Ziplining in Thailand

People living, working or just traveling in Thailand like to boast their wild experiences and more and more often you hear them saying that at the top of their adventures is listed riding a zipline in the Thai tropical forests. Although this might seem odd, Flight of the Gibbon – Treetop Asia is a local company that organizes ziplining and adventure jungle tours at two locations in Thailand: Chiang Mai and Chonburi.

Jim Zigarelli, the VP Online Marketing at Treetop Asia, is an American in his fifties who spends about three months per year in Chiang Mai, but otherwise lives and works in the USA. He has been involved with the Flight of Gibbon in Thailand for three years and has ridden his first zip line in 2010: “The first time I entered the rainforest in Mae Kampong was breathtaking. There was wildlife everywhere. Climbing the first staircase to the platform so high above me was nerve racking. It was raining that day and I was worried about getting wet, but under the treetop canopy, with a light rain coming down, I was protected and everything was so vibrant and lush and the leaves seemed to twinkle. The rain only added to the experience. The sound, or lack of it, except for the rain and the howls of my group when ziplining, was incredible. Then I took off on my first zip cable and the rush was so amazing!”

The Flight of the Gibbon’s headquarters is located in Chiang Mai, but ziplining takes place in two locations: in Mae Kampong, located about one hour outside of Chiang Mai and in Chonburi, about one hour from either Bangkok or Pattaya, adjacent to Khao Kheow Open Safari Park. Both locations are deep into the Thai rainforest and offer an authentic experience hard to find anywhere else in the region.

Using the sheer gravity of the rider, ziplining involves travelling from one end to the other of an inclined cable while attached to a freely moving pulley. Imagine doing this over a luxuriant rainforest in Thailand and you’ll definitely start panicking. But there’s no reason to panic as Jim Zigarelli assured me that, at Treetop Asia, safety is their #1 priority.

“Every person receives a safety briefing and is personally outfitted in the proper gear by one of our highly trained Sky Rangers. Behind the scenes, our safety managers follow strict protocols for safety and maintenance every single day. Attention to every detail of this protocol has allowed us to fly hundreds of thousands of people on our ziplines without incident for eight years without any major safety issues,” said Jim.

The courses were designed and engineered to exacting standards by a world-class international team of experts with over 27 years of experience. “We are proud to exceed qualifications for the highest safety standards in the world. Our triple-bolted construction, engineered exclusively for us in Europe, keeps each line functioning independently. While structurally this is the safest method used anywhere, this construction is also undisruptive for the trees and keeps them vibrant and undamaged,” explained Jim.

On top of that, when you “fly,” riders will be accompanied by at least two rigorously trained Sky Rangers. Not only will they watch every move to assure your safety, they will also explain exactly what to do to enhance your experience while zipping and explain what you may see in the rainforest while you enjoy your exhilarating adventure.

Over half a million people have already enjoyed the services provided by Flight of the Gibbon and the numbers are growing as you read this. Between the two locations, they can accommodate about 190 individuals every day of the week, 360 days per year. “However, quantity is not the priority,” confessed Jim. “We limit each group to eight people to avoid crowding and so each person can enjoy the experience without feeling herded through the course.”

The average age of the zipline riders tends to be in the late twenties and early thirties but they have fliers up to 90 years old and as young as 5 years old. As you can imagine, profiles vary greatly but males and females join the course almost equally. About 15% are Thai citizens or local expats and the rest come from all over the world mostly on vacation. The top countries vary slightly by location but include China, USA, Australia, Russia, Europe, Vietnam, India, Malaysia, New Zealand, and Canada.

Having in mind the rigorous safety procedures that are set in place, riding a zipline in Thailand is good value for money. The cost is 3299 baht per person which includes transportation to the location, lunch, water, guides, equipment, and additional features at each location. For example, in Mae Kampong, a hike and tour of a seven tier waterfall plus a tour of the village is also included, while in Chonburi a tour of the Khao Kheow Open Safari Park comes with the package. Students receive a 10% student discount when showing their ID and they regularly have various other promotions.

In Jim Zigarelli’s opinion, “outdoor activities have been rediscovered by travelers and the economies in Asia have changed dramatically, allowing Chinese and Southeast Asian residents to afford to travel. It is the same situation with Russia and India. The rainforest is heavily protected by the Thai government and we were proudly the first zipline company to demonstrate that visitors can do outdoor activities safely and without environmental impact.”

Actually, the owners of Flight of the Gibbon have lived in Thailand for many years and are very familiar with the government, land use, and environmental impact concerns.

That is why they work closely with the government to limit their impact. Their aim is to protect wildlife, plant trees, and to support the local populations impacted by their operations. You might be surprised to know that Treetop Asia hires hundreds of locals to serve as guides, cooks, hosts, managers, and drivers thus hugely giving back to the community.

“We have planted over 50,000 trees in the rainforest since we began operations. We fund it from admissions. We survey our courses several times a year to determine what we can do to protect fauna, wildlife, the rivers and the trees that traverse our courses. This includes trash patrols, re-routing of trails, and trail maintenance to name a few regular activities,” Jim said proudly.

Apart from their eco-friendly work, they have re-introduced the wild gibbon ape back into the Thai rainforest almost single handedly, thus the name of the company. “They were almost extinct when we entered the rainforest. We have full time caretakers for our Gibbon populations. Just recently a new baby gibbon girl was born in Mae Kampong. We work closely with experts in gibbon populations from Chiang Mai University and also from Khao Kheow Park,” added Jim.

At 800 meters long, Flight of the Gibbon offers the longest single cable zipline anywhere in Asia. On top of that, you cannot find denser rainforest anywhere else in the world than Thailand and Treetop Asia activates in premiere spots in Thailand due to their cooperative agreements with the Thai government.

The courses are designed so that they are also a guided tour of the rainforest for an average of about three hours per tour. While in other countries most ziplines feature a few cables and perhaps a half dozen platforms, in Thailand, Flight of the Gibbon has 33 platforms in Chiang Mai and 24 in Chonburi. That’s a huge difference to which you can add suspended skybridges, some of the highest abseils in the world and, of course, a chance to fly with the gibbons.

Jim remembers clearly the first time he saw the gibbons, on his second zipline ride: “They tumbled and frolicked and glided from branch to branch and made awesome sounds I had never heard before. I really understood the name of the company after that experience. You will fly a lot like a gibbon! They are really close and you can see them although they move so darn fast it’s hard to video them…but I tried!”

Currently, through October 31, 2013, Flight of the Gibbon is offering free 4-star hotel accommodations with each two ziplines purchased in Chiang Mai. To find out more about their offers, check out their excellent and informative website.