Project :	Amazing Organic
Place :	Chiang Mai Province, Thailand
Initiative :	The “Amazing Organic” initiative is a pilot project under Thailand’s Bio-Circular-Green (BCG) model. It utilizes “food” and “local ingredients” as tools to attract tourists to organic communities. The project transforms tourism into a mechanism for environmental preservation, supporting communities like Mae Tha—originally a center for organic agriculture training—to transition into tourism destinations. This initiative reduces carbon footprints and preserves local biodiversity.
Actors :	Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), Mae Tha Organic Community Enterprise

From a local struggle for survival to a recognised model of sustainable tourism, the Mae Tha community in Chiang Mai demonstrates how community wisdom and public policy can work together to protect the environment. Faced with serious health and environmental problems caused by chemical-intensive farming, local residents made a collective decision several decades ago to transition to organic agriculture. This shift laid the foundation for what Mae Tha is today: a living example of sustainable livelihoods, biodiversity conservation, and responsible tourism reinforcing one another. 

Mae Tha is now recognised not only as an organic farming community, but also as a place for learning and exchange, supported by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT). The community’s visitor initiatives began with an emphasis on study tours introducing organic agriculture and sustainable living. These early experiences shaped Mae Tha’s approach: rather than creating new attractions, tourism is used to communicate local values, daily practices, and close ties between people and nature. 

The Mae Tha Way: From Study Tours to Sustainable Experiences 

The Mae Tha community, comprising seven villages and more than 1,300 households, is now a well-established centre of organic agriculture. Its transition into tourism, however, was carefully managed, developing in line with the community’s values and long-standing agricultural practices. 

Before opening to a wider tourism market, Mae Tha was primarily known as a destination for organic agriculture study tours. Visitors came with the specific purpose of learning about sustainable farming methods, soil preparation, seed selection, and ways to live in balance with nature. This firm educational foundation informed the development of community-based tourism rooted in knowledge sharing rather than mass tourism. 

The community did not aim to create conventional tourist attractions. Instead, tourism was viewed as a communication tool to explain who they are, how they live, and why a sustainable lifestyle matters. Through carefully designed activities, visitors are invited to engage with the local environment and way of life in a direct and practical manner, rather than as passive observers. They trek through community forests, collect organic eggs, and prepare meals using locally available seasonal ingredients. 

This approach also addresses serious environmental challenges linked to forest burning for wild mushroom harvesting, a practice that has contributed to seasonal air pollution. By introducing trekking and forest-based tourism activities, the community has created alternative income sources that depend on forest protection rather than burning, helping to reduce pollution while funding community-led fire prevention and conservation efforts. In this way, visitors are encouraged to become active participants in environmental protection. 

The Amazing Organic Initiative: Policy Meets Passion