Leeled Community is a successful example of community-based tourism (CBT). Key success factors are local participation, step by step capacity building, multi-stakeholder supply chain partnerships, and responsiveness to market and community needs.
Leeled is a Thai coastal community located in Ban Don Bay, Surrathani, Southern Thailand. In 2003, this area was experiencing serious negative impacts as a result of extensive commercial shrimp farming causing destruction of mangrove forests, and over-fishing by trawlers. Unrestricted access to coastal areas, poor regulation and weak law enforcement were contributing towards the rapid depletion and destruction of coastal resources. Moreover, commercial trawlers were encroaching on the territory of local small fishers, reducing their catches and livelihoods security.
Leeled’s CBT project was initiated as a partnership between the EU – Royal Thai Fisheries Department CHARM project (Coastal Habitats and Resource Management) and the Responsible Ecological Social Tours Project (REST), a local Thai NGO which is recognised as one of Thailand’s foremost pioneers in community based tourism.