Responsible travel
No elephant riding, no tiger selfies, no orphanage visits. The things we will not sell, and the things we do instead.
Animals
We do not sell elephant riding, tiger petting, monkey shows or dolphinariums. The sanctuaries we use keep elephants in family groups, do not use hooks, and do not run bathing performances.
If you have seen a 'sanctuary' you want to visit, send it to us — we will tell you honestly what we know about it.
Communities
We buy from village enterprises, use family-run restaurants on itinerary days, and pay homestay hosts directly. No orphanage visits, ever — children are not a tourist attraction.
Our guides are local, salaried and insured, which is not universal in this industry.
Environment
We avoid single-use plastic on tour days (refillable water in our vehicles), do not print itineraries, and keep group sizes small enough that a village well is not strained.
A portion of every booking goes to a reef and mangrove fund in Krabi and Khao Sok.
What we do not sell
No elephant riding, no tiger temples, no monkey shows, no dolphinariums, no 'long-neck' village tours as a photo stop. This costs us money — the tiger temple in Kanchanaburi was one of the highest-margin attractions in the country — and it is the clearest line we draw.
We also do not sell orphanage visits, which research has shown harm the children they claim to help, or 'voluntourism' placements under two weeks, which cost more in staff time than they return. If you want to give something back, we will point you at organisations that need money rather than visitors.
How we buy
Around 70% of the money on a typical trip stays in Thailand, and most of that goes to small businesses: family hotels, local restaurants, longtail owners, village guides. We pay suppliers within seven days rather than at 60, which matters more to a small operator than the rate.
We do not use plastic bottles on our vehicles — refillable bottles and a water cooler instead — and we ask hotels to skip daily linen changes. Both are small. The measurable part is the boats: we only work with operators who use reef-safe moorings rather than anchoring on coral, which is more expensive and slower and is why we do not use the cheapest boat in every bay.
Come and see for yourself
Every enquiry is answered by a person in our Bangkok office, not a call centre.