PDA 1-day tour in Chiang Rai

We opted for a 1-day tour with non-profit organization, PDA, after hearing about the socially responsible tour packages they offer. We took a long tail boat ride, elephant ride and 2-hour trek plus visits to 3 different hill tribes.

The elephant ride was something that left me unsettled. Seeing how they were shackled broke my heart. And when the guide told us that these elephants are bought from laos, I felt like I personally poached these elephants myself.

However, PDA's work in not bringing tourists to Mickey Mouse hill tribe villages is something I applaud. We saw real working and living villages and no one is putting on a show for us. That means we only saw 1 villager in costume (picture below). We didn't see any long-neck tribal villagers, or little children dressed in tribal costumes. Which is more than fine by me.




Akha hill tribe villager




Elephant ride




Lunch at a lahu home




Rice harvesting
Wishing you were here,
Mr and Mrs Koh