Ecotourism Thailand - Getting the Green Light

I'm a bit of a greenhorn when it comes to ecotourism, but as a passionate traveller and travel writer who has visited 55 countries, I have seen the effects of tourism on communities, villages -- even cities -- and their people.

Cave Lodge, Pang Ma Pa, Mae Hong Son province

I've seen benefits and advantages and progress and prosperity ...

And I've seen defiling and damage and spoiling (a big hello to everyone in Pattaya!).

In the place and the people sometimes.

So while I don't like all these Buzzword Bingo terms (yes, the introduction above has most of these in it in order to attract the search engines: Hello Mr GoogleBot) I am fully on board with the fact that we need to do things differently. Better. Greener. More sustainably. And less irresponsibly. And I'm just talking about myself here!

Elephant ride. I'm the one on the left!

Travelling by plane, bus, car, tuk-tuk, elephant, boat, bicycle and mainly motorbike through Amazing Thailand for the past 25 years has given up countless examples of how things have changed and how they could've been done differently and, yes, better for all concerned.

Fortunately, we are all now collectively more aware and the Tourism Authority of Thailand is now making sustainability a real priority (see their write up on 7 Green Concepts).

Here are three organisations that are also helping to push ecotourism along locally:

+ Thai Ecotourism and Adventure Travel Association (TEATA)

+ Greenleaf Foundation

+ Thailand Community Based Tourism Institute (CBT-I)

Rama 9 Lake, Chiang Mai

There are many more, so feel free to add your link in the comments section below and let others know about it. 

As someone who's lived in several parts of the Kingdom over the years I'm here to show you that Thailand offers a ton of exciting and fun green tourism options ... and you don't have to be some hairy-legged beatnik to appreciate it fully.

Amazing Thailand is Going Green ... who's responsible?

Thailand is going green. Don’t worry it’s got nothing to do with radioactive fallout from Japan or some mysterious tropical ailment. Rather, it’s the concerted sustainable tourism direction the industry is now taking throughout Amazing Thailand ...

At the recent Thailand Travel Mart Plus 2011 forum, the theme was ‘Caring for the Earth’ and eco travel was pushed to the top of the agenda.

In his keynote address, Tourism Authority of Thailand Governor Suraphon Svetasreni addressed the topic:

“The need to reconcile the economic and ecological impact of travel and tourism is critical to the Balanced Strategy that we are pursuing as part of of our tourism development policies. There is no doubt that so many millions of foreign and domestic tourists lead to high emissions of greenhouse gases and other forms of environmental impact. Hence it is the responsibility of the entire industry to help mitigate this impact.”

TAT has long been championing this direction, by introducing the 7 Greens Concept in 2008, with an aim of promoting environmentally friendly tourism, plus introducing the Green Leaf Certification system, something along the lines of a hotel star-rating system for green travel.

Northern Thailand in particular offers an abundance of ecologically pristine areas, especially Mae Hong Son province, arguably one of the most beautiful parts of Thailand. Its major centre, Pai, (which I’ve blogged about before here) celebrates its 100^th anniversary this year. If you love mountain trekking, river rafting, etc, this is the place the head for.

For more information on Thailand Goes Green, see www.tourismthailand.org/greet