Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has pushed Chiang Mai to be the center of Thailand. One of the factors is community and one of the eco-tourism communities having significantly taken part in the program is hill-tribe community. To offer local communities opportunity in managing and conserving their own assets is very important because any tribe has their valuable arts and cultures, and being landlords in those places enables them to know well about nature and how to live friendly with surrounding environment, leading to environmental conservation and cultural preservation.
This research concerns about the impact of ecotourism on cultural and environmental issues which lead to the hill tribes’ response about natural conservation and cultural preservation actions. Researcher intends to study about hill tribes’ view point of environmental and cultural value, perception and action to protect environments and cultures through ecotourism program.
This thesis applied qualitative method using the Grounded Theory as methodology. In-depth interviews and observations of a small sample of individuals are used for data collection as qualitative information. The interviews were realized through field interview in tribal villages in Chiang Mai. The questionnaires consist of 13 primary questions related with the hill tribe people who are in the villages and are involved with communities. 27 people in 5 different tribes were interviewed.
In conclusion, this research has found the understanding of the view point and reactions of hill tribes about the concerns of environmental and cultural changes and their beliefs about value concerns of an environmental and cultural problem. This research also confirms the VBN model with model developed in from this research. The research can also assist all ecotourism stakeholders in Chiang Mai in planning and increasing their general operation to sustain environment and original local cultures.
It was found that the growth of the ecotourism in Chiang Mai hill tribes can afford economic chances for all stakeholders and become gratitude of ethnic minorities by the state. However, it increasingly generates conflictions among tribal villagers because of damages in natural resources and original local cultures. Instead of these destructions, the ecotourism should lead to sustainable tourism as tribal villagers do not have to completely depend on leisure industry for their earnings, and all stakeholders are responsible for preserving traditional culture and conserving the environment.
This research also provides an advice that in order to encourage and develop ecotourism; it is necessary for tribal villagers to take an essential position in management process with enthusiasm and self-respect. Moreover, the ecotourism should lead to sustainable tourism as tribal villagers do not completely depend on leisure industry for their earnings, and all stakeholders have to be accountable for preserving traditional culture and conserving the environment.

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