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."