that the only thing left for them to do is carry tourists on their backs. There are elephant conservation centers that promote learning about the elephants and participation in the daily care-taking of these wonderful sentient beings. How much more memorable would feeding and bathing an elephant be compared to riding on its back? Anyone can sit in a basket.

If an elephant camp is in business truly because they care about elephants, then they shouldn’t have any baby elephants in their camp. Why would anyone who loves elephants want to have a baby born and raised in captivity? In the wild, a baby stays right by its mother’s side for many, many years. If there is a baby in the camp and it’s not beside its mother, suspect foul play. Unfortunately, the way elephants are taught to take orders is a really brutal affair. It’s called crushing and the National Geographic exposed this horrible methodology.

Does the tour company that you are considering put anything back into the communities where they operate? In other words, do the locals benefit in any way from you being on their 'turf'?

Does the tour company offer any CIP (Community Involvement Programs) or Homestay options? These are both excellent ways to give back to the community and to help promote the tour company's message, which is hopefully to protect and conserve the environment while making sure the locals have a comfortable life with a good prospect for a happy future.

As a responsible traveler, you should want to do something that is not only fun, but meaningful. More and more travelers are realizing that there's more to touring than just having a good time. There is, of course, nothing wrong with having fun, but you'll likely feel better about your experience if you know that you've made a positive impact on both the environment you visited and the locals whom you met.

Comfort

Thailand can get hot. If you’re trying to spend every moment that you’re here in air conditioning, you’re not really being responsible. The heat is not unbearable and in many cases it probably gets nearly as hot where you live. Check out our weather calendar.

We choose our accommodations according to several things:

- First, the food has to be good and bought or caught locally.

- The bungalows should be built from low impact materials. This is not always available, but we try to make this a priority if it is at all possible.

- The staff should be well-treated and paid a fair wage. This is important to us. We have stopped using places because of the way they treated their staff.

- The bungalows should show that they care about the environment in the way they handle their trash and other dispensable items.

- Any animals around the property must be treated with compassion. There is a huge problem with stray dogs and cats in Thailand. Many end up begging for food at restaurants. It's not their fault. We expect the staff and owners to treat these poor souls with some respect. We have stopped using certain bungalows over the way they treated the animals on their property. Cruelty to animals is a problem here unfortunately.

The Land Of Smiles

Thailand has a well-deserved reputation as being one of the friendliest places you can visit. That does NOT mean that all locals are friendly. Many locals in touristy places have to put up with a lot from tourists, for example, tourists who don’t respect their culture by not dressing appropriately or by not following their customs when visiting holy places. You can hardly blame them for not being open-armed all the time if they have to put up with this sort of behavior on a daily basis.

Disadvantaged youths who see tourists as an easy ‘mark’ might try to rob you. This is a growing problem in many of the heavily touristed areas. A bit of common sense can prevent most possible problems here. Besides, we don’t go anywhere where the thundering masses go, so you’re safe with us.

You’ll find that the people in the countryside are usually extremely friendly. Those who have next to nothing by our standards would give you the shirt off their backs. Don’t take it of course, but thank ‘em for offering.

The point is, don’t expect everyone to jump for joy when they see you. As Thailand is sort of forced into the global marketplace, there are plenty who are left out of the loop. Put yourself in their places and you’ll figure out how to act towards them. Respect them and in all likelihood you’ll get that famous smile right back.

Why are we telling you all of this?

There is a ton of bad information on the wonderful World Wide Web. Words like pristine and ecotourism are thrown around so much that they’ve almost lost all meaning.

Do yourself a favor and do the research. Check, cross-check and interrogate any tour operator who you are considering joining. If you're shopping by price, be forewarned that in tourism, just like any other product, you get what you pay for. This does not automatically mean that an expensive tour is necessarily better than a less expensive tour, but this general rule does apply.

Your tourism dollars can be a powerful force in a positive way... please use them wisely.

Gaia Discovery is an online lifestyle magazine designed to give people around the world an insight into sustainable development and tourism. It provides valuable information on people, destinations, adventures, eateries, spas, retreats, sports and environmentally-friendly activities. This goes beyond ecotourism operators to include urban hoteliers that are green in their efforts to uphold sustainability and social responsibility.