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Chai Lai orchid

Alexa Pham
Alexa Pham

The Chai Lai Orchid is an eco-resort and social business in Chiang Mai, Thailand that provides training to at-risk women and girls to help prevent sex trafficking. It operates a sustainable tourism program involving interactions with elephants, and uses its profits to fund apprenticeships for local women to learn hospitality jobs. The resort aims to empower vulnerable people while promoting environmental protection and ethical tourism.

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Chai Lai orchid
The Chai Lai Orchid is an eco-resort and social business that promotes sustainable tourism, kindness to elephants and prevents sex trafficking. 2
Inspired by one to help many It was Thanksgiving day on their annual fall trip to Thailand. Alexa Pham, the program director of Daughters Rising, and her translator were busy meeting with nonprofits in Chiang Mai and were heading back to their hotel after a long day. When they arrived, they came across a scene that Alexa would never forget. Sitting on the picnic table in front of the hotel was an old European man with a full grey beard, who must have been in his 60s, and Naing, a beautiful teenage girl on the verge of tears. This old man was there to procure the services of the translator so that he could finalize a contract to buy this young woman from her mother. He was to pay $2000, a motorbike and a gold necklace to own her, for life. Alexa was able to intervene and the deal didnt go down that day, but Naing was far from safe. Her story was the same as many of the girls Alexa spoke to on the streets and in go-go bars. Naing was Shan, an ethnic minority forced to flee Burma, trying to eke out a living to support her family but with little education and unable to speak Thai. That day Alexa saw a gaping hole in the fight against sex trafficking. There was virtually no support for at-risk girls Naings age. And since she was not yet a victim of trafficking, the NGOs were not interested in rescuing her. Yet, if Naing could be given the slightest opportunity she could rescue herself and prevent a tragedy. 3
Sex trafficking in Northern Thailand One of the most profitable forms of modern day slavery is sex The civil war in the jungles of Burma has forced ethnic trafficking the illegal sale of humans for the purpose of sexual minorities such as the Karen and Shan to flee to Thailand to exploitation. With widespread poverty across the world, there is escape ethnic cleansing. Decades of conflict have left Burma no shortage of victims or accomplices to feed this enterprise. In one of the poorest and least developed countries in the world. 1809, at the height of the transatlantic slave trade, the average In Thailand, many Burmese migrants and hill tribe people are price of a slave was $40,000 (adjusted for inflation). Today its considered illegal and excluded from education, health care, and just $90. With the cost of a human life so low, these girls have employment. UNESCO has identified this lack of citizenship as become disposable assets; bought and sold easily, abused and the major risk factor to be trafficked or, otherwise, exploited. discarded easily. Sex trafficking is now also the fastest growing Burmese and hill tribe women are the most trafficked criminal industry, only second to drug smuggling in terms of population in Thailand. profits. Unlike selling an AK47 or a bag of heroin, traffickers generate huge profits by selling a girl hundreds of times. It tends to be a relatively low risk black market trade, as traffickers can always claim the girl is a willing prostitute to avoid jail time. 4
Flipping the tricks of the traffickers One of the most common tricks that traffickers use to lure young women away from their families is to trick them with the opportunity of employment. With widespread poverty, the idea of being a maid in a big hotel, earning a few dollars a day is an irresistible temptation. Many leave their villages only to find themselves in the clutches of traffickers and held against their will or told that their children will be killed if they try to escape or fight back. Its an all too common story told time and time again by rescued victims from brothels. These women clamor for the urban jobs in hospitality because theyve seen how tourism has grown and it has redefined success. Its time to turn the tables on the traffickers and harness the vitality of Thailand tourism industry to empower at-risk girls and women rather than exploit them. 5
