environmental impacts of tourism in thailand

Sustainable Tourism in Thailand – Ecotourism, Wildlife and Culture Guide

• Last Updated: January 19, 2024

Thailand, the Land of Smiles, has firmly cemented itself as one of the most popular tourist destinations on the planet.

With 39 million people visiting the Southeast Asian nation in 2019 , the word is well and truly out on just how magical Thailand really is.

The international tourism industry in Thailand really started back in the 1970s, when travellers made their way here along the old ‘Hippie Trail’ from England.

This paradise was their reward after months of tough overlanding, with swaying palm trees, white-sand beaches, hospitable locals, and some of the tastiest food imaginable.

Today the magic is still alive and well in Thailand, and with so many incredible places to visit , it’s the kind of place you can visit again and again and always discover something new.

Locals welcome tourists with open arms, excited to show their local culture and customs to visitors and to improve their own livelihoods through businesses that cater to international travellers.

The impacts of the tourism industry on Thailand haven’t always been positive though, and with the growing number of people coming every year, there has been a number of issues arise.

As a responsible traveller , it’s important for us all to do our part to protect the countries we visit, including the environment, culture, local community, and wildlife.

READ MORE: Don’t miss our comprehensive guide to sustainable tourism .

Table of Contents

Closing Popular Tourist Destinations

‘no foam no plastic’, new heaven reef conservation, elephant nature park, the soi dog foundation, the gibbon project, phuket, bangkok tree house, soneva kiri – koh kood, rabeang pasak treehouse resort – chiang mai, always show respect to the king, do not turn your back towards buddha, watch where you point your feet, do not touch a person’s head, show respect to the monks, dress modestly, cover-up in temples, do not raise your voice, try to learn a few thai words, barter, but don’t be extreme, long-neck tribes, minimise your plastic use, do not litter, take public transport where possible, oceans and marine parks, travel off the beaten path, local community based tourism in thailand, sustainable tourism in thailand – the ultimate guide.

We’ve been fortunate enough to spend almost an entire year travelling and living in Thailand, and it is honestly one of our favourite countries in the world.

As part of our travels we’ve seen the best, and worst, of tourist behaviour and impacts here, which is why we have published this guide.

We are big advocates for sustainable tourism, and we are pleased to see it’s not just a global trend, but a movement that even the Thai government is taking very seriously.

Before you decide to travel to the Land of Smiles, make sure you read up on these tips and ideas on how to travel to Thailand responsibly.

The Thai Government’s Own Initiatives

In recent years, the Thai government has seen the impacts of the tourism industry, both positive and negative, and has taken a firm stance to improve sustainability throughout the Kingdom.

It’s uplifting to see a government take what may seem like drastic measures to protect their own environment and local culture, and they have become an example to other Asian nations on how sustainable tourism can really be beneficial.

To read more about this, be sure to check out their dedicated website, 7 Greens .

Here are some examples of what they have done in recent years.

Every year the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation takes extreme measures to protect the most heavily-visited regions of the country by closing them to tourists.

The biggest example of this when Thailand closed Maya Bay, the island close to Koh Phi Phi , which was made famous when featured in the movie The Beach.

Over the years Maya Bay became a victim of its own beauty, with millions of tourists flocking into the narrow cove.

The huge numbers of people resulted in severe damage to the ecosystem, with marine life disappearing, waters becoming polluted and trash piling up.

The government closed access to the island in June 2018, citing the need for it to recover.

They are doing similar things to other popular destinations, often during the rainy season when the environment is at its most fragile, and are seeing excellent results.

On some of the most popular beaches in Thailand, the government has completely banned smoking.

They saw the damage cigarettes were doing, with tourists and locals leaving their butts on the ground, and the smoke causing health issues, and decided to remove the problem completely.

This ban is in effect in Phuket, Phang-nga, Krabi, Trang, Samui, Hua Hin, Cha-am, Chon Buri, Rayong and Trat.

The other big initiative that the Thai government and local businesses have introduced as of August 2018 is banning single-use plastics from all 154 national and regional parks around the country.

