About All Points East

Our aim is to provide tours which combine the best of both worlds with ‘Western’ organizational and logistical skills associated with the in-depth local knowledge and expertise of our locally employed staff. That’s what we’ve been doing for 25 years.
We’re also very proud, and reckon it’s a good sign, that many of our staff, both full-time and freelance have been with us for many years so are all well versed in the signature All Points East style as well as being highly experienced. Our tours hope to show you the ‘must-see’ sites and some of the lesser-known ones but importantly doing this in a relaxed, flexible and fun way. We won’t forget you’re on holiday and guides’ social skills are at least as important as knowing exactly which year that temple was built in!
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Our tours have a positive impact on local communities in several ways. Our clients appreciate the chance to sample genuine local cuisine (which is why we include around 50% of meals in the cost of our tours), rather than the bland fare offered by tourist set menus, so on all our tours, meals are, as far as possible, based on authentic regional food eaten in local restaurants. We make a point of visiting local artisans and craftsmen for educational reasons but also to allow opportunities for the purchase of local goods and produce. We also use smaller, independent and family-run hotels wherever possible to ensure a positive impact at the local level. Finally, our tours feature visits to rarely visited sites and places, ensuring that our tours give something back to the people of these more remote communities. ....less

All of our tours take account of the impact (both positive and negative) on local communities - in fact this is a priority. We are committed to minimising the negative consequences when visiting local people, villages and tribal groups as our smaller group sizes have far less impact, are far less intimidating and there’s a much greater chance of a warm welcome and opportunities for genuine interaction. The same benefits apply when visiting national parks of all kinds: smaller groups have less negative impact on the natural environment. Our tours aim to provide a genuine experience of local culture, so we use local restaurants and coffee shops and include rarely visited sites and places in all our itineraries. This helps to spread the financial benefit from tourism and ensure cultural preservation.

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We set up All Points East (then operating as Gecko Travel) in late 1999 with offices in both the UK and Thailand and ran our first Thai tours in early 2000. Even 20 years ago Southeast Asia was a different place with just fledgeling WiFi, few mobile phones and a far more basic transport infrastructure plus of course a far more limited choice of hotels and eateries. When we added Laos and Cambodia to our destinations in 2001 the countries barely had sealed roads (none at all in the latter case), only patchy electricity and almost zero WiFi. Even places like Siem Reap or Luang Prabang were still relatively off the beaten track back then! 25 years later we’re still going (we like to think) strong and while we’re not going to be buying a company jet any time soon (never the intention), the passion’s not diminished. We’re proud of our 2 decades of running successful tours (yes there’s been the occasional hiccup – it’s the nature of the business) and we are just a little smug at managing to remain genuinely independent, with genuinely small group sizes and without compromising on our mixture of off the beaten track and well-known sites recipe. ....less

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All restrictions have been lifted in our destination countries. Please contact us for the latest guidance. ....less

Environmental sustainability underpins All Points East activity. Much of the detail is outlined elsewhere in our company profile but we would emphasise the way our smaller tour groups help to reduce the impact on the natural environment. Smaller groups make for more cohesive groups and this allows tour leaders to more easily convey important messages (dos and don'ts when hiking in a national park or when snorkelling in a marine national park, for example) and then monitor behaviours, issuing reminders where appropriate. A further and obvious way of reducing environmental impact if the use of water refill stations, rather than an endless supply of plastic water bottles, wherever possible. ....less

We believe that all travel should be as ‘responsible tourism’ and ‘sustainable’ as possible (it can never be 100% so) and take active steps to ensure this is the case. For example, we are committed to running genuinely small group tours – the maximum group size is 12, but more usually we travel with 6-8 people. This helps to limit the impact on the natural environment on both land and sea. The inclusion of national parks on our itineraries has a further benefit: it raises the profile of national parks as a source of revenue and encourages further investment in conservation areas. ....less

* 2008 Tourism Authority of Thailand winner for the Best Green Specialist Tour Operator
* 2010 Tourism Authority of Thailand winner for the Best Tour Operator for Local Communities
* 2012 Tourism Authority of Thailand Green Excellence Award winner for Nature, Marine and Heritage Tourism
* 2016 World Guide Awards Silver Medal Winner

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As a small, family-owned business we need to choose our charitable and community activity carefully. Our approach has always been to focus on one project at a time to ensure that goals are achieved. For example, we were closely involved with raising the finance for the construction of a new village primary school in Don Khone Nua Village on Don Khone Island, Champassak, Laos.
Our current project, organised by our Thailand manager Wipaporn (Wi), is providing support to a kindergarten in a village in far northern Chiang Rai Province on the Thai-Burmese border. Most of the area’s inhabitants are impoverished hill-tribe families (mainly Akha and Lisu) as well as Shan refugees from over the border. The centre then provides day care and basic education for kids allowing both parents to go out and work. A great initiative but funding is a constant problem so our scheme helps out with both financing and material assistance. In recent times funding has helped construct new classrooms while we’ve also provided the centre with bedding and mosquito nets as well as educational materials.
Wi then facilitates the transfer of funds to the kindergarten director as well as organising annual open visits to the village. With that in mind, we’d like to thank all contributors.
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