Chiang Khan in the Northeastern Thai province of Loei has become the first ASEAN destination to win the prestigious Green Destinations Award in Silver designation. The award ceremony was held at the ITB Berlin 2024.
Gp. Capt. Athikun Kongmee, Director-General of the Designated Areas for Sustainable Tourism Administration (DASTA), said “The silver Green Destinations Award for Chiang Khan is a tribute to the admirable dedicated efforts of various parties to successfully complete the rigorous certification process and earn this prestigious recognition.”
Chiang Khan has been making great efforts to become a model destination for sustainable tourism development since 2019, involving support and cooperation from more than 30 parties in the public and private sectors and more importantly, the local communities.
Based on the Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria or GSTC, the Green Destinations Standard requires member destinations to be compliant with 84 criteria.
In the preliminary assessment and evaluation, Chiang Khan successfully completed the 30 minimum requirements and has been included in the list of Green Destinations TOP 100 Stories in 2020.
This year’s winning of the silver Green Destinations Award means that Chiang Khan has completed additional compliance levels in the comprehensive certification process. The validity for the award is two years.
So far, there are 122 Green Destinations across the world.
As well as being the first in ASEAN, Chiang Khan is the fifth destination in three Asian countries – Japan, Taiwan, and Thailand – to win the prestigious Green Destinations Awards.
Other Thai destinations that advocate sustainability will also be enrolled in the Green Destinations Certification Programmes for Destinations. These include Mueang Kao Sukhothai in Sukhothai, Nan Old City in Nan, Ko Mak in Trat, and Khlong Thom in Krabi. (TAT)
