subject: Rustic Pai Town Following The seven Greens Path [print this page] Pai is a very special town in northern Thailand, about midway along the winding road between Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son. It is a place where the young and the young at heart head to in order to escape the trappings of modern life and chill out in a cool, verdant mountain valley.
Appropriately, Pai village has been identified as one of the key locales to develop and implement responsible and environmentally friendly tourism practices. In this place where travelers go to get back to the land, the TAT has chosen the perfect pilot project site for its Seven Greens concept.
The Seven Greens project has accordingly called upon all stakeholders governmental and non-governmental organizations, the media, tour operators, and private service providers to participate in this scheme to promote environmental awareness through active involvement in the seven tiers of this concept as follow:
Green Heart: Urges tourists to be socially responsible and environmentally aware as well as to be part of global efforts to help protect and preserve the environment at all tourist attractions;
Green Logistics: Encourages more environmentally-friendly tourism-related models of transport to minimize direct and indirect environmental impact;
Green Destinations: Promotes responsibly managed tourist sites that respect the environment;
Green Communities: Supports community-based tourism in both urban and rural areas that places greater importance of responsible tourism management that also promotes conservation of the environment and local traditions;
Green Activities: Promotes tourism activities that are well-suited to local communities. These provide visitors with engaging and culturally-enriching experiences without comprising the integrity of the environment;
Green Service: Urges tourism-related service providers to create positive first impression for visitors, and to win hearts and minds by attaining higher quality assurance standards whilst demonstrating respect, care and concern for the environment;
Green Plus: Encourages Corporative Social Responsibility (CSR) among operators by encouraging them to give back to the communities where they operate; for example, by refraining from undertaking any acts that might cause environmental damage.
This program has been established to provide a conceptual framework for all involved to understand and pass on to others, as well as practical guidelines to consider when implementing appropriate measures to meet these objectives.
It also facilitates the vital formation of much-needed strategic partnerships and provides a scaffolding for diverse green initiatives in the region. It is a critical step in raising awareness of the environment in which everyone has a strong interest in protecting and conserving.
Thailands treasures need to be protected, preserved, managed, and maintained, according to the Seven Greens concept, so that both the area and the tourism industry will have clean, green, ecologically sustainable destinations for all visitors to enjoy not only today but also tomorrow and the day after that.
