2. The Chai Lai Orchid
is an eco-resort and social business
that promotes sustainable tourism,
kindness to elephants and
prevents sex trafficking.
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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
60’s, 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 didn’t 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 Naing’s 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.
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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 it’s 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.
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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. It’s 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
they’ve seen how tourism has grown and it has redefined success. It’s
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.
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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 Thailand’s 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 women’s 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,
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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 Orchid’s 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 elephant’s
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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
Rising’s 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 girl’s 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
president’s blog at whitehouse.gov.
Alexa’s favorite elephant is two-year-
old Dong Dee because she is little and
clumsy and makes everyone laugh.
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9. Contact
Alexandra Pham chailaiorchid.com
alexa@chailaiorchid.com facebook.com/ChaiLaiOrchid
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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.
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