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.
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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.”

Rainforest Rising at Anurak Community Lodge, Thailand
‘Rain­forest Rising’ at Anurak Com­munity Lodge.

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.

On the Anurak Trail
On the Anurak trail.

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.

The Thai food is fabulous at Anurak Community Lodge in southern Thailand. And it is served in reusable, recyclable, and/or biodegradeable materials.
The Thai food is fab­ulous at Anurak Com­munity Lodge in south­ern Thai­l­and. And it is served in reusable, recyc­lable, and/or bio­de­grade­able materials.

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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About Anurak Community Lodge

Anurak Community Lodge logo

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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