Despite its growing importance to the domestic tourism market in Thailand, and its pertinence
to community-based forms of tourism generally, homestay tourism remains a neglected
topic. The purpose of this paper is to explore the implications of successful
participation in homestay tourism in Thailand. Based on in-depth, semi-structured interviews
with 30 residents of Mae Kampong, a well-known homestay village located in the
northern Thai province of Chiang Mai, this paper argues that success in the context of
homestay tourism is a double-edged sword, because even when communities succeed in
operating a homestay program, this success comes at the price of diminished authenticity,
greater dependence on tourism, and enhanced social and economic inequalities. Notwithstanding
such challenges, rural communities will continue to respond to tourist demand
for novelty and authenticity by commercializing their homes and offering homestay
experiences that deliver glimpses of rural life to curious guests.