BA HONS INTERNATIONAL TOURISM MANAGEMENT (TOP UP)

Ecotourism in Thailand

Introduction

Due to the present tourism industry, The World Tourism Organisation (WTO) believes that the growth of

the tourism industry will continue to expand in the distance future and it’s seem certainly to maintain its

growth in becoming one of the most important industries in the world. It generates at least 10% of Global

GDP and the number of international arrivals shows an evolution from a mere 25 million visitors per year

dated back since the 1950’s whereby in today’s world it is now estimated in having 800 million visitors

per year. (WTO, 2005; WTTC, 2008) However, the strong global demand for tourism does comes along

with the negative factors based on the impact on both natural environment and people who are

surrounding by it. Ecotourism is one of the most popular forms of tourism concepts, it has been into

public consciousness since late 1980s but it only recently has become popular concept to the

tourist/visitors due to strong advertisements and campaigning on eco friendly products and services,

increasing different knowledge’s on the fragility of the environment, making improvements by organising

various management teams based on feedbacks and performances, finally giving the recognition of a

close relationship between the ecology and growing economy itself since expanding from the 80’s into

the early 90’s. [ CITATION Ste \l 2057 ]

Many intriguing and countless attempts that have been made to define the unresolved conundrum that are

based on its core principles, this will includes environmental, sustainability, education, a nature base and

a conservation mandate or orientation (Blamey 1995; Buckley 1994; Ceballons-Lascurain, 1987;

Diamantis, 1999a; Hawkes and William 1993) Furthermore to add, The Nature Conservancy has recently

defined ecotourism that has adopted articulately by the World Conservation Union (IUCN) it quotes:

"Environmentally responsible travel to natural areas, in order to enjoy and appreciate nature

(and accompanying cultural features, both past and present) that promote conservation, have a low

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visitor impact and provide for beneficially active socio-economic involvement of local peoples"

[ CITATION The101 \l 2057 ]

It is very comprehensive and analogous to The International Ecotourism Society (TIES)‘s definition of

ecotourism as it has characterises Ecotourism as

“responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and sustains the well-being

of local people”. [ CITATION TIE10 \l 2057 ]

In fact, with the quotes of the definitions been mentioned above, the problem is that it is still yet to live up

to its promises and expectations in making ecotourism a true reality for the people and environment.

The aim of this case study is to develop a understating and to present a critical evaluation of ecotourism

affecting in Thailand which includes the Initiation of Ecotourism in Thailand, the consideration of

discussing on policy and community who are involved, additional with critically discuss actions and

decisions taken regarding to the ecotourism in Thailand.

Initiation of Ecotourism in Thailand

The continent of Asia is currently experiencing exceeding rapid growth in tourism worldwide. Due to

research on the global trends in tourism, it has been reveal that the most popular tourist destinations have

increasingly spread to less wide developed countries, particularly in Southeast Asia such as Thailand and

Indonesia. (UNEP, 2002) (see appendix 1) According to The Kingdoms of Thailand or “Siam” back in

the 1940’s, it is endowed with abundant tourism resources such as beautiful landscape, the culture, food

and weather. With all the significant beautiful tourism resources that Thailand has, these have bring

Thailand become one of the most popular destination worldwide. The success of the tourism industry is

evidenced by the fact that it has generated significant revenue and income circulating throughout the

country. Tourism in Thailand accounts for about 6.5 percent of the nation’s GDP. In the year 2007,

international tourism brought in 547 billion Baht which accounts to about 16 billion dollars in the US.

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[ CITATION Sta10 \l 2057 ] (see appendix 2) Plus, according to many of the statistics and polls, Thailand

has been ranked one of the top 10 most-visited destinations in Asia’s destinations category and as well as

worldwide for many years, the examples include such as the results of the TripAdvisor Traveler's Choice

2010 awards which ranked Thailand as the third place[ CITATION Tra101 \l 2057 ] and also with the

Guardian News which ranked Thailand at the18th in the world and the fifth in the Asia region. [ CITATION

Fel06 \l 2057 ] Thailand has also push hard on campaigning and launching many promotional products

and services to potential holiday makers in their own tourism industry especially after back in December

2004, the horrific Tsunami natural disaster. The Thai tourism industry manage to steadily got back on its

two feet by making heavily advertising the "Amazing Thailand" campaign on TV, events and other source

of media, it is later has been a successfully brand globally as a popular tourist destination for tourists.

