BANGKOK, 22 August 2019: The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is supporting an online tourism management system ‘Local Kit’ that generates bookings for community-based tourism hosts in Thailand.
Local Kit (localkit.app) is a web application of Look Alike (www. Localalike.com), and its subsidiary Find Folk.
It manages tourism information at the community level, and act as an intermediary between communities and organisations promoting or booking travel.
According to localkit’s website it provides booking activities and manages community revenue mainly for homestay projects.
According to the TAT the emphasis is on promoting responsible tourism by maintaining a balance that grows tourism but helps preserve local identity while minimising the impact of ‘over-tourism’.
A pilot project using the Local Kit system offers community tourism nature-based experiences at two villages – Ban Tha Maprang and Ban Khlong Plaen – near Khao Yai National Park, in Mu Si Sub-district of Pak Chong district in the northeast province of Nakhon Ratchasima.
The two villages offer ecotourism experiences and demonstrate how the locals live in harmony with their natural surroundings.
Behind the localkit app is the website Local Alike a ‘Thai social enterprise’ based in Bangkok, Thailand, and a winner of PATA Gold Awards 2018.
Founded in 2012 the company is led by CEO Somsak Boonkam who in the company’s 2018 annual report states “Local Alike served 100 host communities in Thailand in 42 provinces. It generated financial benefits of THB54 million, creating up to 2,000 jobs in local communities.”
In addition to its partnership with TAT, it names Mae Fah Luang University Chiang Rai and UNDP as its supporters.
In the company’s business description it says, “70% of all the money from bookings will go directly to the villages.”
