Thailand launches 10 hiking schools for responsible forest tourism
The programme will prepare conservation hiking instructors and teach visitors how to reduce accidents, waste and ecological damage in protected forests.
- Thailand's Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) has launched 10 hiking schools under the "Khon Doen Pa" (forest hikers) project.
- The initiative aims to teach visitors responsible hiking skills to reduce accidents, waste, and ecological impacts in protected forest areas.
- The curriculum is based on the "Leave No Trace" principle, covering trip planning, waste management, and respecting wildlife to promote sustainable tourism.
- The DNP plans to expand these ecotourism learning classrooms to more national parks to raise Thailand's nature-tourism standards.
The Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) has launched the “Khon Doen Pa School… A First Step into the Wilderness with Understanding” project (“Khon Doen Pa” means “forest hikers” in Thai) at Khao Yai National Park in Nakhon Ratchasima.
The initiative is intended to give visitors the knowledge, skills and appropriate attitudes needed before entering protected forest areas, while reducing accidents, waste and ecological impacts under the Leave No Trace principle, described as “leaving no burden on nature”.
Hiking and ecotourism have continued to grow in popularity in Thailand.
DNP figures from recent years show that more than 10 million people visit national parks each year.
Protected areas also face more than 1,000 tonnes of residual waste annually, as well as accidents and disturbances to ecosystems and wildlife habitats.
These problems largely arise because some visitors still lack proper hiking knowledge and skills.
The project reflects a shift in the DNP’s approach from addressing impacts after they occur to providing preventive education.
The opening ceremony was held on Friday (July 31, 2026), with Natural Resources and Environment Minister Suchart Chomklin presiding over the unveiling of the “Khon Doen Pa School” symbol and presenting “Khon Doen Pa” ecotourism learning classroom signs to national parks whose personnel had completed the hiking-instructor course.
Saysudchai Chunchaowarit, director of the National Parks Division, said the division had established 10 “Khon Doen Pa” schools to develop “conservation hiking instructors” with the appropriate knowledge, skills and attitudes.
They will be able to teach visitors systematically how to hike correctly and responsibly.
The curriculum emphasises Leave No Trace, covering planning before a trip, waste management, respect for wildlife and ways to minimise impacts on nature and fellow hikers.
It encourages people entering forest areas to behave as guests in the homes of wildlife, leaving neither traces nor burdens behind, and to transform hiking from a recreational activity into environmentally responsible tourism.
“Proper hiking is not only about visitor safety. It is also about responsibility for the forests and wildlife that we must all help protect. The opening of the Khon Doen Pa School promotes tourism alongside the sustainable conservation of natural resources. The Department of National Parks also plans to continue expanding ‘Khon Doen Pa’ ecotourism learning classrooms across national parks and forest parks nationwide to raise Thailand’s nature-tourism standards so that they are recognised both nationally and internationally,” Suchart said.
