Two Thai locations have gained prestigious awards in Germany for sustainable tourism. The locations are the island of Koh Mak, situated in the eastern Trat province, and Huay Pu Keng village in the northern Mae Hong Son province.
The two picturesque locations received high spots at the Green Destinations Story Awards held at ITB Berlin 2023 in Germany. The awards ceremony honours the most inspirational initiatives for sustainable tourism development throughout six categories from submissions to the annual Green Destinations Top 100 Stories competition.
The six categories are: governance, reset & recovery, nature & scenery, surroundings & climate, culture & custom, thriving communities, and enterprise & advertising.
Huay Pu Keng village won first place within the Thriving Communities category. The village was recognised for its good practices in community-based tourism, Bangkok Post reported. The village is house to the long-neck Karen community. Village locals obtained capacity-building training for promoting environmentally pleasant practices among residents and guests.
Koh Mak island received second place within the governance, reset & recovery class. The director of Thailand’s Designated Areas for Sustainable Tourism Administration, and the chairman of the Koh Mak Tambon Administrative Organisation, acquired the award in Berlin yesterday.
Koh Mak was only overwhelmed by Normandy in France. In third place was Oguni Town in Japan.
Koh Mak was chosen by the Designated Areas for Sustainable Tourism Administration (DASTA) to be Thailand’s first low-carbon vacation spot.
Plain has gone through quite a journey to achieve this status. In 2015, DASTA launched three campaigns in Koh Mak. The first marketing campaign “Eat it Fresh” targeted on campaigning for restaurant operators, motels, and resorts on Koh Mak to buy seafood regionally, and grow fruits and vegetables freed from pesticides. The second marketing campaign was “Help Koh Mak counting to 10,000 bushes.” The third campaign was “A Good Host.” The campaign encouraged Koh Mak residents to higher their communities by actively lowering their carbon footprints.
The campaigns appear to have been successful in making Koh Mak a sustainable tourism destination..