The Khaolak Merlin Resort focuses on everything from encouraging biodiversity to sustainable practices. They have implemented eco-friendly approaches from the very beginning. They have installed a wastewater treatment system using purely organic filtration methods and reuse the treated water to water the garden and fill the resort’s streams. They reduce energy consumption and minimize pollution through reducing, re-using and recycling solid waste. The hotel also works with multiple organisations to preserve the wildlife and trees at the property. The numerous efforts to minimize environmental impact have resulted in the Travelife Gold certification for accommodation and winning of Responsible Thailand Award in 2020 for best hotel.
Wildlife Conservation
Khaolak Merlin Resort have started a partnership with a non-profit conservation foundation called Love Wildlife to help promote wildlife conservation. The main project that Khaolak Merlin Resort is concentrating on is the conservation of slow lorises. With many local trees native to Southern Thailand, it is a perfect habitat for them with everything to provide their natural diet. They also help Love Wildlife in collecting data about their behaviour, which will be used in the research of these shy animals.
Love Wildlife also performed a regular wildlife survey in the resort and found over 150 species, including hanging parrots, flying lizard and owls. This information is used to create information booklet in the rooms and also the wildlife information signs scattered around the garden.
Take Care of Ancient Trees
Khaolak Merlin Resort preserved most of the original trees of Khaolak during the construction of the resort, and half of the large site of almost 12 acres is covered with nature. Many of the resorts 276 trees are decades old, with some towering trees estimated to be over 100 years old.
They have partnered with Big Trees Project to help take care of the trees in their beautiful gardens. Their team of professional arborists trained their gardeners to maintain tall, ancient trees with ropes and pulleys, ensuring safety for both trees and people. They also helped in compiling a database of tree species and calculate their carbon value. They found that their trees stored over 76 tons of carbon over the years, which is astonishing!
Waste Management
To minimise their pollution, Khaolak Merlin Resort is now reducing their waste, re-using things that are designed to be re-used, and by recycling. Their landfill waste is separated into types and kept in the trash sorting area, where local waste management companies can collect them and recycle the waste, lowering the impact to the environment. For organic waste, they either send them off to become pig feed in local farms or use them as organic matter their own compost pits. The nutrient-rich compost is then used to fertilize their garden to ensure the long term sustainability of nature within the resort. Plastic waste is now a huge global issue, as it takes such a long time for decomposition to take place. Khaolak Merlin Resort take active steps to reduce their plastic waste by choosing alternative materials, such as biodegradable straws, or reduce single-use containers. They also give out cloth bags to the staff and encourage them to be mindful of the impact of plastic bags.
Water Management
Water is the most important resource in the rainforest. All of their wastewater undergoes an extensive treatment process using purely organic filtration and cleansing systems. The treated water is reused to water the plants and fill the streams in the resort, which has resulted in many species of freshwater fish flourishing in the canals around the resort. The garden area within the resort is very extensive, therefore by reusing the water they save many gallons of water and reduce their impact on the environment.
Local Community
Not only is Khaolak Merlin Resort a great ambassador sustainability and reducing their carbon footprint, but they are also committed to cooperate and support the local community, especially in Thai Mueang district, the hotel’s location. They set targets when employing people from local community and provide jobs for the people in the area, so as not to only have environmental sustainability, but to also have economic sustainability for the local community. They also create volunteering activities to help the local community such as trash pick-up rallies and cleaning local temples and maintain a close relationship with the community. To further ensure economic sustainability for the local community, Khailak Merlin Resort will also purchase goods and services from local suppliers and make regular donations to local environmental or humanitarian charities and encourage our guests to support them too.
We were so impressed by the hard work put in by The Khaolak Merlin Resort, that we wanted to give everyone the opportunity to visit this amazing resort to see for themselves. To view an incredible offer to stay at Khaolak Merlin Resort, click here