And in 2020 Thailand took it a step further by banning single-use plastic bags, with an aim to have these completely eradicated from all stores by 2021.

Ecotourism in Thailand

What is ecotourism? It is defined as: “tourism directed towards exotic, often threatened, natural environments, intended to support conservation efforts and observe wildlife.”

The concept of ecotourism in Thailand isn’t new, but it was always more of a niche offering compared to the typical resort-style travel that many visitors would do.

Today it is a different story though, and more and more businesses are incorporating ecotourism practices into their products.

You can find a variety of conservation projects in Thailand, focused on sustainable travel and environment and wildlife protection.

Environment Conservation Projects

Here are some of our favourite conservation projects focusing on sustainable travel and the environment:

Based on the spectacular island of Koh Tao, the New Heaven Reef Conservation , this organisation runs marine-specific courses and projects to protect and study the underwater world in the Gulf of Thailand.

Trash Hero is an initiative that has gone global but was started right in Bangkok.

According to their website, “TRASH HERO  is an energetic, volunteer-led movement that drives change within communities around the world, motivating and supporting them to clean and prevent plastic waste.”

So next time you’re in Bangkok, get in touch with them and join the crew for a waste clean-up.

Wildlife Conservation Projects

We’ll go into the wildlife activities further below in the article, but there are some excellent wildlife conservation projects that you can support when practicing sustainable travel in Thailand.

By far the best elephant sanctuary and conservation project in Thailand, Elephant Nature Park has been committed to protecting elephants since 1998.

Founded in Chiang Mai by the incredible Thai lady, Lek, ENP now has a number of projects around the country, as well as in Cambodia and soon Myanmar.

You can visit Elephant Nature Park for a day, or even volunteer for up to a month.

The Soi Dog Foundation has made it their mission to protect the thousands of stray dogs that are found all over Thailand and to end the dog meat trade in Southeast Asia.

You can help out by donating to their cause, or volunteering when in Bangkok or Phuket.

The Gibbon Project is a fantastic conservation initiative that can be found in the popular resort town of Phuket.

The project rescues and rehabilitates these gorgeous, yet endangered, monkeys and then reintroduces them into protected natural habitats.

You can visit their facility in Phuket if you book ahead.

Wildlife Activities

Thailand is home to several impressive wildlife species, which many tourists naturally want to see when they travel to the country.

In general, the best way to stay responsible when it comes to travelling in Thailand is to not take part in any activity that exploits wildlife.

Perhaps the main animal people would like to see in Thailand is an elephant.

These beautiful, intelligent, and enormous creatures live deep in the jungles of Thailand and have been a part of local culture for centuries.

But did you know there is an estimated 3800 captive elephants in Thailand, with perhaps less than 1000 in the wild ?

One popular activity is to ride an elephant in Thailand, however, this is actually a very irresponsible thing to do for several reasons.

• An elephant, while very strong, has not evolved to carry weight on its back.
• The process of ‘breaking’ an elephant in order for it to be safe around tourists is extremely distressing.
• Elephants used for riding are often overworked and malnourished in order to maximise their profit margin.

It is extremely important that you never ride an elephant, no matter how much you think it would be ‘fun’ or ‘cool’, and never visit an elephant show where they are forced to perform tricks.

Instead, it is much more wholesome to visit a reputable elephant sanctuary where the animals have been rescued and placed in a protected natural environment to live out their lives the way they were meant to.

Spending time around an elephant is an experience you will never forget, and is something you absolutely should do while visiting Thailand, but please do so in an ethical and responsible way.

We highly recommend the following sanctuaries:

• Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai
• Surin Project in Surin
• Elephant Haven in Kanchanaburi

Another popular attraction for first-time visitors to Thailand are the ‘Tiger Temples’ that offer the chance to get up close and personal with a tiger.

As tempting as it is to get your selfie with a tiger, the truth is that what happens behind the scenes at these places doesn’t always have the tigers’ best interests at heart.

A tiger sanctuary in Kanchanaburi was raided in 2016 due to suspected trafficking and illegal breeding, and the Thai government ultimately seized all the animals that were on the property.

So where can you see a tiger in Thailand?

