The document discusses the impacts of tourism on Thailand's environment and economy. It summarizes that while tourism contributes significantly to Thailand's GDP and employment, it has also damaged the environment through pollution, deforestation, and coral bleaching. Additionally, Thailand has become notorious for sex tourism and child exploitation due to lax law enforcement. Unless more sustainable practices are implemented, the negative consequences of overtourism may undermine Thailand's tourism industry long term.

1. Mint Achanaiyakul
TSEA P1 - Mr. Sheridan
19 May, 2011
Sustainable Tourism: Salvaging Thailand’s Tourism Industry
Imagine that you are a tourist who has come to Thailand for a holiday. What you
expect to see is what has been depicted in advertisements that you have seen promoting the
country as an alluring destination for vacationers: beautiful, golden beaches that scintillate in
the warm, tropical sunshine and crystal-clear seas that teem with exotic, vibrant marine life.
Instead, when you arrive you find that the coastlines have receded and what little is left of
them are littered with trash, that the seas are a disgustingly dirty brown color, and that the
exquisite fish and corals are dead. This is exactly what has happened to most of the beaches in
Thailand.
Tourism in Thailand supposedly began when US soldiers and veterans came to seek respite
during the Vietnam War. In 1960, less than 100,000 tourists were coming to Thailand. However, when
Thailand became a rest and recreation site for U.S. soldiers, prostitution in Thailand experienced a
momentous increase in customers and tourism also flourished during this time (Lowe). “From 1980-
1987, the number of visitors increased by more than 10 per cent a year, reaching 3.48 million in 1987”
(Lowe). The prostitution business is not the only thing that appeals to tourists. Thailand is also famous
for its historical sites and other attractive sites such as waterfalls and natural forests. And this is why
so many people come to Thailand. However, the tourism industry of Thailand is the root cause of
many detrimental effects within the country. It has harmed the environment and is the source of the
country’s infamy. Furthermore, it is not a dependable contributor to the economy. The impacts of
tourism are affecting the country’s popularity and worsening the situation of its people. If no
immediate, significant action is done to prevent the harmful impacts then the country may be in dire
straits. Therefore, it is imperative that the government takes more measures towards preventing
tourism’s negative economic, social, and environmental effects.
Advocates of the tourism industry state that it generates large revenues to support the
economy in many parts of Thailand. And the industry does, in fact, contribute a large part to
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2. Mint Achanaiyakul
TSEA P1 - Mr. Sheridan
19 May, 2011
Thailand’s GDP. According to the South East Asia Tourism Monitor, the tourism industry accounts
for 6% of the GDP (gross domestic product) of the country (“Thailand’s ‘Redshirts’…”). Agriculture,
which is another main contributor to the Thailand’s economy, accounts for 10% of the country’s GDP.
However, almost 50% of the population is employed within this sector (Kisner). (This is because the
majority of the 65 million people who live in Thailand live in rural areas.) As you can see, the tourism
industry accounts for quite a high percentage of the GDP despite not employing as much people as
does the agricultural industry. Also, the amount of money that the tourism industry supplies for the
economy is very immense and Thailand relies on this money to maintain its financial system. In this
year alone, revenue from tourism is estimated to be about 622-640 billion baht (Chinmaneevong). This
is because many tourists come to Thailand, causing businesses to flourish. During the Songkran
Festival, Surapol Svetasreni, the TAT governor, stated that the average occupancy rate of hotels was
over 60% across the nation with about 3 million tourists generating an income of over 8 billion baht
for these hotels (Chinmaneevong). Another positive aspect of tourism in Thailand is that there are
many destinations in different parts of the country that are all generating income. In 2010, many
people stopped flying to Bangkok because of the political unrest that was happening there, but other
tourist hotspots, Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai in the north and the islands of Phuket and Koh Samui in
the south, were not affected by the demonstrations (Wohlfahrt).
Nevertheless, Thailand’s economy is dependent on the tourism industry, which is in turn
reliant on the stability of the country, and therefore easily affected. Last year, there were many
political demonstrations carried out by anti-government protesters called “Redshirts”. These protests
happened in downtown Bangkok and caused the death and injuries of many Thais as well as a few
foreigners, including a Japanese reporter. Because of this, tourists were cautioned against traveling to
Thailand. In fact, approximately forty countries had warned its citizens from traveling to Bangkok and
a hundred flights due from China were cancelled due to the political unrest (Wohlfahrt). This severely
hurt the tourism sector because fewer tourists meant less income for the country. As a result of fewer
tourists coming into Thailand, the businesses of bars and clubs in the popular, and usually very busy,
Silom-Patpong area of Thailand experienced a drastic drop in income because fewer customers - most
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3. Mint Achanaiyakul
TSEA P1 - Mr. Sheridan
19 May, 2011
of the businesses cater to expatriates - were using their services. A manager of a restaurant and pub in
Silom, Mr. Thammavaraporn, had said that during the violence, he had lost more than fifty percent of
his typical income (“Thailand’s ‘Redshirts’…”). Hotels, which usually thrive because of international
customers, as well, were also hurt. “Several hotels in Bangkok [ran] at roughly 30% occupancy, which
is about half their normal rate, while luxury hotels, like the Grand Hyatt Erawan Hotel or the Four
Season, [had] zero occupancy” (Wohlfahrt). The blemish that the protests left on Thailand’s image did
prevent tourists coming to the country for a while, but soon after this conflict was solved - some think
that the heart of the matter is not truly resolved - and the violent outbursts were put to an end, the
country was soon receiving the same number of visitors that it usually did. Evidently, however, the
tourism industry cannot be relied on as a stable source of income because it hinges on the image of the
country, which can be marred very suddenly and easily by incidents such as the demonstrations that
happened in 2010. Thus, the country is always at risk of losing visitors that contribute to its economy.
