About Tezza's Blog, and reviews made by others on Tripadvisor
Introduction.
Hello. I am the current resident manager of the Libong Nature Beach Resort and I must say, the comments made on your blog are very one-sided, and for those who have actually stayed at our resort and didn't like it, perhaps it was unfortunate for you that we didn't actually meet so I could explain the situation to you.
Mission
As you know, our resorts are managed by the Lifelong Learning Foundation whichour main goals are to support community development and educational programs inThailand. If you are looking for proof of this, you can click on our foundation'swebsite http://www.lifelong-learning.org to see what community projects we areinvolved in.
Tours and Transfers
Pertaining to the cost of our boat tours and transfers, you must realize that our resort does not even own a boat, as such we select only the local fisherman boats,and 70 percent of the cost that you pay goes to the local fisherman directly.You may ask where the remaining 30 % goes. As you know, being a Legally RegisteredFoundation, we must abide by all the laws that are required of us. We are alegally licensed registered tour operator, under the Tourism Authority of Thailand and are legally bound by all our actions. This means, an insurance policy which benefits guests who face misfortune on any of our tours or boat charters.
Then how does the Resort make money to finance these community projects? Well, we rent our our kayaks, snorkelling equipments, lifejackets, meals, etc. plus we have to pay the staff to prepare and support the boatman. Don't forget, wehave to feed the boatman and the guide as well, and provide to administrative support ie. information about tours etc. and that has a cost as well. I think that that is enough to justify the 30 %. We provide INSURANCE and all farangs know that Insurance is not free, there is always a cost involved. If there is a problem, we have to be responsible, other people can always runaway but notus.
Cost of Food
Some say that our food is expensive, that is until they see the portions we give, our portions can feed at least 3 thai people. You just haven't given us a chance yet, and take us at face value.
Most of our food supplies are from the village, unlike most resorts who buy theirsupplies from Superstores such as Makro with low prices, our food actually costs more because we buy it from the local village, therefore supporting their small economy.
We have also compared our prices to the other resorts and to say that we a double the price is an unfair statement. One such comparison is their American Breakfastwhich costs 80 baht, but consists of 1 fried egg and 2 slices of toast.our American Breakfast costs 200 baht but you get 2 fried eggs, 2 slices of toast,some fried seafood, several slices of fresh fruit, a glass of orange juice, andcoffee/tea. So please, don't take everything at face value but look into detail.
Other Community Services
To promote the usage of bicycles on the island, our foundation has donated overa dozen bicycles to the children in the village nearby, plus we have ensured that all the staff at the resort uses bicycles in their daily activities by sponsoring the bicycles.
We have also had community workshop trainings to train the local rural people inthe art of batik painting, so that during the low season when they are not tapping rubber, they can have a source of income during that time.
Our resort also grows a number of organic vegetables such as morning glory, lemongrass, basil, chilis, and we have never sold it to the village people. If theyask, they can have it, and in return for our kindness, we are blessed with fresh fruit or vegetables from their own garden. Kindness is not forced, but natural.
Respect and support for the Local Community.
Our resort is based on an island where the population is 100 % muslim, therefore we do not serve pork or cook pork in our restaurant. I cannot say the same forother resorts around. Also we do not have any dogs in our resort, although we do have alot of cats. As you know dog saliva is taboo for muslims. Also note that all the staff at the resort are natives from the island, the only person except me.
Nature Preservation.
When we send back our glass bottles back to Trang for recycling using the boats the guests charter to and from the island, it should not be a crime. Guests should not complain when we are sending supplies over, we are not overcrowding the boat, it is an everyday occurence. If you say the resort should pay for the extra space that we use for the boat, please note that we already pay the boatman EXTRA sothat he can LOAD and UNLOAD the boat as well, and that is not included in theboat price the guests have to pay.
People say we're crazy to send our bottles back to the mainland for recycling,in fact I've been to several islands where they just pile the bottles up and itis disgusting, even in some of the resorts. People laugh when I carry bags of broken glass back to the mainland, even at our campsite in Koh Mook.If you go to Koh Mook and ask whether there is a crazy guy carrying sacks ofbroken glass and the ferry boat, they would point to me.
I'm not a fanatic, but I do what I think is best, for the resort and the environment and is most people appreciate it, that the battle is won. I am rather dissappointed and sorry that some of the comments made on Tezzas website and other travel websiteshave been very harsh. Hopefully we can meet in person one of these days at eitherHaadyao Nature Resort or Libong Nature Beach Resort.
But I must admit, our staff is not the greatest at english, however this is howwars are started, because of the language barrier, you cannot blame someone ifthey do not know what is going. And sometimes, it is just plain bad luck if someone is bulldozing land somewhere nearby, which is an extremely rare one time occurence.
If there are any queries or questions, you can always email me at libongnatureresort@gmail.com
Sincerely,
The Resident Manager(Whoever is Volunteering at this time) So I shall remain namelessLibong Nature Beach Resort
PS. It is simply amazing how much energy is used for make negative comments, when less energy can be used to make for fruitful and beneficial comments to help the tourism industry in thailand. As the saying goes, if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all. You think you may be doing a great service by warning people to avoid certain place, but you should at least hear both sides of the story. To me, it would be a fair way..jpg)