The World Wildlife Fund estimated that there are only 189 tigers in the wild , so unfortunately the chance of seeing one in the wild is very slim.

It’s not all bad news though. Tigers have recently been caught on tracking cameras in the far north of the country, showing that they are starting to make a comeback thanks to the Thai government’s restrictions on poaching and illegal logging.

There are currently no ethical tiger sanctuaries in Thailand.

There are five different types of monkeys in Thailand, and you will find them everywhere.

If you head to the south of the country they are extremely prominent around the islands, especially in places like Krabi.

Seeing them is always quite exciting, however, just like elephants, many macaques in Thailand have been captured and forced to perform tricks and shows for tourists.

Don’t support these shows, and instead hope to see some monkeys in the wild.

READ MORE: Be sure to read our comprehensive guide to travelling Thailand here .

Eco-friendly Accommodation in Thailand

Thailand has every style of accommodation you could ever imagine, from world-class 5-star resorts to basic bamboo shacks.

When it comes to choosing the level of luxury you want, the limit really is only your wallet.

However, on an eco level, the 5-star resort might be worse than the bamboo shack when it comes to looking after the environment.

This can be for a number of reasons, whether it is due to overtourism, large resorts not being able to control their environmental footprint properly, or putting an emphasis on profits.

And the larger the resort, the larger the impact. That’s why it’s important to look for eco-friendly accommodation when you practice sustainable travel in Thailand.

So what makes a hotel or guesthouse eco-friendly?

We wrote a dedicated post on how to choose sustainable accommodation here , but let us give the main pointers again.

This is what a hotel can do to try and focus more on sustainable travel:

• Limiting energy consumption
• Limiting water consumption
• Reducing waste production
• Using renewable energy
• Promoting environmental education
• Contributing profits to green charities
• Using recycled and locally-sourced products

It seems pretty straightforward, and in all likelihood, you’re probably doing a lot of these things in your own home as well.

But when it comes to the hotel industry, it’s easy to do what is known as ‘greenwashing’, where they claim to be eco-friendly by doing a few things like telling guests to watch their water use, but then don’t do anything else on their end.

We recommend you give the article above a good read to get a better idea of this, but for now let us showcase some of the best eco-friendly hotels in Thailand.

Located in a literal jungle deep in the urban jungle of Bangkok, the Bangkok Tree House is one example of an accommodation that is not only doing their part to protect the environment, but also providing a unique experience for their guests.

Their ‘nests’ live high in the canopy, and you’re sure to fall in love with what they have built.

Bangkok Tree House is also fully committed to being green, and they’ve minimised their carbon footprint in every way possible.

They also use vertical gardens to grow their food and vegetables, and recycle or reuse all of their materials.

The island of Koh Kood is the go-to destination for lovers of luxury, and the swaying palm trees over powder sand beaches is a real drawcard.

If you do visit, we recommend staying at the number 1 eco-resort on the island – Soneva Kiri .

This is the one place where you can splurge out for an unparalleled experience (each villa comes with private infinity pools and a personal butler), knowing that your money is supporting community-based tourism and protecting the environment.

Soneva Kiri puts their profits towards coral restoration projects and supporting local communities, raising close to $6 million for people in need.

They are also completely carbon neutural and a pillar of sustainable travel.

If you’re travelling on a budget but still want to do what you can to support sustainable travel and ecotourism in Thailand, it’s worth checking out Rabeang Pasak Treehouse Resort in Chiang Mai.

The property is made up of sustainably-built treehouses just outside of the city, set in a stunning forest landscape with a focus on minimising their footprint.

The eco friendly facilities are basic, but you’ll fall in love with the simple way of living surrounded by the sound of nature.

Culture and Customs – Respecting the Locals

You may feel that sustainable tourism is all about protecting the environment and wildlife, but there is another element that needs to be considered – the human element.

One of the big rewards of travelling the world is having the chance to learn about new cultures, and in Thailand, the culture is one of the most fascinating you can encounter.

The predominantly-Buddhist nation is built on the ethos of kindness, hospitality and respect, and as soon as you touch down here for the first time you’ll know exactly what we mean.

