[sustran] How Enviornment Friendly is Tourism?

[kisan mehta]

Dear Paul and Sustran Colleagues as well
as our friends Bessie and Manitripathi,

Copying below is an article published in the
Mumbai edition of the Times of India on 30
Jan 2002.   We are tutored that tourism is a
clean practice for earning foreign exchange.
The following would show that this is not true.

Practically all developing (poor) countries are
required to do everything to earn foreign exhange
so that they can cover up a part of their
uncontrolled imports come up following the
working of the globalisation.  Consumerism is
being promoted at every stage at tremendous
cost to generations yet unborn.   Globalisation
and free market access in practice!
Best wishes.

Priya Salvi and Kisan Mehta

Article from the Times of india

Thai beaches die in tourist invasion

 By Michael Sheridan

BANGKOK:  The Thai island made famous by The
Beach has become so overrun by tourists since
Leonardo DiCarpio and the film's cast and crew
that officials are calling for it to be closed to
visitors for up to two years to save its fragile
ecosystem.

The fate of Koh Phi Phi has become a symbol of
threat to Thailand's outstanding natural beauty
along a coastline that is increasingly threatened
as developers rush to make quick profits at a
heavy cost to the environment

According to Colonel Sanit  Meephan,   commander
of the local tourist police, Koh Phi Phi has been
spoilt by pollution and hordes of visitors.  He
suggests that it be sealed off while the infrastructure
is improved and the mess cleaned up. Predictably,
his proposal has been opposed by the Tourism
Authority of Thailand, which is mindful of the fact
that tourists generate an estimated Pounds
160,000 a day in revenues on the island.

 "What about the residents who make their
living from tourism? What about the operators,
who invested in the island? And what about
the country which is in need of foreign
exchange," said the authority's deputy
governor Juthamas Siriwan.

The skewed balance between profit and
preservation is turning into a potential tragedy
for Thailand.  Almost every week brings news
of more devastation and uncontrolled building.

One of the worst recent incidents occurred just
21 miles south of Koh Phi Phi, when a group of
foreign divers found that fishermen using dynamite
had all but destroyed two coral reefs, Hin Deang
and Hin Muang, famed for their population of
marine life, including manta rays and barracuda.

The attack has angered dive tour operators, who
say that the Thai authorities have just raised fees
fivefold for tourists, with the excuse that the money
is needed to pay for protection.

Alastair Beveridge , president of the Phukety
Dive Operators Club, says the charges mean that
the Thai government will raise more than Pounds
300,000 in fees next year.  "We don't mind
handing over the money, and nor do our clients,
but we want to see some evidence of where it is
being spent," he said.

On paper, Thailand has an excellent system of
national parks covering many of the most delicate
coastal and diving areas.  But unbridled tourism,
often aided and abetted by corrupt officials, has
brought disaster to some areas.

Environmental campaigners say that Coral
Island, near Phuket, has been destroyed.  The
biggest blow came when a Thai tour operator
took elephants onto the beach to give tourists
rides across the shallow coral reefs.

Large quantities of elephant urine and faeces,
plus the weight of the beasts, rapidly destroyed
coral that had taken 8,000  years to grow.

"Thailand has a hundred conservation laws but a
problem with law enforcement,"  said Dr   Thon   Thamrongnawasawat, an
expert in fishery at
Bangkok's Kasetsart  University.

Environmental campaigners also point to a
lack of resources for emergencies.

Last week, a huge oil slick from  Panamian tanker
was reported to be menacing beaches in the
popular resorts of Rayong Bay, southeast of
Bangkok.  But even as local authorities  try to
balance their natural resources against demands
for instant tourist revenues, the government is
sending its own signals about development.
Last week it was revealed that a government
committee is working on a development plan for
the unspoilt island of Koh Chang, which lies off
the east coast towards Cambodia.

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