Local Alike is a Thai social enterprise that uses tourism not as 'exploitation' but as a tool for regional development, nurturing tourism that villages themselves plan and run. In 2011, Somsak 'Pai' Boonkam—who grew up in a rural village without even electricity—founded it. After working three years in Germany as a petrochemical engineer and burning out on factory launches, the inequality he saw on holidays in Myanmar and India overlapped with his own childhood; he returned home, earned an MBA in sustainable management, and decided to use business for good. In its community-based tourism (CBT) model, it starts by 'future casting' with a village over months to years, and villagers become the protagonists in launching the tourism venture. Revenue is split 70% to the village and 30% to Local Alike (management), designed so benefits fall directly to the village. It has collaborated with over 200 communities across 46 provinces, sent 32,000 travelers to villages, generated over $1.7M in community benefit and 2,000 part-time jobs. Its founder is an Ashoka Fellow (2016) and chairs the Social Enterprise Thailand Association (SE Thailand).
●●○ medium
There is no confirmed −; independently verified + decide the position (B). No unreachable strike-through.= non-additive meter
Local Alike: Tourism as a tool for regional development—village-led travel. The letter is B; certainty is medium. Unconfirmed concerns are placed under “Watching.” (As of 2026-Q2; estimate based on public information.)
Main narrative
One person’s story (N1)
+ before → after
Baan Suan Pa in Chiang Rai is one of the first settlements Local Alike partnered with. It was previously 'covered in trash, with many villagers suffering from drug addiction,' Somsak recalls. He thought that making it a tourism destination would lead villagers to keep the village clean by their own hands, and that visits from outside would ease the drug problem. 'Now the village is clean, with a trash bin at every corner, and villagers have built breathtaking jungle-hiking trails. It is unrecognizable from before.' By planning and running tourism themselves, villagers engage travelers as equals rather than being made 'a spectacle in a zoo,' as with group tours.
Source nature: Bangkok Post / P2 Independent media (Bangkok Post). Positive effects are not used to offset negatives.
Positive / negative effects
+ effects
- It has collaborated with over 200 communities across 46 provinces, sent 32,000 travelers to villages, and generated over $1.7M in community benefit and 2,000 part-time jobs. Revenue is split 70% village / 30% Local Alike. Its founder is an Ashoka Fellow (2016) and chair of the SE Thailand Association.P1 Certification / international body (Ashoka / ASEAN-Japan Centre) / ASEAN-Japan Centre (AJC) / Social Enterprise Summit
− effects (confirmed)
- No confirmed −.
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- Deepening into regenerative tourism; institutional partnership with government and companies; transferring CBT skills to other regions.
A second look
The core plus is local residents' income and independence and the preservation of culture and nature (People, Nature), independently backed by Ashoka, the Bangkok Post and the ASEAN-Japan Centre. On the other hand, the sustainability of a business that endured three straight years of losses early on, and independent verification of community-benefit amounts, are issues. Note the new vulnerability that tourism dependence creates for villages.
Sources
How to read this assessment
- Reachable upper bound (ceiling): a confirmed − sets the ceiling, and independently verified + decide the position within it. + do not cancel out −.
- The weight of evidence is not symmetric: only confirmed − are counted; the volume of disputes or allegations goes under “Watching.” + are counted from independent evidence, while an organization’s own PR is treated as “reference.”
- Size is not value: scale is not used in the assessment. Matters that stay within money or competition—investors, shareholders, sanctions, trade secrets—are also excluded.
- The letter (assessment) and certainty (how reliable the information is) are separate axes.
This is a translation; the Japanese version is authoritative. The assessments here are generated automatically by AI based on published criteria. The operator does not alter individual results. Because they are AI-generated they may contain errors, and they are opinion and commentary, not statements of fact. Where evidence is insufficient, the entry is marked “On hold.” Requests for correction are accepted via the form.
Terms: Narrative Value = an assessment (A–G) of the distance between the story an organization tells and its reality / Ceiling meter = a visualization of the reachable upper bound / Watching = unconfirmed matters not counted / Protected stakeholders = people, animals, nature, and future generations. | Generated by: AI | As of: 2026-Q2 | Back to top