People bow (known as wai) to greet to each other with a warm “Sa wa dee”, and they finish each sentence with “ka” or “krup”, depending on whether they’re addressing a male or female, as a sign of courtesy and respect.

A visit to a Buddhist temple also gives a unique insight into the beliefs of the Thai people, and one of the best things you can do is simply sit and watch as they pray and make their offerings to get a better understanding into what Buddhism is about.

It’s important to open your heart and mind to these local customs when you travel to Thailand.

Things may be different to what you’re used to at home, but isn’t that the joy of travelling?

There are a number of unique customs that Thai people have that you should keep in mind and respect when visiting the country.

Here’s a breakdown of the most important ones.

The King of Thailand is the most revered person in the country, and Thai people love him dearly.

Do not show any disrespect towards him or the Royal Family (in fact it is against the law to do so) by talking negatively about them.

Anything with their likeness on it is also considered important, such as the local money that has the King’s portrait printed on it, so be careful not to cause any damage to this.

As an example, if you drop a note, do not step on it with your feet to stop it from blowing away, as this is considered disrespectful. Instead, pick it up with your hand.

When visiting a Buddhist temple, always face the Buddha and don’t turn your back towards him.

The proper way to exit a temple is to walk backwards to the door, turn at the last minute.

The feet, being the lowest part of the body, are considered to be dirty, and as such make sure you never point your feet towards somebody on purpose.

That is why Thais tend to sit on their feet or cross their legs, rather than sitting with their feet spread out in front of them – to make sure they don’t point them at another person, or Buddha.

The opposite of the feet, a person’s head is considered to be the most important part of the body, and it is disrespectful to touch somebody’s head.

When you see a Buddhist monk, whether it’s in a temple or out in public, always show respect to them.

Ways you can do this are to bow when they walk past, try to keep your head level below theirs (remember, it’s the most important part of the body), and giving up your seat for them.

Thai people are very modest and can be somewhat conservative. So you should make sure you always dress appropriately.

As an example, when you’re at the beach it’s ok to wear swimwear, but when you leave the beach make sure you cover up.

Do not wear a bikini or no shirt into a store or restaurant, and don’t walk around town showing excess skin, as this may make some locals feel uncomfortable.

As a good rule of thumb, look around at what the locals are wearing. If they’re not in a bikini, you shouldn’t be either, no matter how hot it is.

As an extension of dressing modestly, if you are entering a temple, make sure you wear appropriate clothing.

This includes covering your shoulders (ladies can usually get a sarong at the door to do so).

Thai people hate confrontation and raising your voice and yelling is one of the most disrespectful things you can do.

Even if you’re feeling frustrated at a lack of communication, or feel as though you may be getting taken advantage of in a transaction, keep your cool and speak in a normal tone.

You will achieve nothing by screaming at somebody, and you will lose all respect.

Always be polite, and the locals will be the same to you.

The Thai language is notoriously difficult to learn for English-speakers, and nobody expects you to become fluent in Thai during a holiday.

But locals will be very appreciative if you at least put a little bit of effort into speaking their own tongue.

Just pick up the basics, such as hello, thank you, how much, goodbye, and perhaps try to count to 10.

If you are shopping for souvenirs in a market, it’s normal to barter, but don’t go over the top and try to negotiate an extremely cheap price.

You might think it’s a game, but remember that the locals need to make a living too, and a few dollars here and there will help them out a lot more than it will you.

Unethical Attractions Involving People

On an ethical level, there are a number of tourist activities and attractions that exploit the wonderful local people of Thailand.

As a general rule of thumb, be very cautious about joining any cheap tour that involves a visit to a minority tribe, involves children, and sexual exploitation attractions such as the infamous Ping Pong Shows of Phuket and Bangkok.

These are some of the most important ones to avoid.

In the north of Thailand, the famous long-neck tribes from the Karen and Kayan ethnic minority communities have been a unique example of where a tradition has been exploited for tourist reasons.

Many travellers want to come to these remote villages to see the practice of women putting rings around their necks to elongate them.

