Tourism assaults Thailand's pristine isle

Tourism assaults Thailand's pristine isle

Denis Gray, Associated Press, Koh Chang, Thailand

First come the reconnaissance teams, the backpackers, followed by
light infantry, the local tourist operators. Then the last wave
storms ashore: big Thai and international developers firing
salvos of cash and corporate savvy.

With military precision, one stunning but poorly defended
tropical island after another in Thai waters has been overrun in
the tourism onslaught. Phuket, Samui, Phi Phi, Samet - all these
once idyllic islands have suffered through unbridled, profit-
first development.

Now, Thailand's cash-starved government has trained its guns
on the last large piece of paradise, aiming to transform the
island of Koh Chang into a theme park for rich foreigners.

"The island would generate huge revenue for the country if it
were fully developed," says Plodprasop Suraswadi, who heads a
special body to oversee this development.

But this time around, the Thai government, well aware of past
failures, promises that Koh Chang will be done right.

Set in the Gulf of Thailand 270 kilometers southeast of
Bangkok, Koh Chang is indeed a jewel. A national park covers
about 75 percent of the island, helping preserve a rich evergreen
forest which clothes hillsides rising from a narrow coastal
strip. Beaches, waterfalls, coral gardens and bird life abound.

A master plan has not yet been completed, but officials
already are talking about hotels for guests willing to pay
US$1,000 a night. Smaller islands in the Koh Chang archipelago
would be set aside for golf, water sports, exclusive jungle
safaris and a casino.

Plodprasop says that proper infrastructure and zoning, strict
regulations on building and transport - an electric train is
being bruited -and a focus on eco-tourism will be given high
priority. An environmental impact assessment is promised.

"However," Plodrasop adds. "I cannot guarantee that Ko Chang
will not end up like Phuket which has been extensively damaged by
tourism."

No matter how good the government's intention, Thailand's
freewheeling economic forces are already ahead of the planners.

A feeding frenzy erupted as soon as Prime Minister Thaksin
Shinawatra announced his vision for Koh Chang last October.

As prices soared, speculators and developers scooped up land
held by villagers for generations. Racing to beat new regulations
going into effect in coming months, developers are now engaged in
soon-to-be forbidden, already illegal or simply inappropriate
activities.

A lagoon is being dredged, mangrove swamps cut down, national
park land violated. One upmarket resort dumps its sewage right
into the sea. Cookie-cutter bungalows are being hastily marshaled
on beaches and once forested slopes.

A parliamentary committee is investigating alleged
encroachment on public land by the Aiyapura Resort, the island's
most luxurious, and obstruction of its investigation by the prime
minister's deputy secretary-general, Police Lt. Gen. Preecha
Suwannarat. Preecha has close ties to the hotel.

"It's probably wishful thinking that Koh Chang will be
different. I see a repetition of Phuket in many ways, but it's
going to move faster here," says Chayant Pholpoke, an
environmentalist who monitors tourism in Thailand.

Highrises have risen on Phuket's beaches despite regulations
about buildings "no higher than the tops of coconut trees." On
other resort islands, the story is much the same.

Tourists are complaining about garbage and water pollution on
the once pristine beaches of Samui and authorities fear water
shortages due to unplanned growth. Samet and Phi Phi, both
national parks, have sprouted dense construction, bars and pizza
parlors through legal loopholes or outright violations of park
laws.

The campaign to develop remoter, still untouched islands in
the Andaman Sea and Gulf of Thailand continues.

Koh Chang, Thailand's second largest island, was like many
"discovered" by foreign backpackers in the 1980s. Access then was
by fishing boat, there was no electricity, just strips of dirt
road and basic bungalows put up by friendly islanders.

This year the government's Tourism Authority of Thailand
expects 400,000 visitors, and by the time Koh Chang becomes a
special administration zone Oct. 1 a broad, paved road should
circle the island. Internet cafes now flourish.

Along with entrepreneurs, migrants from all over Thailand are
flocking in to set up stalls or work in the tourism business.
They could soon outnumber the island's native population of
6,000.

"The development is too fast. The people here are just farmers
and fishermen. They have no business experience. They don't know
how to cope with the smart outsiders," says Wittaya Noppawan, the
son of a fisherman who runs a small, simple bungalow resort.

But it is unlikely that brakes will be applied: tourism is the
shining star in a bleak economy trying to emerge from the 1997
Asian crisis. Government policy is to go all out for tourist
revenue.

Wittaya and other islanders say some have profited from their
sale of land and are pleased to see more cash flowing into Koh
Chang. Other, now landless, residents have squandered their
windfalls through drink, gambling and dubious schemes and are
forced to work for minimal wages as hotel employees or laborers.

Inhabitants are being consulted about the future of their
island, government officials say. But critics are skeptical.

"People are told only about the positive sides of development,
not the downsides," argues Wittaya, who has started a program to
teach school children about the value of preserving their
environment and culture.

"It's David versus Goliath. Villagers say they don't know what
is happening. They don't know their rights. They are afraid to
express their opinions," says Anita Pleumarom of the Tourism
Investigation and Monitoring Team, a non-governmental
organization.

Anita says Koh Chang's culture is being rapidly eroded just
when plans are being laid to attract so-called "sun-plus"
visitors who want authentic culture along with their beach time.

To provide one cultural experience, the Tourism Authority of
Thailand has put in money and know-how into Bang Bao, a
traditional fishing village built on stilts set in a lovely bay.

One enters the village near the "Smile Karaoke," then proceeds
along a newly constructed cement boardwalk which allows easy
viewing inside the living and bedrooms of residents.

One guesthouse resembles a Swiss chalet, while a number of
other houses have been converted to seafood restaurants, where
owners count their gains and relax after the last lunch customers
have left. Nearby, fishermen repair nets under the sweltering
sun.

"Before, nobody on the island had any money but we all helped
each other," said Wittaya. "Now we are separated into those who
have and those who do not have."