A holiday in Asia was traditionally a series of battles: between tourist and tour operator, tourist and shopkeeper, tourist and hair braiding lady; a kind of mutual exploitation that did nothing to foster harmonious relations with our northern neighbours. But now there are opportunities to make a positive impression on your holiday destination. Ethical tourism is about getting inside the local culture, taking something more than the standard tour, and most importantly being aware of the impact your spending and behaviour has. It’s about leaving the place in a better state than you found it. Here are a few ways you can have a wonderful holiday in Thailand, while changing the world along the way.
Volunteer for a holiday
Marine conservation, turtle conservation, wildlife rescue, teaching English – it doesn’t take long to find someone who’s willing to have you on as a volunteer to help their cause. Sure, you have to pay, but it is a holiday after all, and you should consider the advantage of hanging out with people who live in the area – instant mates! – with local knowledge of the best places to have fun.
On a typical volunteer holiday, accommodation, equipment and local support are provided standard. But a marine conservation program could teach you how to dive, so you come away with a new skill. One volunteer healthcare program in the beautiful Phang Nga province in southern Thailand costs almost $2,000 for two weeks, meals and accommodation included.
Save the elephants
There are an estimated 2,000 wild elephants and 2,700 domestic elephants remaining in Thailand, down from 150,000 in the 19th century. Recent animal welfare laws, the country’s first, go some way to providing protection, but the working life of an elephant is not indefinite and accidents can happen. Illegal logging operations and circuses exploit elephants, as unfortunately do some tour operators. Elephants can be injured by the wooden seating used on their backs; the hot tar of the road burns their feet.
You could take a volunteer elephant conservation holiday, but you don’t need to go that far to make a difference. Instead, try visiting an elephant refuge. Baanchang Elephant Park in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand, rescues elephants working in abusive conditions and cares for those who can no longer work due to injury – car accidents and land mine injuries being the most common reasons. By visiting a centre like Baanchang you get to meet elephants up close and personal while knowing you are helping protect this species so future generations may have the same experience as you.
The village, people!
Another branch of ethical tourism is community based tourism (CBT). Similar to the ‘fair trade’ movement for coffee, chocolate and other goods open to the exploitation of local workers, community tourism means your holiday directly benefits local people. Instead of a multinational hotel chain, a syndicate of local people owns and operates the facilities; local people show you their country from their perspective, organising jungle trekking, fishing and craft-making. It’s not for everyone, but then this article is about changing the world on holiday.
Thailand is rich in natural beauty and culture but tourists have not always treated it with respect. By being aware of the holiday choices you make and speaking out when you see an unacceptable practice such as animal cruelty, you are making a difference to the way the Thai people structure their tourism industry. Take it a step further by holidaying as a volunteer, and your actions have changed the world for the better.
(Feature: ‘Patara Elephant Sanctuary, Chiang Mai 2012’ by Evo Flash available at evoflash under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0.)
