Laem Sak Tourism Community Enterprise
Ao Luk, Krabi, Thailand
Impact
Our partnership brings additional income to 450 community members in Ao Luk, allowing local businesses to grow. With improved tourism products, the community is better set up to benefit sustainably from tourism and perform in the niche market of adventure tourism. The community members take responsibility for their fragile environment seriously and are able to bring travellers through ecosystems in a way that is sustainable and is educational.
Critical Need
Laem Sak is one of the hidden gems of Southern Thailand, with its beautiful sea, mangroves, islands, cultural diversification, foods, and rich natural resources. Because of this, the Laem Sak Tourism Community Enterprise was launched in 2014 to allow community members to diversify their income. Unfortunately, the program had limited success in reaching customers, as it is considered to be far away from the typical tourist route. As a community near a fragile marine ecosystem, the community members felt a strong desire to attract visitors as a more responsible way to experience the Andaman Sea.
Our Involvement
Planeterra partnered with the North Andaman Network (NAN), a local non-profit organization that provides training to small community tourism enterprises in order to upgrade the Laem Sak Tourism Community Enterprises’ tourism experience. This included the purchase of new equipment for marine tours and upgrades that would enable them to receive travellers for active tours that include hiking, biking and kayaking. Planeterra connected the Laem Sak community with G Adventures, who bring their travellers to experience the community through a 3-day sea kayaking experience with locals, and hands-on activities like batik making, sea-grape planting and experiencing local foods. These programs are supporting the women, men and youth of this community, making up 12 microenterprises.
