Our eco-hotels demonstrate daily travel and sustainability can be combined. This is made possible by the people behind the scenes, who put their heart and soul into creating a greener planet – we introduce you to them in our new series.

Our destination today is Thailand, more precisely the island Koh Samui where the eco five-star hotel Tongsai Bay is located within lush tropical gardens on a hillside overlooking a secluded private bay. In 1983 Khun Akorn Hoontrakul first spotted the bay from the sea and fell in love. Within days he bought the land with a plan to build a resort with minimal impact on the natural environment. He slept on the beach for three months to ensure that the cottages were correctly positioned, that no trees were cut down, no animals were injured and that there was as little interference with nature as possible. Today his son Gob and his daughter in law Goya continue the family business in his sense.

The Tongsai Bay is also known as „bath with a view” it has a bathtub on the spacious terraces and you enjoy a stunning ocean view and a beach that is exclusive to the guests- a perfect location to relax and unwind.

Thanakorn Hoontrakul, owner of the Tongsai bay and pioneering Thai hotelier :

“Tongsai Bay is a spot on Koh Samui where trees are not felled, no insecticides or chemical fertilizers are used in the green hotel grounds and humans are kind to animals”  

Since 2016 Michael Heiniger is the General Manager at The Tongsai Bay supporting all activities in regards to environmental protection.

For me, sustainability means:

Having certain environmental, social and cultural principles and respecting the natural surroundings, both in social and natural terms. That starts with contributing to the community’s development supporting local businesses, promoting the consumption of local and ecologic alimentary products, basing the main part of its energetic supply in renewable energies, teaching staff and encouraging our colleagues and partners to convert to more work in a more sustainable way and so much more.

I am particularly proud of this green project :

We have many projects that I am proud of – but the one initiative I like the most is that we simply “do not disturb nature” and “natural to the core”. The fact that we continue to spot Slow Loris in the hotel ground says a lot about how natural Tongsai Bay is and that can only be a result of the measures we have put in place to protect animals and the natural surroundings.  

This is what makes the hotel so special:

Space – lots of green space…. the view from your room and the sounds of many birds when you wake up – it’s just magical. The Tongsai Bay won’t expand in terms of the number of rooms so we don’t have to cut down trees to open ways for more buildings – so it will remain a place in harmony with nature. 

Our plan for the future:

Our plan is to leave nature alone at Tongsai Bay and improve our knowledge of new sustainable ways to further reduce our carbon footprint and aim to our goal for zero waste.

If you want to know more about the series, here you cand find all articles of the series “hoteliers up close”. Here on Green Pearls®, you can find more information on the Tongsai Bay and the hotel’s green initiatives.

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