Responsible Travel

Elephants in Sri Lanka First, the good news: as of 2025, wild elephants in Sri Lanka are estimated to number around 7,500 – a healthy increase on the 5,879 individuals recorded in a 2011 census.  Of course, any census of these wide-roaming, and often remarkably difficult to spot, creatures needs to be taken with a pinch of salt but the…

Community based tourism Community based tourism schemes, or even community-based, as our spell checker insists, are commonly referred to in the trade as CBTs and have become a popular buzz phrase in recent times. As the title suggests, they refer, in theory, to small-scale, relatively low-key tourism initiatives set up and run by local residents – family groups or villagers,…

Sri Lankan National Parks The small Indian Ocean nation of Sri Lanka is said to be comparable in size to the island of Tasmania and slightly smaller than Ireland yet manages to squeeze in no less than 26 national parks, (including marine national parks, bird sanctuaries and a forest reserve), covering a total area of some 5,700 square kilometres. While…

Ban Phayaprai An ongoing project of ours, organised by our Thailand manager and award-winning guide, Wipaporn (Wi), is providing support to a kindergarten in Ban Phayaprai, a remote village in a mountainous region of Thailand’s far northern Chiang Rai Province, close to Mae Salong on the Thai-Burmese border. Most of the area’s inhabitants are impoverished hill-tribe families (mainly Akha and…

Community Based Tourism Projects Recent years have seen the spread of such excellent schemes across the length and breadth of Thailand covering a wide range of activities such as homestays and village visits, hiking, handicrafts and of course cookery. Schemes are typically organised on a village or even family level and provide a welcome contrast to the well-established tourism sites…

The Sangkar River The mouth of western Cambodia’s Sangkar River lies concealed amid a maze of water-hyacinth-clogged waterways, endless reed marshes and clouds of egrets in the far northwestern corner of the vast but shallow Tonle Sap Lake. Anyone with a window seat between Bangkok and Siem Reap may have peered down on these extensive wetlands and unique ecosystems where…

Costing the Apopo organisation around 6,000 Euros each, including training and importation, these are certainly the world’s most expensive rodents. Yet when you see the giant African rats – or Gambian pouched rats to be precise, (Cricetomys gambianus) – in action, you’ll understand why. Easier to maintain and handle than trained dogs, much lighter – so less likely to set…

So…wretched mosquitoes and how to avoid them! First, the good news: they will be nowhere near as prevalent on your Southeast Asia tour as many first-time visitors might imagine them to be. Especially in urban areas, particularly during the daytime and certainly outside of the rainy season. In fact, we’ve been to many European or North American destinations with far…

A new addition to our Cambodia itinerary, this half-day tour to discover some of the local cottage industries in one of the villages outside of Battambang has proved very popular.  Also very practical since it can just as easily be done by bicycle or by tuk-tuk for the less energetic and the 3 or 4 hour round tour then leaves…

Best UK Tour Operator All Points East are very proud to announce we are the 2010 winners of the Tourism Authority of Thailand Green Award, for Best UK Tour Operator for Local Communities in Thailand. The award is given in conjunction with responsibletravel.com, who’s Director, Justin Frances said “All Points East are an excellent example of a tour operator with long-standing commitments to…

Kanchanaburi’s Tiger Temple Excellent post by our long-time friend and sometime colleague Armin on the controversial subject of Kanchanaburi’s Tiger Temple. Finally, I managed to escape the city. Just 130 kilometres from Bangkok, life is different, tranquil, without the exhaust fumes of millions of cars. Wonderful! I have decided to take a break to visit my daughter and continue with…

Responsible Eating in Southeast Asia As we see it, a tour of Laos or Vietnam should include a tour of Lao and Vietnamese food, so here’s a brief rundown on the All Points East meal thinking, or as we’ve titled it, responsible eating in Southeast Asia. Local food and meals are an essential part of any culture; therefore, an essential…