About 500.000 hill tribe people are living in the mountain areas of the northern part of Thailand, and the number of foreign trekkers to hill tribe villages has been increasing annually since late 1960s. This trekking tour has some negative impacts on their life and culture, while it gives them a considerable amount of economic benefits. It is reccommendable that tourism will contribute to the upgrading of their standard of living hereafter, taking its negative aspects into consideration.
