What Local Alike does

Local Alike is a Bangkok-headquartered social enterprise founded in 2013 that operates a community-based tourism (CBT) marketplace connecting travelers with 100+ rural and urban communities across Thailand. The company curates private and join-in tours spanning eco/nature, cultural immersion, culinary, craft, wellness, and adventure experiences, with per-person pricing tiered by group size ranging from THB 1,500 to THB 10,500. Beyond tours, it operates a multi-pillar model comprising three sub-brands: Local Alot (community-made crafts and textiles), Local Aroi (community food and catering), and Local Academy (capacity-building workshops and training). The underlying platform is a web-based direct-to-consumer booking site (localalike.com) with cart functionality, supplemented by LINE-based inquiries and direct B2B sales.

The business generates revenue from four streams: (1) consumer tour and experience bookings on a transaction basis, (2) corporate and government consulting, coaching, training, product design, and event services on a professional-services basis, (3) Local Alot craft sales, and (4) Local Aroi food/catering sales. Distribution is direct: own website for consumers and direct sales for enterprise/government clients. GTM is primarily direct-to-consumer with a parallel B2B services motion targeting ESG, tourism development, and community impact mandates. The company reports having served 20,000+ travelers and channeled over 120M THB into community economies, though a substantial portion of this is pass-through income to community partners rather than company revenue.

Strategically, Local Alike has positioned itself as a national implementing partner for community-based tourism, evidenced by flagship engagements with Tourism Authority of Thailand, UNDP, WWF, Agoda, TCEB, Krungthai Bank, PTT, NIA, and DASTA, and validated by the 5-star TATSTAR Sustainable Rating, Social Enterprise Award 2025, and Thailand Tourism Award 2025. The company is founder-led (Somsak Boonkam, Founder & CEO) with a lean team of 1-10 employees and has not raised institutional venture or private equity capital, operating as a privately-held social enterprise distributing surplus to communities rather than external shareholders.

Name

Local Alike

Legal name

Local Alike

Website

https://localalike.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Local Alike is a Thailand-based social enterprise operating a community-based tourism marketplace that connects travelers with 100+ local communities through curated tours, while also providing corporate consulting, community crafts, and culinary experiences.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community-Based Tourism Services

NAICS

Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation (71), Scenic and Sightseeing Transportation, Land (487110)

SIC

Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990)

akta.pro primary industry

Private Cultural Immersion & Heritage Experiences (Local Hosts, Traditions) (THAJALAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Food, Market & Culinary Culture Tours (THAJAAAG), Neighborhood & Local Life Tours (Communities & Hidden Gems) (THAJAAAJ)

Keywords

• Community-based tourism
• Sustainable travel tours
• Local cultural experiences
• Regenerative tourism services
• Authentic local immersion

Headquarters

HQ city

Bangkok

HQ country

Thailand

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Tour & Experience Bookings: Local Alike generates primary revenue through direct booking of community-based tourism trips and experiences, including private tours, join tours, and themed experiences (eco/nature, food/culinary, craft/workshop, wellness, adventure, walking/city tours). Pricing is per-person and tiered by group size, with prices ranging from THB 1,500 to THB 10,500 per person. Income from trips is distributed directly to community economies.
2. Corporate & Consulting Services: Local Alike offers paid consulting, coaching, training, PR & marketing, product design, and event services to corporate clients and government agencies seeking to develop community-based tourism programs. This includes workshops, learning journeys, and capacity-building programs for changemakers via the Local Academy initiative.
3. Local Crafts & Souvenirs: The Local Alot pillar generates revenue through the sale of community-made crafts, handmade textiles, natural-dyed products, and traditional handiwork. This includes craft workshops, tailored-made crafts for groups or companies, and handmade souvenirs and community products.
4. Local Food & Catering: The Local Aroi pillar generates revenue through catering for events and gatherings, cooking workshops, snacks and festive menus, and private group dining experiences prepared by local community cooks and chefs. Food is sourced from and prepared by community members.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Local Alike is a community-based tourism (CBT) social enterprise that curates and sells curated travel experiences connecting travelers with over 100 rural Thai communities, distributing income directly to those communities. Its offerings span private and join tours (eco/nature, food, craft, wellness, adventure, walking), handmade local crafts (Local Alot), local food and catering (Local Aroi), and a capacity-building academy (Local Academy), alongside paid corporate and government consulting for CBT program development.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Local Alot: A lifestyle brand that brings community-made crafts into everyday life, featuring handmade textiles, natural-dyed products, and traditional handiwork from communities across Thailand.
• Local Aroi
• Local Academy

