Somsak Boonkam

Founder and CEO, Local Alike Co.,Ltd

I founded Local Alike, a social enterprise with a goal of enhancing people’s lives through Community-based tourism. Local Alike is an online platform to connect travelers and locals through meaningful and authentic experiences. As a social enterprise, we use “community-based tourism” (CBT) as a form of development tool to solve local issues, preserve local culture, and generate additional income to local communities. We exist to close the gaps between local communities and consumers.

There are three main reasons why I have started Local Alike; First, more than 7 billions THB per year from the industry, therefore I would like to see at least 10% of income goes directly into local communities. Secondly, while mass tourism may create jobs and income to the community, I still believe and would like to showcase that sustainable tourism. Although there are more than 2,000 communities that have established CBT, there is still the lack of management. Hence, I strongly have planned and worked long term development to local communities.

My goal is to bring the wisdom of indigenous people to the mass market in order to develop balanced and sustainable tourism by using community-based tourism as a toolkit to improve people’s lives. And finally, I certainly ensure my knowledge, my qualifications, my experiences and my desires will lead me and my team to the right and true pathway while enhance communities’ livelihood, will be perfectly suitable to support local communities.