Finding answers on the top of a mountain The Chai Lai Orchid is a new social they cannot just spend their days business located on the outskirts of attending classes when there Chiang Mai, Thailand. This nature are mouths to feed, so the Chai retreat sits next to the Mae Wang Lai Orchid pays each one an river on the side of a mountain apprenticeship salary. surrounded by a lush, emerald- Unlike training programs from green forest. There are eight rooms nonprofits that rely on donors to that range from luxurious western- operate, the training program at style rooms to private Thai-style the Chai Lai Orchid is completely bungalows. The whole resort sustainable. A percentage of the focuses on sustainable tourism profit covers apprentice salaries and most importantly, provides while they learn in a real world opportunity and hope to the most environment. With a cascading vulnerable women. leadership program, the graduates Each year, young mothers and will return to mentor and inspire at-risk girls will go through the the newest apprentices. program at the Chai Lai Orchid. With the ability to earn a living, They will learn every position in confidence in their newfound a hotel so when they graduate, skills, knowledge about their rights, they can find stable employment and the support of others; these in Thailands growing hospitality women are empowered to escape industry. They also attend English poverty, to live a life of dignity and and computer classes, and see a future filled with hope and seminars on womens health, opportunity. These are the first nutrition, trafficking and their steps to undermine the traps of rights. Because most of the women trafficking. are living below the poverty line, 6
Supporting the values you believe in The Chai Lai Orchid works to whole day and experience give back to the community interacting, playing, feeding by employing locals in the and bathing an elephant. This training program. Candidates is the first step to proving that chosen are usually young there is a market for enjoying teenage mothers who have elephants in a relaxed natural been denied education environment. through circumstance and And finally, the Chai Lai are the most at-risk of being Orchid works to ensure trafficked. Ecotourism at its the resort is ecologically best can also help empower responsible and does its local communities, foster best to preserve the natural respect for different cultures beauty of the mountain. The and human rights. The Chai Lai resort buys local sustainable Orchid is majority owned and products whenever it can and operated by local women. utilizes renewable building The Chai Lai Orchid strives materials such as bamboo to educate guests about whenever possible. Details elephants, inspire activism like the herb garden, compost, and promote fair and kind biodegradable toiletries and treatment of this endangered solar lighting demonstrate the species for tourism. The resort Chai Lai Orchids commitment shares the mountain with the to keeping the little piece of Putawan family of elephants paradise just that. and has created a unique day-long package where guests can buy the elephants 7
About us Alexandra Pham and Laksanara Laksanara is a native of Chiang Mai Kaewduang have worked together and runs the RISE Workshops in since discovering their mutual the city center with underprivileged passion for empowering at-risk girls girls. She has a decade of experience in 2010. Together they developed managing a hotel and owning a tour and implemented one of Daughters company. Her favorite elephant is Risings key programs, the RISE Chok because he is good at being Workshops, which grants scholarships bad. to girls and teaches media literacy, The Chai Lai Orchid was named confidence, computer, English and for the stunning orchids found in other leadership skills. Thailand and around the resort. Chai Alexa is the program director of Lai is also Thai girls name meaning Daughters Rising and has been beautiful. The resort launched in the involved in nonprofit works for December 2012. more than ten years. Her work to fight trafficking was featured on the presidents blog at whitehouse.gov. Alexas favorite elephant is two-year- old Dong Dee because she is little and clumsy and makes everyone laugh. 8
Contact Alexandra Pham chailaiorchid.com alexa@chailaiorchid.com facebook.com/ChaiLaiOrchid 9
On the outskirts of Chiang Mai, in the northern mountains of Thailand. Up a winding road and across a suspended footbridge over the Mae Wang river. Nestled within the untamed, lush emerald-green forest sits a one-of-a-kind nature retreat, the Chai Lai Orchid. Spend your days caring and interacting with elephants playing, bathing or feeding them a tasty banana snack. Cool off with an afternoon swim in a fresh mountain water pool. Ride down the river in a bamboo raft, or simply float away in a tube without a care in the world. Picnic in a bamboo jungle, eat fresh fruit right from the tree and lazily swing in a hammock. Go trekking on endless trails that lead to beautiful vistas, hill tribe villages and secret waterfalls unreachable by car. And at the end of the day, come gather around the fire pit and experience local hill tribe music and dance performances that date back generations while gazing at a sky full of stars. Accommodations include deluxe and standard western- style rooms with all the comforts, Lanna rooms inspired by traditional Thai family homes, and cozy eco-hut bungalows. Escape to nature and experience the harmony of the mountain spirit. Unplug. Reconnect. 10