[ CITATION Mar06 \l 2057 ]

As a result, much of the tourism in Thailand is growing rapidly as mentioned already due to the expense

of cultural and environmental preservation. But however, with that success, there is comes with

increasing pressure of accommodating an ever-increasing number of tourists each year. The shift towards

ecotourism in Thailand one of many reasons includes due to the response on the negativity on the

environmental impact of the growth in mass tourism. In a keynote that was being addresses in the “4th

International Conference about the Sustainable Tourism: Community-based Ecotourism Development in

the Asia Pacific”, H.E. Mr Adisai Bhodharamik, Minister to the Prime Minister’s Office who was in

charge of Thailand’s tourism affairs, states and quoted that Thailand have been suffering from the past

tourism development which causes real damage to both the natural and cultural environment in and

around the country and its need to find an new, eco- friendly and economical approaches and methods

which will help develop tourism and also tackling the negative impact that has already cause already on

their culture and natural environment. (cited by Thavarasukha, 2002) Furthermore, the research shown

that this issue arisen since in 1997, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has listed about 172 tourist

sites as having severe environmental problems relating to the destruction of resources and pollution in

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several locations (Tourism Authority of Thailand, 1997). TAT has tried to change its tourism

development into a new direction by placing sustainable development at the core of their policies and

strategies which TAT in addition has defined ecotourism as

“a responsible travel destination in many areas that contains the natural resources that possess

endemic characteristics, and cultures plus the amazing history, that are integrated into the area’s

ecological system. Its purpose is to create full awareness among all concerned parties and to measure the

used of conserve ecosystems and the communities who are participation as well as the provision of a joint

learning experience in sustainable tourism and environmental management.” (Tourism Authority of

Thailand, 1997)

Not only that, according to Thailand has so many potential natural resources to offer as there have been

nearly 420 units protected areas of various descriptions (see appendix 3) such as the well known national

park of Doi Suthep – Pui and khao yai which are situated between 3 provinces in Thailand, there also

about 1060 historical and cultural sites, such as the ancient city of Ayutthaya and countless number of

urban and rural tourist destinations across the country.[ CITATION Sta11 \l 2057 ] Many areas in Thailand

have already suffered from rapid tourism development such as the beaches and coastal areas such as Kra-

bi and Phuket for example. [ CITATION Aswo1 \l 2057 ] In given the rapid growth and the impact of

tourism based on cultural diversity and the environment surround it, it is important that the future of

tourism in Thailand takes this direction to promotes responsible travel for their tourist.

As a result, there are many stakeholders have been involved on tourism policy, planning and development

in recent years. There has been geared up to another level by being welled prepared, organise and more

sustainable tourism development, with an emphasis on community participation, non-exploitation, and

safety of tourists. These will be discussing more in the next section, as this study will concentrate on

policy and community of ecotourism in Thailand.

Policy for ecotourism in Thailand

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As mentioned, Thailand has much of potential to offer for ecotourism demand, which is due to the

country’s abundant natural resources and unique cultural resources. There are more than 600 attractions

suitable to be developed as ecotourism destinations and most of them are in National Parks. However, the

standard of ecotourism services is still low. At present, ecotourism operators have, in general, not reached

the required standard and there is a great need for instruction and support by the relevant agencies.

Moreover, most of the existing focus is on adventure travel and nature appreciation rather than the more

serious educational aspects of travel in a natural and cultural setting. The latter would have greater impact

on the goal of promoting sustainability.

While a variety of relevant organisations cooperate with each other on general issues, more cooperation is

needed at the specific level and a better network is required. The involvement among agencies,

organisations and the local community is limited and unbalanced. Therefore, it is essential that there

should be a government policy to promote and manage ecotourism. As mentioned, Tourism Authority of

Thailand recognised the importance and necessity for an ecotourism national policy in Thailand. A study

underpinning such a policy has been conducted and action has been taken, including setting aside an

annual budget to be used on ecotourism development plans and projects. Furthermore, an ecotourism

network has been established in Thailand which will place an emphasis on knowledge and services so as

to raise awareness of ecotourism among the relevant organisations in both the public and private sectors,

and it will include participation by local people.

The National Ecotourism Policy was developed and was to follow in 2001 by the National Ecotourism

Action Plan (2002–2006) to provide a suitable framework of implementation and coordination among

their fellow stakeholders who has invested a lot of money into this industry (Tourism Authority of

Thailand, 2001). The policy provides an operating framework and guidelines as to promote effective

implementation, a network of ecotourism organisations was to be established with an emphasis on

knowledge and service information and cooperation among local people. (Tourism Authority of Thailand,

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2010) The policy has been break into deferent main factors related to the management guidelines are

necessary which help them make better understanding and accurate;

1) Guidelines for the management of tourism areas, and the conservation of the environment

2) Guidelines for communicating and giving educational services

3) Guidelines for encouraging participation from the local people and giving benefits to them

4) Guidelines for the prevention of the negative impact on culture

5) Marketing guidelines

Community

Tourism has a massive impact on the host community. It is also possible to better understand the impact

of tourism on the tourist. Tourism in Thailand is becoming mass tourism and thus will become a greater

income generator for the host community allowing them to improve their lifestyles. However, Buddhism

is strongly indented into the Thai culture and tourism has not effected or changed the religion, which

shows signs of a strong culture. The influence of tourism on the host community has however taken its

toll as Thailand’s economy, amongst other aspects, has become too dependent on tourism and according

to Our World people feel that change and development due to increased tourism is happening too fast.

