Centara Krabi becomes Thailand’s first EarthCheck Gold resort

Centara Grand Beach Resort Krabi has becomes the first hotel in Thailand to receive Gold certification from EarthCheck, the environmental benchmarking organisation.

The accolade follows five years of work to improve the resort’s sustainability, including the implementation of a large-scale environmental and social management system.

The Gold certificate was presented to David Martens, general manager of the Centara Grand Beach Resort Krabi, in a ceremony held in Bangkok on Thursday.

“We are honoured and proud to have the first property in Thailand to achieve the Gold certification,” said Centara‘s CEO, Thirayuth Chirathivat. “Centara strives for greater sustainability, especially as we continue to grow locally and internationally.”

Khun Thirayuth added that the company is now aiming to attain EarthCheck Gold status at two other resorts, in Hua Hin and Koh Samui, by the end of 2015.

Centara Grand Krabi, which is only accessibly by boat, has created a series of environmental initiatives designed to improve its sustainability and efficiency. These include the development of a reverse osmosis plant which allows the resort to produce its own drinking water, which is then bottled in containers made using organic materials. And by recycling its waste water for use in the resort’s gardens, water consumption has been reduced by more than 81 million litres, the equivalent of 32 Olympic-size swimming pools.

The resort is also involved in the training and development of local people, re-populating the sea with fish releases, wildlife conservation and the planting of new mangrove trees.

Stewart Moore, CEO & founder of EarthCheck, said Centara was part of a “global group of tourism operators who dare to make a difference”.

A total of 18 Centara hotels are currently working towards some level of EarthCheck certification.