An additional positive aspect of the tourism industry, the Thai government claims, is that the
tourism industry provides employment for many people within the country. Because there are many
different occupations that are related to tourism, the tourism industry is able to employ a lot of people.
According to the TAT, the Tourism Authority of Thailand, approximately 1.8 million people work in
the tourism industry (“Thailand’s ‘Redshirts’…”). This is quite a large portion of the Thai population,
which consists of about 65 million people. The large numbers of tourists that come to Thailand also
cause the demand for employees in the industry to continually increase. In 2008, the country received
about 15 million international tourists (Thitthongkam and Walsh). Because a large number of tourists
come to Thailand each year, there is a high demand for people to work in the tourism industry. This is
why over ninety public and private universities currently offer tourism education. Public universities
include Chiang Mai University, Kasetsart University, and Mahidol University, while private
institutions include Assumption University, Bangkok University, and Dhurakij Pundit University
(Thitthongkam and Walsh). And in these educational institutes, various programs have been
developed for students intending to become employed in the many different areas of the tourism
industry. Areas of specialization include hotel services, hospitality services and tourism management
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4. Mint Achanaiyakul
TSEA P1 - Mr. Sheridan
19 May, 2011
(Thitthongkam and Walsh). Due to the need of employees in the tourism industry, the students that
major in tourism-related fields can be confident that they will be able to find jobs after graduation.
Even though advocates state that the tourism industry provides employment, the reality is that
many come to Thailand for the purpose of sex tourism and child molestation. Thailand is famous for
its red-light districts that provide for foreigners. These include the scandalous Silom and Patpong
roads. In Bangkok, about 36,000 go-go bars, massage parlors and nightclubs cater exclusively to sex
tourists (Smith). The bars and clubs are especially popular among sex tourists because of the slack
justice system in Thailand: prostitution is illegal but many prostitutes sit in these bars looking to
seduce male foreigners during the nighttime and sometimes even during the day. Therefore, it is no
surprise that when most people think of Thailand, they will often think of prostitutes in bars. A British
man, Brian Rudik told a reporter of the Guardian newspaper that the only reason that he came to
Thailand and the only reason that keeps him here is the go-go bars and the Thai women (Smith).
Thailand’s image is clearly sullied because it is notorious for its places of debauchery. However, not
only is Thailand the first choice for sex tourists, it is also a paradise for pedophiles. “Last year, 2,888
people were charged with having sex with children under 15 in Thailand. Thailand has become the
destination of choice for sex tourists looking to prey on children” (Rivers). This is a very shocking
figure. In Chiang Mai, there is even unit of officers dedicated to tracking down pedophiles because
there are so many cases related to pedophilia that occur in the province. In fact, there are so many of
them that the officers of this unit are unable to keep track of them all. Police Lt. Col. Apichart
Hattasin, who is a part of this unit, says that there are many people who talk of Thailand being a
heaven for pedophiles because of the lenient criminal justice system (Rivers). An example of a man
arrested for interfering with children is Karl Kraus, a 90-year old pedophile, who was accused of
molesting girls, one of which was as young as seven years old (Rivers). Another case is Cornel
Wietlisbach, a Swiss banker who was charged with abusing young boys in Chiang Mai. After pleading
guilty, Wietlisbach was only sent back to his home country and fined 4,000 baht (or 125 dollars) as a
punishment (Rivers). The severity of the punishment plainly does not correspond to the magnitude of
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5. Mint Achanaiyakul
TSEA P1 - Mr. Sheridan
19 May, 2011
the crime. This demonstrates that the criminal justice system is clearly inefficient and this is one of the
main reasons why sexual degenerates come to Thailand.
