OLD SCHOL THAI - FINALIST
THAILAND

The most genuine tourist experience possible in Thailand? Become a Thai villager for the week...

"I've been to Thailand many times and I've enjoyed their culture and their way of life and now it's time I started giving back to them" Jeannine Curd, Andaman Discoveries

The devastation of the December 2004 Tsunami killed nearly 300,000 people and caused $15 billion in damages. Over a million people were displaced from their homes. In Thailand, the tourist industry, which sees over 5 million visitors a year and over $7 billion come into the country is was badly affected. Andaman Discoveries has been working with local villages to bring tourists in to help with restoration. Some even take the option to do a 'home stay', living and eating with local families, to help with the reconstruction. It's a new approach to tourism which places most emphasis on channelling goodwill and resources to protecting the local cultures, which so far have been unscathed by mass, package-holiday tourism.