Known for its walled historic centre, buzzy university district, and green countryside dotted with lush waterfalls, serene wát (temples), and peaceful villages, the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai is a popular place to kick back and recharge the batteries. With more than 10 million travellers now descending upon the city every year, making a conscious effort to tread lightly is essential for protecting its charms. From elephant interactions to temple etiquette, here’s how you can support sustainable tourism when you’re in the province of Chiang Mai.
Choose Elephant Activities Wisely
With few places left in Thailand where elephants can be spotted in the wild, many travellers head to Chiang Mai for the opportunity to get up close to pachyderms at elephant tourism venues. There are now well over 50 of these places within a two-hour drive of the city, but as not all operate in the best interests of elephant welfare, it’s essential to conduct thorough research.
It’s widely accepted that elephant rides can be detrimental to elephants. Moreover, there’s growing evidence suggesting that other interactive activities, such as elephant bathing, can also be harmful—both to elephants and potentially dangerous for travellers. Consider an observation-only elephant venue such as ChangChill or Burm and Emily’s Elephant Sanctuary.
Look for Community-Led Village Visits
Chiang Mai’s proximity to ethnic villages, known as hill tribes, has contributed to its status as a cultural tourism hotspot. Arguably the best way for your visit to benefit villages is to ensure the tourism experience is community-based, which means the community retains control over it. Most villages partner with responsible tour operators to manage the flow of visitors effectively, allowing the community to supplement its income without disrupting traditional practices such as farming.
Not all community-based tourism projects in the Chiang Mai area involve hill tribes. For example, just 30 minutes south of the historic centre, the village of Ban Rai Kong Khing offers a unique type of massage performed with the feet—a sacred Lanna art that’s rare to find on a spa menu elsewhere in Thailand. Award-winning Thai responsible tourism operator Nutty’s Adventures works with this village, alongside other community-based tourism projects across the country.
Eat and Drink for Good
Chiang Mai is home to numerous culinary social enterprise businesses designed to uplift local communities. Start your day with a pick-me-up from Akha Ama Coffee, which has two branches in the city. Named for the ethnic group its founders hail from, the coffee shop serves excellent locally harvested, sustainable, direct-trade beans from the jungles north of Chiang Mai. For brunch, visit Free Bird Cafe, known for its all-day breakfast menu and tangy Shan salads. The vegan cafe’s profits support the Thai Freedom House, a not-for-profit learning centre for Burmese refugees and Thai minorities.
Be sure to schedule a dinner at Paak Dang, set in a Lanna-style teak house perched on the west bank of the Ping River, which employs underprivileged youths from neighbouring villages and hill tribes.
Brush Up on Temple Etiquette
Demonstrate your respect for Thai culture when visiting Chiang Mai’s many temples by dressing conservatively (covering your shoulders and knees), refraining from eating, drinking, chewing gum, smoking, or wearing headphones in temple complexes. Remove your hat, sunglasses, and shoes when entering worship areas. It is also essential not to turn your back toward a Buddha painting or statue (such as posing for a selfie) and to avoid touching monks or taking photos of them without permission.
Shop with Purpose
Before you spend your baht at the Saturday and Sunday Walking Street markets, consider the origins of the souvenirs for sale. Opting for locally made items crafted from sustainable materials is kinder to local communities, culture, and the environment.
For ethical textiles and accessories, check out Studio Naenna, which brings together craft makers from various ethnic groups to create high-quality, environmentally friendly products, and Sop Moei Arts, which provides a sustainable source of income for Karen villagers in Mae Hong Son Province. Part of a development project for rural communities in Chiang Rai Province, Doi Tung offers various local products, from handmade clothing to mulberry paper, while the Elephant Parade organization sells brightly colored elephant statues and paint-your-own kits as part of its mission to educate visitors about the plight of Thailand’s elephants.
Chiang Mai also has two dedicated zero-waste stores where you can find everything from bamboo toothbrushes to eco-friendly shampoo refills: The Normal Shop in the centre of the old town, and My Best Life CNX, located in the same complex as Free Bird Cafe—don’t forget to bring a reusable bag or container.
Support Massage Therapists
Make your massage count by opting for a centre designed to uplift its staff. Set up by the former director of Chiang Mai’s Women’s Prison, Lila Thai Massage—which now operates eight branches in Chiang Mai—provides post-release employment for graduates from the prison’s massage training programme. Additionally, the Chiang Mai Women’s Correctional Institute operates its own massage centre in the historic centre, run by former inmates.
Originally founded in Bangkok, Perception Blind Massage, which employs blind and visually impaired therapists, now has an outlet in Chiang Mai. The Thai Massage Conservation Club also employs practitioners with visual impairments.
Sleep Sustainably
A growing number of Chiang Mai accommodations encourage guests to curb single-use plastic by offering filtered water bottle refills and bulk toiletries. Notably, several hotels are pioneering ecofriendly and socially conscious practices.
Occupying the beautifully renovated Borneo Trading Company building just east of the Ping River, 137 Pillars House has eliminated single-use plastics, composts its vegetable gardens with treated organic waste, and has even sought expert advice on how to deter mosquitoes without chemical sprays. In the heart of the historic centre, the refined Lanna-style hotel Tamarind Village funds three charitable organizations: the Yuvabhadhana children’s scholarship fund, Pan Kan (a second-hand shop raising money for scholarships), and Food4Good, which donates 1B from every meal ordered at the hotel’s restaurant to projects designed to feed children in need.