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Chai Lai orchid

  • 2. The Chai Lai Orchid is an eco-resort and social business that promotes sustainable tourism, kindness to elephants and prevents sex trafficking. 2
  • 3. Inspired by one to help many It was Thanksgiving day on their annual fall trip to Thailand. Alexa Pham, the program director of Daughters Rising, and her translator were busy meeting with nonprofits in Chiang Mai and were heading back to their hotel after a long day. When they arrived, they came across a scene that Alexa would never forget. Sitting on the picnic table in front of the hotel was an old European man with a full grey beard, who must have been in his 60s, and Naing, a beautiful teenage girl on the verge of tears. This old man was there to procure the services of the translator so that he could finalize a contract to buy this young woman from her mother. He was to pay $2000, a motorbike and a gold necklace to own her, for life. Alexa was able to intervene and the deal didnt go down that day, but Naing was far from safe. Her story was the same as many of the girls Alexa spoke to on the streets and in go-go bars. Naing was Shan, an ethnic minority forced to flee Burma, trying to eke out a living to support her family but with little education and unable to speak Thai. That day Alexa saw a gaping hole in the fight against sex trafficking. There was virtually no support for at-risk girls Naings age. And since she was not yet a victim of trafficking, the NGOs were not interested in rescuing her. Yet, if Naing could be given the slightest opportunity she could rescue herself and prevent a tragedy. 3
  • 4. Sex trafficking in Northern Thailand One of the most profitable forms of modern day slavery is sex The civil war in the jungles of Burma has forced ethnic trafficking the illegal sale of humans for the purpose of sexual minorities such as the Karen and Shan to flee to Thailand to exploitation. With widespread poverty across the world, there is escape ethnic cleansing. Decades of conflict have left Burma no shortage of victims or accomplices to feed this enterprise. In one of the poorest and least developed countries in the world. 1809, at the height of the transatlantic slave trade, the average In Thailand, many Burmese migrants and hill tribe people are price of a slave was $40,000 (adjusted for inflation). Today its considered illegal and excluded from education, health care, and just $90. With the cost of a human life so low, these girls have employment. UNESCO has identified this lack of citizenship as become disposable assets; bought and sold easily, abused and the major risk factor to be trafficked or, otherwise, exploited. discarded easily. Sex trafficking is now also the fastest growing Burmese and hill tribe women are the most trafficked criminal industry, only second to drug smuggling in terms of population in Thailand. profits. Unlike selling an AK47 or a bag of heroin, traffickers generate huge profits by selling a girl hundreds of times. It tends to be a relatively low risk black market trade, as traffickers can always claim the girl is a willing prostitute to avoid jail time. 4
  • 5. Flipping the tricks of the traffickers One of the most common tricks that traffickers use to lure young women away from their families is to trick them with the opportunity of employment. With widespread poverty, the idea of being a maid in a big hotel, earning a few dollars a day is an irresistible temptation. Many leave their villages only to find themselves in the clutches of traffickers and held against their will or told that their children will be killed if they try to escape or fight back. Its an all too common story told time and time again by rescued victims from brothels. These women clamor for the urban jobs in hospitality because theyve seen how tourism has grown and it has redefined success. Its time to turn the tables on the traffickers and harness the vitality of Thailand tourism industry to empower at-risk girls and women rather than exploit them. 5
