A traveller chats with a Karen villager in Thailand. Photo courtesy of Thailand Hilltribe Holidays

The ‘mountain people’ otherwise known as the hill tribes of northern Thailand, came from neighbouring Laos, Burma and China to settle in the remote highlands of northern Thailand hundreds of years ago. Their primitive way of life, as subsistence farmers living off the land in the remote mountain forests, is a cultural curiosity for the thousands of tourists who visit northern Thailand each year, such that visiting the hill tribes is now a major tourist activity. With the commercialisation of hill tribe villages, set up for the convenience of tourists and requiring an entrance ticket, it can be increasingly difficult for the average traveller to experience and learn about the hill tribes in an authentic way.

At Thailand Hilltribe Holidays we make this kind of authentic travel experience possible by venturing out of the tourist bubble to remote and rural areas, which is where natural hill tribe villages can be found. Our private tours, with your own local guide and driver, enable you to really have an ‘up close and personal’ experience of authentic hill-tribe life in Thailand. Having your own transport will give you freedom and access to areas that are off the tourist trail. Having your own private local guide will be your key to that ultimate cultural-immersion experience, enabling you to have direct contact with locals and to learn firsthand about their way of life, customs and traditions.

Here at Thailand Hilltribe Holidays we are committed to and passionate about local travel. We believe that if local travel is carried out respectfully and according to certain values, it can be of huge benefit to host communities and travellers. We have local guides, local drivers, sleep in local guesthouses, eat local food and support small local business on our trips. Our not-all-inclusive pricing policy means instead of paying one total package price, the traveller pays each local service provider (such as guesthouses, restaurants and shops) directly along the way, which enables transparent pricing and small local businesses to benefit directly from tourism. With all-inclusive package tours, travellers can never be aware of how much the local economy and local businesses are benefiting. Our hill-tribe homestay and silversmith workshops with local artisans generate important supplemental income for villagers. These are just a few of the ways that local travel, if carried out in the right ways can benefit local communities directly.

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