Moreover, the rapid change is due to the tourists’ increase need for tourism and their demand for better

facilities and long haul holidays. These negative impacts have led the Thai government to introduce

proper legislation to protect the poor Thai people and prevent tourists from destroying Thailand.

According to Thai Tour, the government is looking to establish a ‘multi-agency’ task force to stop the

confusion among the many different tourism departments in Thailand.

Actions and decisions of Ecotourism

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According to the decisions taken regarding to the ecotourism in Thailand, this study has been done into

several of example into various main management areas as mentioned above. Many of campaigns,

promoting and even the policies and frameworks have been made along the line since the ecotourism

established in Thailand. All the stakeholders both profitable and non-profitable have come together and

plan the best for ecotourism industry in Thailand.

The first prime example is according to the tourism government role. By done the research, TAT have

creates and promotes the great campaigns, monitoring system and controlling the standard of products

and services regard to ecotourism; these includes the promote of Green tourism campaign as addressed by

Mr Suraphon Svetasreni, Governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, from the World Green Tourism

Conference at Abu Dhabi, additional with the Thailand’s Pollution Control Department (PCD) which

responsible for the monitoring and management of environmental quality in coastal areas.(Tourism

Authority of Thailand, 2010)

Furthermore, according the Guidelines for the management of tourism areas, and the conservation of the

environment section; TAT stated to considering measures to seriously limit the number of tourist in

environmentally fragile areas. From my opinion, this is another the best way to resolve all the problems

such as for natural resource environment and tourist satisfaction in case of carrying capacity. The prime

example for this is the case study of Northern Trekking in Thailand.

Northern Thailand is an area, where it is believed, that ecotourism may have begun more than 20 years

ago. The hilly, forested area of northern Thailand is inhabited mainly by hill tribes comprising of as many

as 23 different ethnic groups (Bhruksasri 1989). Major tribes are Karen, Yao, Hmong, Akha, Lahu and

Lisu. Although the hill tribe community has demanded special attention from the Thai government, their

authentic culture has been an attraction to foreign travellers.

Each year, about 100,000 trekkers travel to the north of Thailand to visit the hill tribe villages and observe

their culture and life style. Walking through the wilderness of the northern forests, elephant rides and

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rafting are usually part of the trekking package. These trekking tours generate about 53 million baht in

income each year. This income is derived from accommodation, handicrafts, transportation (elephant

riding and rafting) and miscellaneous services, such as food and drinks, opium sale, posing and marijuana

sale (Dearden 1991). Although this type ecotourism has been an important foreign exchange earner, it has

also damaged the environment and destroyed hill tribe culture.

While trekking may provide an alternative income to the hill tribe villages, it has also disrupted their

culture in many ways. Resulting from over-visitation, many hill tribes villages have become

commercialized. In some villages, permanent huts are built for the travellers, soft drinks and beer are

made available, tribal dancing is performed at a price, traditional costumes are worn for commercial

photographing and begging is not uncommon.

This cultural destruction has eventually become a cost to the trekking business as the trekkers are

unsatisfied with the lack of authenticity due to over-visitation and commercialization. Tour companies

operating trekking businesses responded to this change by searching for remote hill tribe villages.

Geographically, trekking activities originated around the Kok river area and moved to Chiang Dao and

Wieng Papao. When these areas became over-visited, the business moved again to Doi Inthanon, Mae

Taeng, Pai, and Om Koi.

It can be surmised here that the trekking business which explores the hill tribe culture in northern

Thailand is an example of ecotourism and has earned substantial income for the local people. However,

income generated from this business was not used to foster or maintain the hill tribe culture.

Mismanagement and over-visitation further damage the trekking business as well as the sustainability of

the hill tribe culture.

Conclusion

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The existing national forest policy of Thailand has placed great emphasis on ecotourism. The forest

policy states that ecotourism needs to be recognized as a forestry activity that should be promoted within

the carrying capacity of nature (Ahsan, 2007). Besides, National Tourism Policy was declared in 1992

with the objectives, among others, to create interest in tourism among the people, to preserve, protect,

develop, and maintain tourism resources, to take steps for poverty-alleviation through creating

employment, and to open up a recognized sector for private capital investment (National Tourism

Organization, 2009). In line with the policy, the government provides incentives to attract private sector

partners. The incentives include tax-holiday, loans, and concession rates for taxes and duties and in

specific cases, allotment of land, and the like.

In conclusion, though local communities are major stakeholders, all the past forest-based tourism

development efforts by the government agencies followed a top-down approach without appropriate

consultation with the local people and communities who would likely be benefited or affected. This is the

reason behind the conflict among the stakeholders, and such conflict is ultimately hindering development

of this industry as a whole. For sustainable development and operationalisation of ecotourism the voice

and feelings of local community members should be taken under consideration. They should be given

access and rights to operate and deliver ecotourism activities in the tourism spots of forest areas.

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