Anurak Community Lodge wins Amazing Thailand responsible tourism award

Anurak Com­munity Lodge in south­ern Thai­l­and has won the Tour­ism Author­ity of Thai­l­and 2024 Respons­ible Tour­ism Award in the “Respons­ible Tour­ism Accom­mod­a­tion” category.

Willem Niemeijer, Anurak co-founder and CEO of Anurak own­er-oper­at­or YAANA Ven­tures, received the award from Thail­and’s Min­is­ter of Tour­ism and Sports, Sor­a­wong Thi­enthong, at World Travel Mar­ket in Lon­don, Novem­ber 5.

‘Holistic approach’

Mr Niemeijer said the award meant a lot. “The judges were look­ing at a broad range of factors such as envir­on­ment­al, cul­tur­al, com­munity engage­ment, and help­ing guests to travel more respons­ibly in Thai­l­and. I believe Anurak Lodge did well on all those fronts because we take a hol­ist­ic approach to respons­ible guest experiences.”

Loc­ated beside the mag­ni­fi­cent Khao Sok Nation­al Park in Thail­and’s south, Anurak Lodge cham­pi­ons a “Rain­forest Rising” tree-plant­ing pro­ject, ini­ti­ated by the Forest Res­tor­a­tion and Research Unit at Chi­ang Mai Uni­ver­sity. Guests are invited to plant indi­gen­ous trees to sup­port refor­est­a­tion efforts, con­trib­ut­ing dir­ectly to the main­ten­ance of the project.

With 19 eco-friendly units, Anurak integ­rates sus­tain­ab­il­ity into daily oper­a­tions by recyc­ling food waste into its gar­dens, com­post­ing, and using energy-effi­cient LED light­ing. Non-motor­ised activ­it­ies such as cyc­ling, hik­ing, and bam­boo raft­ing are encour­aged, reflect­ing Anurak’s com­mit­ment to low-impact tour­ism. Guests can also explore an edu­ca­tion­al, sign­posted nature trail that high­lights the region’s unique flora, fauna, and spec­tac­u­lar lime­stone formations.

Earli­er this year, Anurak Lodge expan­ded its guest offer­ings by adding nine new moun­tain bikes, enhan­cing its fleet to 15, and refur­bish­ing its open-air Horn­bill res­taur­ant, which now offers exten­ded hours and pan­or­amic views of the sur­round­ing moun­tains and rain­forest. Explore the full range of Anurak’s guest exper­i­ences at AnurakLodge.com.

Anurak Lodge’s ded­ic­a­tion to sus­tain­able prac­tices has been con­sist­ently recog­nised. Since 2019, it has held Trav­elife Gold Cer­ti­fic­a­tion, a glob­ally endorsed envir­on­ment­al cer­ti­fic­a­tion by the Glob­al Sus­tain­able Tour­ism Coun­cil (GSTC). The lodge also received the Pacific Asia Travel Association’s Grand Award for Sus­tain­ab­il­ity in 2020.

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In good company

Anurak Lodge was among five win­ners at the Tour­ism Author­ity of Thai­l­and (TAT) Respons­ible Tour­ism Awards 2024, cel­eb­rat­ing diverse con­tri­bu­tions across con­ser­va­tion, com­munity tour­ism, anim­al wel­fare, and loc­al guiding.

Oth­er win­ners in the awards were Bang Rong Com­munity-based tour­ism in the Respons­ible Com­munity Tour­ism cat­egory, Khao Lak Mer­lin Resort in the Respons­ible Con­ser­va­tion cat­egory, Ms Wipa­porn Ord in the Respons­ible Loc­al Guide cat­egory, and Ele­phant Hills in the Respons­ible Anim­al Wel­fare category.

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Loc­ated a 75-minute drive from Sur­at Thani air­port, 150 minutes from Phuket air­port and two hours from Krabi air­port, Anurak Com­munity Lodge is an award win­ning eco-retreat for act­ive life­style vis­it­ors who respect nature and loc­al com­munity traditions. 

Sur­roun­ded by spec­tac­u­lar lime­stone karst scenery, the lodge is an ideal base to explore adja­cent Khao Sok Nation­al Park and majest­ic Chiew Larn Lake. 

The 19-key lodge, with Deluxe Green Double, Eco Double, Eco Twin options, plus one Super­i­or Safari Tent, is Trav­elife Gold Certified. 

In addi­tion to 2024 Tour­ism Author­ity of Thai­l­and Respons­ible Tour­ism Award for Accom­mod­a­tion, Anurak Com­munity Lodge won the 2020 PATA Grand Award for Sustainability. 

Full inform­a­tion and book­ings at AnurakLodge.com.

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About YAANA Ventures

YAANA Ven­tures is an own­er, part­ner and oper­at­or of entre­pren­eur­i­al travel and hos­pit­al­ity ven­tures in Asia. YAANA dis­tin­guishes itself by shar­ing real exper­i­ences that are groun­ded in the cul­tur­al rich­ness of Asia. The com­pany is the cham­pi­on of the triple bot­tom-line: people, plan­et, profit. It empowers its ven­tures with the val­ues to nur­ture the people with whom it works. Vis­it YAANA-Ventures.com.

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Featured image (top of post)

Willem Niemeijer (right) accepts the Tour­ism Author­ity of Thai­l­and 2024 Respons­ible Tour­ism Award for “Respons­ible Tour­ism Accom­mod­a­tion” from Thai Tour­ism Min­is­ter Sor­a­wong Thi­enthong at World Travel Mar­ket in Lon­don, Novem­ber 5.

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