What to Expect – Day to Day Experiences

The ‘Land Of Smiles’ – one of the world’s great holiday destinations. Amazing beaches, rich culture and diversity, delicious cuisine and of course the world-renowned, charming Thai hospitality. Thailand does have a good infrastructure for tourism, so does make a great family adventure destination.

Tipping

Tipping isn’t usual in Thailand and for most services should be limited to rounding up to the next 10 baht for example.
Your guides are paid for their services, however if you feel that they have provided an excellent service they will appreciate a tip. It is difficult to put a figure on what you should tip (if you want to reward a good service) but possibly around 50 BAHT per day for a guide.

Insurance

Adequate travel insurance is mandatory for everyone who participates in a Pioneer expedition. Please bring a copy of your insurance policy and contact numbers to give to your expedition leader in case of illness or accident.

Environmental

As with all Pioneer expeditions, we are committed to maximising the benefits of our trips to the local community and minimising the negative impact associated with tourism. We employ local agents and staff, not just to benefit the local economy, but also to give you a real sense of Thai culture. To greatly reduce our impact on the environment there will be a maximum of eight team members. This helps to minimise the damage associated with large scale tourism.

Our local agents maximise the benefits to the local communictity in a number of ways including:
Training and employing local guides has the double benefit of reinvesting in the country and local community as well as providing guests with an invaluable insight into and understanding local culture, customs and etiquette. We treat every person associated with this trip with equal respect and expect clients to do the same.
Are official supporters of the Dabos Foundation and Friends of the Asian Elephant Foundation (Privatization Foundation). 1% of the local cost for all trips ran by us are equally distributed between these two organisations.
Wherever possible we select small, locally owned accommodation and camps and local restaurants and markets for servicing our trips thus putting revenue back into local, often very remote communities.

The best & most popular time of year to travel to Thailand is during its cool season (Nov – Mar). This is when humidity is low, temperatures are pleasant (high 20’s) and skies are clear. We also recommend travel between July and September which although is the rainy season and temperatures are cooler, you do get lush vegetation and rains tend to be concentrated in short bursts in the afternoon.