Vacations and Travel - Your Essential Guide to Thailand
The HiveSters community
HiveSters is a social enterprise helping to preserve Thai culture while providing an immersive experience for tourists. Founder Achiraya Thamparipattra explains.
One of the best ways to experience authentic Thai culture is to immerse yourself with the locals; take a food tour, learn a craft, or perhaps even discover how to dance.
HiveSters was founded with a mission to help Thai culture flourish by empowering locals to share their knowledge, traditions and customs with the world through sustainable tourism initiatives.
According to founder Achiraya; “HiveSters works like a beehive: a hive of culture heroes that work together to help preserve local culture from the inside out and from the outside in. We cherish their local traditions, develop sustainable tourism programs, and train the locals in necessary knowledge such as entrepreneurship, storytelling and customer service skills.
“I grew up in a family travel business and saw Thailand’s precious culture and communities disappearing because the local masters don’t earn enough income. So the culture disappears and the next generation doesn’t see the benefits of continuing tradition, opting to choose other occupations.
“I wanted to use my passion for travel and Thai culture, and my experience in tourism and business, to revive the disappearing culture. Every trip generates direct income for locals, which not only helps support the artisans, but also their family members while helping to keep the culture alive.”
Profit generated from the trips goes to support HiveSters cultural projects, including the Hive Academy, a capacity building program and Creative Culture, a community cultural youth program, among others.
And for tourists, a creative and fun travel experience is promised, where they learn and connect with locals, get to see Thailand on a
deeper level and have more meaningful experiences.
“Travellers will not only have a good time, but the experience will also make their hearts bloom. There are a variety of experiences to choose from.
“For example, our gastronomy experience where we bring travellers to the hidden and local food hub in the community... travellers will savour a variety of local delicious Thai food. They can also learn how to cook street food like Pad Thai with a street food cook. Learn a traditional Thai dance with the ‘Granny Master’ and help preserve the disappearing culture, or learn how to make a Thai kite with ‘Uncle Kite’ in the wooden community next to the canal.
“I think post-COVID, people will travel longer, and they will [be] looking to connect more with the destination they visit, learning the culture from the locals. Community experiences are the perfect fit.”