  • 6. Finding answers on the top of a mountain The Chai Lai Orchid is a new social they cannot just spend their days business located on the outskirts of attending classes when there Chiang Mai, Thailand. This nature are mouths to feed, so the Chai retreat sits next to the Mae Wang Lai Orchid pays each one an river on the side of a mountain apprenticeship salary. surrounded by a lush, emerald- Unlike training programs from green forest. There are eight rooms nonprofits that rely on donors to that range from luxurious western- operate, the training program at style rooms to private Thai-style the Chai Lai Orchid is completely bungalows. The whole resort sustainable. A percentage of the focuses on sustainable tourism profit covers apprentice salaries and most importantly, provides while they learn in a real world opportunity and hope to the most environment. With a cascading vulnerable women. leadership program, the graduates Each year, young mothers and will return to mentor and inspire at-risk girls will go through the the newest apprentices. program at the Chai Lai Orchid. With the ability to earn a living, They will learn every position in confidence in their newfound a hotel so when they graduate, skills, knowledge about their rights, they can find stable employment and the support of others; these in Thailands growing hospitality women are empowered to escape industry. They also attend English poverty, to live a life of dignity and and computer classes, and see a future filled with hope and seminars on womens health, opportunity. These are the first nutrition, trafficking and their steps to undermine the traps of rights. Because most of the women trafficking. are living below the poverty line, 6
  • 7. Supporting the values you believe in The Chai Lai Orchid works to whole day and experience give back to the community interacting, playing, feeding by employing locals in the and bathing an elephant. This training program. Candidates is the first step to proving that chosen are usually young there is a market for enjoying teenage mothers who have elephants in a relaxed natural been denied education environment. through circumstance and And finally, the Chai Lai are the most at-risk of being Orchid works to ensure trafficked. Ecotourism at its the resort is ecologically best can also help empower responsible and does its local communities, foster best to preserve the natural respect for different cultures beauty of the mountain. The and human rights. The Chai Lai resort buys local sustainable Orchid is majority owned and products whenever it can and operated by local women. utilizes renewable building The Chai Lai Orchid strives materials such as bamboo to educate guests about whenever possible. Details elephants, inspire activism like the herb garden, compost, and promote fair and kind biodegradable toiletries and treatment of this endangered solar lighting demonstrate the species for tourism. The resort Chai Lai Orchids commitment shares the mountain with the to keeping the little piece of Putawan family of elephants paradise just that. and has created a unique day-long package where guests can buy the elephants 7
  • 8. About us Alexandra Pham and Laksanara Laksanara is a native of Chiang Mai Kaewduang have worked together and runs the RISE Workshops in since discovering their mutual the city center with underprivileged passion for empowering at-risk girls girls. She has a decade of experience in 2010. Together they developed managing a hotel and owning a tour and implemented one of Daughters company. Her favorite elephant is Risings key programs, the RISE Chok because he is good at being Workshops, which grants scholarships bad. to girls and teaches media literacy, The Chai Lai Orchid was named confidence, computer, English and for the stunning orchids found in other leadership skills. Thailand and around the resort. Chai Alexa is the program director of Lai is also Thai girls name meaning Daughters Rising and has been beautiful. The resort launched in the involved in nonprofit works for December 2012. more than ten years. Her work to fight trafficking was featured on the presidents blog at whitehouse.gov. Alexas favorite elephant is two-year- old Dong Dee because she is little and clumsy and makes everyone laugh. 8
  • 9. Contact Alexandra Pham chailaiorchid.com alexa@chailaiorchid.com facebook.com/ChaiLaiOrchid 9
  • 10. On the outskirts of Chiang Mai, in the northern mountains of Thailand. Up a winding road and across a suspended footbridge over the Mae Wang river. Nestled within the untamed, lush emerald-green forest sits a one-of-a-kind nature retreat, the Chai Lai Orchid. Spend your days caring and interacting with elephants playing, bathing or feeding them a tasty banana snack. Cool off with an afternoon swim in a fresh mountain water pool. Ride down the river in a bamboo raft, or simply float away in a tube without a care in the world. Picnic in a bamboo jungle, eat fresh fruit right from the tree and lazily swing in a hammock. Go trekking on endless trails that lead to beautiful vistas, hill tribe villages and secret waterfalls unreachable by car. And at the end of the day, come gather around the fire pit and experience local hill tribe music and dance performances that date back generations while gazing at a sky full of stars. Accommodations include deluxe and standard western- style rooms with all the comforts, Lanna rooms inspired by traditional Thai family homes, and cozy eco-hut bungalows. Escape to nature and experience the harmony of the mountain spirit. Unplug. Reconnect. 10