Products and services

• Chiang Mai: Tea Culture & Forest Waterfall Trails Private Tour Full-day private nature and community tour in Chiang Mai visiting Ban Mae Mae Community, including tea gathering, learning local tea-producing processes, trekking to a hidden waterfall, and a home-cooked lunch. Designed for travelers seeking eco-friendly tourism, cultural immersion, and rural immersion.
• Chiang Mai: Authentic Hmong Cuisine & Culture Hilltop Village Tour Full-day private cultural and culinary tour to Khun Chang Khian hilltop Hmong village near Chiang Mai, including coffee tasting, village walking tour, herb discovery, and a Hmong-style Black Chicken Herbal Soup cooking class. Built for travelers interested in Hmong cultural heritage and authentic local cuisine.
• Chiang Mai: Karen Tribe Hidden Forest Trails Private Tour Full-day private community tour in a Karen tribe community featuring forest trails, rice terraces, and a coffee roasting experience. Designed for travelers seeking off-the-beaten-path eco and cultural immersion.
• Bangkok: Khlong Toei Community Walking Tour Half-day private community walking tour in Bangkok's Khlong Toei neighborhood, including a jasmine garland workshop. Targeted at travelers seeking authentic urban community experiences in Bangkok.
• Bangkok: Yaowarat Street Food Night Tour Half-day evening Tuk-Tuk street food tour of Bangkok's Yaowarat (Chinatown) district, focused on local culinary traditions. Designed for food travelers interested in authentic local flavors.
• Chiang Mai: Sustainable Local Lanna Life Countryside Tour Full-day private community-based countryside tour in Chiang Mai focused on Lanna cultural and sustainable living experiences. Built for travelers interested in eco and cultural immersion.
• Local Alot — Community-Made Crafts and Handmade Goods Sub-brand offering handmade textiles, natural-dyed products, and traditional handiwork from communities across Thailand, plus craft workshops and tailored-made crafts for groups or companies. Targeted at conscious consumers and corporate clients seeking community-made products.
• Local Aroi — Community Food and Catering Sub-brand offering catering for events, cooking workshops, snacks and festive menus, and private group dining experiences prepared by local community cooks and chefs. Food is sourced from and prepared by community members. Targeted at event organizers and groups seeking authentic local cuisine.
• Local Alike Corporate & Consulting Services Paid B2B services including consulting, coaching, training, PR & marketing, product design, and event services for corporates, government agencies, and international development organizations developing community-based tourism programs, social enterprise capacity, or destination products. Includes workshops, learning journeys, and capacity-building programs.
• Local Academy — Capacity Building Workshops and Learning Journeys Capacity-building initiative offering workshops, tools, learning journeys, and programs for changemakers, communities, and entrepreneurs to develop sustainable tourism and social enterprise skills, based on Local Alike's 13+ years of community development experience.

Quantifiable outcome

• 120M+ THB in direct local income generated for communities
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and flagship.

• AgodacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 6 April 2026Agoda partnered with WWF Singapore and UnTours Foundation to create the Sustainable Tourism Impact Fund, providing USD 25,000 loans to eco-tourism businesses in Indonesia and the Philippines. Local Alike participates in this ecosystem as a community-based tourism partner with shared sustainability objectives.
• DASTA (Community Tourism Development Area Agency)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022DASTA partners with Local Alike on the DASTA SE HERO 2022 project, empowering model communities and youth in social enterprise tourism entrepreneurship. With over 9 years of experience across 160 communities in more than 60 provinces, the program concludes with a business plan competition awarding seed funding to winning teams.
• Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT)flagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal Alike collaborates with TAT on multiple initiatives including the 'Following the King's Philosophy for Sustainable Tourism' project (implemented with UNDP) and the 'Hop Isan' event across 5 communities in 5 provinces. TAT partners with Local Alike as a trusted implementing partner for community-based tourism development.
• UNDPcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal Alike partners with UNDP in the 'Following the King's Philosophy for Sustainable Tourism' project with TAT, strengthening model communities in tourism management, product development, and local identity communication for sustainable community-based tourism.
• WWFcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal Alike partners with WWF (alongside Agoda) as part of the Sustainable Tourism Impact Fund to support regenerative travel models focused on environmental restoration and community development across Southeast Asia.
• Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal Alike partners with TCEB on the 'Creative MICE, Empowering Communities Nationwide' project, developing premium MICE products by turning local resources and wisdom into high-value goods and experiences for MICE travelers in Chiang Mai, Khon Kaen, and Phuket.
• Krungthai Bank Public Company LimitedcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKrungthai Bank partners with Local Alike on the 'Local Chef: Empowering Ban Phon Thai Community' project, elevating the community into a 'Vintage Isan Village' sustainable cultural tourism destination, including water supply improvements, environmental conservation, and tourism operations management.
• PTT Public Company LimitedcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPTT partners with Local Alike on the 'Restart Thailand' community product development project, supporting new graduates and upgrading 160 first-lot community products through branding, packaging, and prototype development, with online storytelling campaigns under the 'Local Twist' concept.
• National Innovation Agency (NIA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal Alike partners with NIA on the 'Kad Lai Ta Project', a social innovation initiative transforming local food products from Phayao Province into a 'Him Kwan Phayao Fusion Street Food Market,' creating three new product offerings and fostering community pride in food identity.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Airbnb Experiences: Airbnb Experiences distributes locally-hosted activities, including community and cultural tours in Thailand, competing for the same meaningful-travel customer that Local Alike targets, but as part of a much larger global hospitality platform.
• Klook: Klook is a large Asia-headquartered activity, tour and experience booking platform; it overlaps with Local Alike on Thailand tours and local experiences but operates far broader across transport, tickets and attractions.
• Viator (Tripadvisor Experiences): Viator is the world's largest tours-and-experiences marketplace and carries significant Thailand inventory; it is a broad incumbent against Local Alike for the same booking intent.

Direct peers

• TourHQ: TourHQ is a global marketplace connecting travelers with freelance local tour operators, including extensive Thailand inventory, comparable to Local Alike's tour-operator aggregation and direct booking model.
• Withlocals: Withlocals is an online marketplace for private, locally-guided experiences across dozens of countries, very similar to Local Alike's curated-tour marketplace model and target audience of culturally curious travelers.
• Take Me Tour: Take Me Tour is a Bangkok-based marketplace that connects travelers with local Thai guides for off-the-beaten-path tours, making it the closest domestic peer to Local Alike in geography, model and trip offerings.
• Tours by Locals: Tours by Locals runs a global private-tour marketplace where travelers book vetted local guides, directly comparable to Local Alike's private-tour booking flow and curated local-guide model.
• Spotted by Locals: Spotted by Locals is a city-focused local-experiences content and tour brand across European cities, sharing Local Alike's "off-the-beaten-path, locally curated" positioning and trip-model DNA.
• Context Travel: Context Travel specializes in expert-led, scholarly cultural walking tours in major global cities, overlapping with Local Alike's cultural-immersion and heritage-experience focus on a higher price tier.

Regional players

• Grasshopper Adventures: Grasshopper Adventures is a Thailand- and Southeast Asia-focused small-group adventure and cultural tour operator, comparable to Local Alike's community-based eco and cultural tours in Thailand and nearby geographies.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/localalike
• Xx.com/localalike
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/3333194

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Local Alike