But what few people realise is that this tradition causes extreme health problems.

In fact, many of these communities have expressed a desire to stop putting themselves through such a problematic modification of their bodies, but there is one reason to continue it – tourist dollars.

If it wasn’t for international tourists spending money to visit their tribes, they would stop the practice and return to their normal lives.

Another issue is that most of the money from these hill tribe tours don’t actually go to the local communities. Instead they are kept by the operators, and the villages make their money by trying to sell handicrafts.

Over the years the concept of ‘voluntourism’ has become popular for many visitors who wish to give back to the communities they are visiting.

While this is a noble idea, and for the most part people’s hearts are in the right place, there are issues with this type of tourism.

The biggest concern is when it comes to visiting orphanages.

Unfortunately there are several children who have been orphaned in Thailand, and it’s only normal to want to help them.

But unless you have experience with child care in these exact environments and are planning to stay for a long time, a day trip to an orphanage isn’t the best way to do this.

Instead the best way to help is to donate money and supplies through reputable charities.

Protecting the Environment

Thailand really is one of the most beautiful countries in the world, and it has almost every type of landscape you could wish for.

When you decide to visit, it’s important to minimise your footprint and protect this spectacular environment.

Here are the best ways to do just that.

While Thailand is taking steps to remove all single-use plastics by 2021, you can do your part as well by bringing your own reusable items.

Make sure you add these to your Thailand packing list :

• A reusable water bottle. Not only can you usually refill these from large jugs at your accommodation, Thailand also has reverse osmosis machines on almost every city block so you can get drinking water for as low as 1THB per litre.
• A carry bag. Don’t take a plastic bag when you shop, and instead bring your own cloth one.
• Metal cutlery. You’ll most likely be eating a lot of delicious food on your trip, but don’t just always grab the plastic cutlery available. Throw your own in your bag and save on waste.

This one is pretty self-explanatory, but you’d be amazed at how many tourists we’ve personally seen throw their rubbish on the ground or off the side of a boat.

Under no circumstance should you ditch your rubbish anywhere but in a bin.

No matter how much of an inconvenience it is to carry until you find one, do not contribute to polluting the earth by being careless.

Carbon emissions from airplanes and vehicles are quite high around the world, but you can minimise your own carbon footprint in a few different ways.

First of all, don’t take any more flights than you absolutely have to. For example, rather than flying from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, why not take the train?

Second, always go for public transport where possible. Take a public ferry or songthaew instead of renting a private boat or car.

Third, and even better for the environment, walk or rent a bicycle to get around.

Take extra care when spending time in the stunning Andaman Sea and Gulf of Thailand.

Plastic and trash often end up in the oceans, killing marine life and polluting the sea for future generations.

Also try to avoid any overcrowding of popular destinations. The last thing we need is another Maya Bay catastrophe.

Another way you can protect the oceans is to never touch sea life or coral.

This includes standing on reefs when snorkelling or swimming, and not collecting souvenirs from the sea.

Avoiding Overtourism

Overtourism is when the amount of visitors a place receives reaches a level that is no longer sustainable from an environmental or societal viewpoint.

We’ve dived deeper into overtourism and ways you can combat this in this detailed guide , but we’d like to give some ideas here on how this applies specifically to Thailand. These tricks will help you navigate the tourism industry in a responsible way.

Rather than spending all your time in the most popular destinations in Thailand, consider visiting places that fewer tourists get to.

For example, Chiang Mai is absolutely incredible and definitely deserves a few days to explore, but when you’re finished here you can visit the lesser-visited Mae Hong Son.

Down in the south get out of Phuket and check out Trang or Koh Mook instead.

The benefits of getting off the beaten path is that you’ll have the chance to spend time in places that not as many international tourists see, and you’ll spread your tourist dollar to communities that really need it.

Finally in our sustainable tourism in Thailand guide, we will touch on the concept of local community based tourism.

Local community based tourism is where a visitor spends time in a local village and spends their money directly with vendors and small businesses rather than big operators or companies. Putting your energy and money into community based tourism rather than the big tourism industry is a great way to support the locals.

