Responsible travel
Not a page about carbon offsets. Four specific things we do and do not do, with the commercial cost of each written down.
The elephant rule
We do not sell elephant riding, bathing shows or performances. This costs us product — riding is still what a lot of visitors search for, and several competitors sell it openly. We work with sanctuaries that are observation-only, cap visitor numbers and can name each animal's history. We visit ours twice a year and have done for nine years.
Where the money goes
We buy from family-run restaurants, village kitchens and small boat owners rather than the large operators that pay the best commission. It means our margins are slightly worse and the money stays in the village. Where a supplier is a community cooperative — Koh Panyee, Mae Kampong — we pay their published rate without negotiating it down.
What we tell guests not to do
Do not buy from children selling at temples; it keeps them out of school. Do not photograph monks without asking, and never touch one. Do not ride elephants. Do not visit the tiger temples. We say this in the briefing rather than leaving it to a page nobody reads.
What we have not solved
Domestic flights. Our multi-region itineraries use them, and they are the biggest single part of our carbon footprint. The honest alternative — overnight trains — adds a day and most guests will not take it. We offer the train option and say what it costs in time, rather than pretending the flights are not there.
Do you offset flights?
No. We looked at it and concluded that buying credits would be a story rather than a fix. The train option and fewer internal flights do more.
Are your hotels audited?
For water and waste, partially. We ask, we do not verify everything, and we would rather say that than claim an audit we do not run.
Can we visit a hill-tribe village?
Only one we have a long relationship with, and with no entrance fee. We will not take you to a staged village.
Elephants: the one we are strictest about
We do not sell elephant riding, elephant bathing, or "sanctuaries" that include either. An elephant that carries tourists cannot forage for the sixteen hours a day it needs, and one scrubbed in a river all afternoon is performing, not living. The places we use are observation-only, cap visitors at eight a day, and pay their mahouts a salary rather than a share of ticket sales.
Plastic and water
Every vehicle carries a 20-litre refillable water drum and steel cups, so a family of four on a ten-day trip uses roughly 40 bottles instead of 200. On boat days we bring reusable lunch boxes rather than foam. We stopped handing out plastic water bottles in 2019 and it cost us about ฿40,000 a year in cups that guests keep losing, which we consider a fair trade.
Where the money goes
Village visits on our routes pay a fee to the village, not to a broker. Boat crews are paid directly by us, not through a pier agent. Restaurant stops are chosen because the food is good, not because they pay commission — which is also why there is no "government gem exhibition" on any itinerary we sell.
What we will not do
Long-neck village tours where admission is charged to photograph people at home. Tiger temples. Orphanage visits, which are well documented as harmful to the children they claim to help. And any itinerary that treats a hill tribe village as a photo stop.
Our own footprint
We are a Thai company employing Thai staff, which is a low bar but not one every operator clears. We offset nothing and do not claim to be carbon neutral — long-haul flights are the bulk of a trip's emissions and no offset sold by a tour operator changes that. What we can do is keep the driving down, which is why our itineraries use two internal flights instead of four long road days.
Tell us the trip you have in mind.
Dates, people and the one thing that must happen — we come back with a route and a real cost.
Written and checked by the Travel Thailand Tour team, Bangkok · Last updated · Prices are per person and were correct at the time of writing.