Responsible Travel Policy:

Being one of the largest employers in the Khao Sok National Park area we have a direct impact on the surrounding community. The reality for locals working in the Khao Sok National park are often pretty poor with rubber plantations and tapping an ever increasing and destructive industry, tourism can offer an alternative to those who wish to carve a new direction in their lives. We are by no means the only operator in the area but provide a large percentage of jobs that many locals will fill. Every position from Cooks, Bar staff, cleaners to Trained tour guides, carpenters and canoe paddle guides are filled by people from the Khao Sok area.

It is not only the staff that must benefit from operating in a responsible sense. Foods and goods are also bought (on a daily basis) at various shops within the area, therefore profits from the running of our tours are directly filtered back into the surrounding community

Elephant Hills Social Responsibility:

• Social Responsibility is a large part of the reason we run our Children's Project to help the local schools in Khao Sok and are dedicated to preserving Thailand's heritage and culture. Traditional cooking demonstrations and Thai food are served in our camp. The decor and building is also planned to fit with the surrounding jungle environment and uses traditional Thai construction techniques in many aspects of its design and build.
  
• Through running our Children's Project we feel that Elephant Hills can and is lending a helping hand to the future generation of Khao Sok, If they can see that we care for them as much as the surrounding environment and can stimulate them to think outside of the box about issues such as the environment, local or traditional farming techniques and also Information Technology whilst in school then they will have many more options available to them upon graduating from school. Future employment for these children in or outside of Khao Sok will be made more readily available to them if they have had the appropriate equipment and right mental stimulation during their early schooling days. They may also turn out to be the future torch bearers of nature tourism or responsible travel.

What is done at Elephant Hills to limit our Environental impacts?

• All recyclable waste produced at Elephant Hills is filtered and sent for appropriate recycling. We operate in a particularly sensitive area and is one of the last strongholds of rainforest in Thailand therefore we wish to preserve it for future generations to be able to enjoy

• Dung from our Elephants is used as a fertilizer and used along with composted kitchen waste for our organic vegetable gardens and plants.

• In certain areas of the camp and surrounding area we grow rice for use in our kitchen. The vegetables grown in our garden are also used for cooking. Any vegetables and goods we cannot grow ourselves we buy locally.

• Our tours include the services of a fully trained guide. Our guides inform all guests of the dangers and disturbance that picking plants and touching any animals can cause. Not only from a health and safety point of view is this important as some plants can be poisonous and animals dangerouse but from an environmental point of view. Animal disturbance can be very distressing and any animals that are ‘chased’ or interfered with will have increased stress levels and depleted energy levels which will ultimatly effect their hunting or food foraging ability putting unnesseccary stress on them and their family groups.

• We have set trails when walking in the jungle. We do not deviate from these trails in order to reduce the impact of erosion and plant and animal disturbance. We are a soft adventure company and do not hack our way through the forest, it is not an SAS survival exercise but a chance to experience the nature, sights and sounds of the tropical Thai rainforest. Therefore we do not trek deep into the forest but stick to trails in order to minimise our impacts.