Sign in with Facebook"Chang Rai and our Visit to the Hill Tribes" Chiang Rai by aqazi
Chiang Rai Travel Guide: 230 reviews and 672 photos
We headed to Chang Rai from Chang Kok the town bordering Thailand and Laos. We wanted to do our trek in Thailand around the Chang Rai area instead of Chang Mai as we didn't want to be surrounded by tourists. We'd also heard about the negative impact tourism was having on the aboriginal communities in Chang Mai so figured if we were going to visit any remote villages we would only do so with a charitable organisation where were certain any funds we paid would go towards to the sustainable developement of rural tourism in the area.
We opted for a tour with the Population & Community Development Association who ran several trips to the area. They were very clear in their objectives on ethical tourism and their ethnic minoity museum was very informative. We opted for a two day, one night tour which would be spent visiting Acha viilages. The tour included a boat ride and an elephant ride. The elephant ride was much longer than I had expected going on for 2 hours. We bought plenty of food for the elephant to eat (as advised by our guide) this avoided the elephant destroying the environment. (we bought about 5 kg's worth of sugar cane and bananas, which he ate noe problem though prefering the sugar cane!).
Our guide was fantastic, he spoke excellent english and taught us about the people in the area and how they survived. We learnt how the charity helped the local communties and we discussed some of the adverse effects tourism has had in other parts of Thailand. We also learnt a lot about the wildlife and animals in the area. The trek wasn't very tiring but it was great fun. Our hosts for lunch were really nice and their home was opened up for our visit. That evening in another village we met another family who would be our host. We shared our house (if you could call it that) with several chickens but we were so tired it didn't bother us.
We really felt like we benefitted from the experience, we also felt that we had made a positive contribution to the local community.
Reviews (5)
Elephant Ride
Things to Do
(2)
Chang Rai is an excellent place to go for an elephant ride. Ours organised by the PDA was around 2hrs long and the... more travel advice
Population & Community Development...
Things to Do
(2)
As explained Nancy and I went on our hilltribe visit through the PDA a charitable organisation in Chang Rai. They also... more travel advice
Free Entertainment every night!
Restaurants
(2)
One of the best place to eat in Chng Rai is the food court in the centre of town. They have loads of stalls with all... more travel advice
Eating in the name of birth control
Restaurants
(2)
We ate here a couple of times as the quality was excellent and the money goes towards promoting family planning and HIV... more travel advice
-
Been to Chiang Rai?
Share your travels with the world!
aqazi's Related Pages
Chiang Rai Travel Guide
Member Travel Pages
- "Mountains, hilltribes and trekking in Chiang Rai"
- "Chiang Rai"
- "in and around chiang rai"
- "City of Artists and Lanna Architects"
- "Chiang Rai & The far north of Thailand"
- "Chang Saen"
- "Chiang Rai"
- See All...
Explore the World
Badges & Stats in Chiang Rai
- 5 Reviews
- 5 Photos
- 0 Forum posts
- 4 Comments
- 2,824PageViews
- See All Stats
- See All Badges (3)
Have you been to Chiang Rai?
Share Your TravelsLatest Activity in Chiang Rai
- Posted in Travel Altinkum Forum "Re: Beach towels"
- Uploaded a Photo to "Population & Community Development Association"
- updated a Chiang Rai Travel Page "Chang Rai and our Visit to the Hill Tribes"
- Wrote a Review Elephant Ride in Chiang Rai Things to Do
Top 10 Pages
-
Vancouver
Intro, 67 reviews, 42 photos
-
London
Intro, 28 reviews, 7 photos
-
Top 5 Page for this destination
Steveston
Intro, 16 reviews, 3 photos
-
New York City
Intro, 7 reviews, 8 photos
-
Whistler
Intro, 12 reviews, 3 photos
-
Canada
Intro, 6 reviews, 8 photos
-
Seattle
Intro, 8 reviews, 4 photos
-
Strathcona Provincial Park
Intro, 2 reviews, 9 photos
-
Paris
5 reviews, 5 photos
-
Chiang Rai
Intro, 5 reviews, 5 photos
Budget Travel
Backpacking
TrainsLatest Chiang Rai hotel reviews
- Dusit Island Resort
- 121 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: May 1, 2013 - Lek House
- 32 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: Feb 13, 2013 - Le Meridien Chiang Rai Resort
- 374 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: May 22, 2013 - Wiang Inn Hotel Chiang Rai
- 108 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: May 18, 2013 - Mae Salong Villa
- 8 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: Mar 2, 2013 - Golden Pine Resort
- 17 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: Apr 10, 2013 - Anantara Resort & Spa Golden Triangle
- 312 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: May 12, 2013 - Rimkok Resort
- 50 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: May 10, 2013 - Doi Hom Fha Resort Chiang Rai
- 3 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: Mar 20, 2012 - The Imperial Golden Triangle Resort
- 48 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: Apr 28, 2013 - Boonbundan Guesthouse
- 10 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: Mar 30, 2013 - Little Duck
- 4 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: Jan 21, 2013 - Shinsane Guest House
- 1 Review & Opinion
- Red Rose
- 8 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: Mar 10, 2013 - Chiang Saen River Hill Hotel
- 1 Review & Opinion
Comments (4)
thanx for the tips
Have just been to Chiang Rai, and want to go back already!
Great to hear about your trip with PDA and your concerns with the negative impacts of tourism. Too many ppl don't realize them.
great to read that you enjoyed your trek with the hilltribes charitable organisation in Chang Rai; I visited their office last year, but we did not have enough time to do a trekking tour then - but maybe next time;