Another negative effect of the tourism industry is that it is destroying attractive landscape
sites. Three main impacts of the industry on the environment are deforestation, coastal erosion and
coral bleaching. Many trees are cut down to make space for the construction of tourist
accommodations. Recently, the Highways Department engineers chopped down approximately 130
trees along the road to Khao Yao National Park, a World Heritage site, despite being authorized to fell
only twenty. The people who were behind this decision argued this was done for the purpose of
making room for the traffic coming to the park on weekends. However, it is quite clear that it will be
the hotels and the playgrounds near the park that will benefit and not the park itself (“Thailand:
Old…”). Trees are very important as they play a crucial part of every ecosystem and many of these
trees are being cut down with the motivation to increase the capacity of tourists able to come to the
park. Furthermore, the shorelines of many beaches are receding because of tourists and tourism. In
1952, Pattaya Beach covered almost 100,000 square meters and the distance to the shoreline was
almost 40 meters. However, by the year 2002, the area of the beach had been reduced to only about
50,000 square meters, and the distance to the shoreline to a bit less than 19 meters (“Thailand: Pattaya
…”). The causes of erosion are the constructions of buildings near the coastline combined with the
excavation of soil for these constructions. Structures built to counteract the erosion have been
investigated and are shown to only exacerbate the problem (“Thailand: Pattaya …”). Coastal erosion is
also not only occurring in Pattaya but it “is a serious problem nationwide, with the country’s 2,666km
shoreline suffering erosion at different levels, many critically” (“Thailand: Pattaya …”). If the
coastlines of Thai beaches are being eroded at this rate, then, very soon, whole beaches will disappear
and this will affect the number of visitors coming to Thailand. Not only is coastal erosion occurring at
beaches, but the marine life is also being affected. Coral bleaching is happening because of the
carelessness of tourists who come into contact with the corals and raise sand from the seabed ("Coral
Reefs…”). A major cause of coral bleaching is land sediment. Land sediment is a big problem, Mr.
Plathong, a researcher of coral reefs, says. It is being washed into the sea because of the constructions
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6. Mint Achanaiyakul
TSEA P1 - Mr. Sheridan
19 May, 2011
of resorts and hotels occurring along the coast. This has gravely harmed coral reefs, which act as
habitats for fish (“Coral Reefs…”). The issue of coral bleaching will, if it has not already, not only
hurt tourism and diving businesses, but also prove to be very detrimental towards the fish species that
live in coral, causing them to die out.
As you can see, tourism in Thailand is very unsustainable: it is the cause of many economical,
social and environmental damages. While it is true that the tourism sector gives rise to a substantial
amount of income for the country, it is not a very stable source of income because the industry is
contingent on the country’s reputation. As shown by the political unrest in 2010, the tourism industry
is very vulnerable and any events that mar Thailand’s image may lead to tourists ceasing to visit.
Furthermore, many are of the opinion that the tourism business is good for Thai society because it
creates employment and many universities offer tourism as a field of study because of the high
demand for workers in the industry. On the contrary, it can also be detrimental to society because
many tourists come to Thailand for sex tourism. And not only is Thailand infamous for its bars and
nightclubs in Soi Cowboy, Patpong, or other prostitution areas, it also attracts pedophiles from other
countries because the justice system lets child abusers get away very easily and punishments are not
severe. Tourism has also caused, and is continuing to cause, drastic impacts on the environment of
many of the popular tourist locations: near Khao Yai Park, trees have been cut down to produce more
space for tourists; Pattaya beach has been significantly damaged due to coastal erosion; coral
bleaching has occurred in many diving sites within Thailand. Unless the Thai government gives rise to
sustainable tourism and ensures that tourism in Thailand creates a rewarding experience for visitors,
Thai citizens and the tourism companies, the business of tourism, which contributes significantly to
the economy, could collapse.
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7. Mint Achanaiyakul
TSEA P1 - Mr. Sheridan
19 May, 2011
Works Cited
Chinmaneevong, Chadamas. Tourism Body Cuts Arrival Estimate. BangkokPost.com.
Bangkok Post, 20 Apr. 2011. Web. 22 Apr. 2011.
"Coral Reefs Ruined - Sites to Be Closed." South Easy Asia Tourism Monitor. Vol. 2, No.1.
Jan. - Feb. 2011. Print.
Kisner, Corinne. Climate Change in Thailand: Impacts and Adaptation Strategies. Climate.org.
Climate Institute, Jul. 2008. Web. 17 May 2011.
Lowe, Felix. Thai Tourism. Guardian.co.uk. The Guardian, 15 Jan. 2006. Web. 13 May 2011.
Rivers, Dan. Thailand Fights to Stem Tide of Child Sex Tourists. CNN.co.uk. CNN, 5 Jul. 2010. Web.
11 May 2011.
Smith, David. One Night in Bangkok… But it Ends at Midnight. Guardian.co.uk.
The Guardian, 1 Feb. 2004. Web. 11 May 2011.
"Thailand: Old Trees Lost to Tourism." South East Asia Tourism Monitor. Vol. 1, No. 3.
May - Jun. 2010. Print.
"Thailand: Pattaya Beach Erosion ‘Critical’." South East Asia Tourism Monitor. Vol. 2, No. 1.
Jan. - Feb. 2011. Print.
"Thailand’s ‘Redshirts’ Spoil Parties." South East Asia Tourism Monitor. Vol. 1, No. 3.
May - Jun. 2010. Print.
Thitthongkam, Thavorn, and John Walsh. "Tourism Education at the Tertiary Level and Competitive
Advantage." Journal of Education and Vocational Research. Vol. 1, No. 1. Apr. 2011.
Web. 4 May 2011.
Wohlfahrt, Wiebke. Thailand: Facing Losses in Tourism Business. TourismReview.com.
Tourism Review, 26 Apr. 2010. Web. 1 May 2011.
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