This simple mindset and action when travelling can have tremendous benefits for a local community and economy, and in a country like Thailand it is very easy to do.

Just like getting off the beaten path, we recommend you visit places that don’t see as many tourists and booking accommodation and activities directly with businesses.

You can spend the night in local guesthouses or eat at local restaurants to help inject your money directly into the local communities. There are many ways to try local community based tourism!

Alesha and Jarryd

Hi, We’re Alesha and Jarryd!

We’ve been traveling the world together since 2008, searching for the planet’s best destinations and adventures.

Love Travel?

Sign up for our free weekly newsletter for the best travel tips, ideas and deals!

We respect your privacy. Unsubscribe at any time.

READ MORE...

The Ultimate 3 Days in New York City Itinerary (2024 Update)

17 AWESOME Things to Do in Wanaka (Epic 2024 Guide)

The Ultimate Guide to Hiking in New Zealand (2024)

Related Posts

Forests, ruins and the mediterranean – a turkish new year, the ultimate guide to hiking the overland track in tasmania, travel guide and things to do in iskanderkul, tajikistan, thailand travel tips – expert advice from 8 trips (2024), 5 thoughts on “sustainable tourism in thailand – ecotourism, wildlife and culture guide”.

thank you for helping me with my school

You are welcome. So glad we could help. 🙂

Thank you so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I loved reading all your sustainable recommendations. I am planning to visit Thailand sometime next year, so this is super useful and informative! The elephant sanctuaries are on my list.

So glad you found the article helpful. It is so important to travel sustainably and know about the tours and the companies that you go with. Hope you have a great trip next year to Thailand. It is an amazing country. Definitely do your research on the elephant sanctuary. They can easily name themselves this but sometimes they are not a sanctuary. There is no one monitoring this in Thailand. Have a good one.

Leave a comment Cancel reply

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

In Southeast Asia, tourists are harming the environment

Maya Bay in Thailand, Boracay Island in the Philippines, and Ha Long Bay in Vietnam share something in common—a glut of tourists causing environmental damage .

An April 18, 2019 article in YaleEnvironment360 explained how popular destinations in Southeast Asia are facing a range of problems, such as damaged coral reefs, sewage-filled waters, and beaches strewn with trash. Some countries are now closing tourist spots to give damaged areas time to heal.

The number of tourists visiting Southeast Asia is “eye-popping,” said Megan Epler Wood , director of the International Sustainable Tourism Initiative at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

The economies of Southeast Asia are heavily dependent on tourism, according to the article. But Epler-Wood said that the social and environmental impacts of tourism are often not accounted for when countries consider economic impacts. “There’s a cost as each tourist comes into a country,” she said. “It’s not equally distributed throughout the economy, and where it fails is in the protection of the environment.”

Read the YaleEnvironment360 article: The Toll of Tourism: Can Southeast Asia Save Its Prized Natural Areas?

• Get involved

Community-Based Tourism: Empowering Local Champions for Sustainable Tourism in Thailand

November 6, 2022.

Pattamon Rungchavalnont

Head of Solutions Mapping, Accelerator Lab, Thailand

Thailand is among the world's top tourist destinations. The country’s diverse geographical settings and rich cultural capital provide a vast variety of tourism experiences from relaxing by beautiful sandy beaches of the South to exploring lush green forests of the mountainous North and enjoying local cultures in the Northeast. In 2019, Thailand welcomed a record high of 40 million visitors. For this reason, tourism is a major driver of Thailand’s economic development, providing around 20% of the national GDP and employing over 4.2 million people (11% of total employment). However, Thailand’s tourism industry is not without negative side effects. Unsustainable management of tourism has proven to cause environmental degradation and biodiversity loss as well as fuel uneven economic development. Oftentimes, economic benefits from tourism fall into the hands of large tour operators and investors from the outside while local communities gain minimum economic benefit and are left to suffer many social and environmental drawbacks.  

While the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a major setback to the tourism industry, it also provides an opportunity for Thailand to rethink its tourism. Sustainable and resilient tourism has become a key theme for the country and is now one of UNDP Thailand’s focus areas. UNDP Accelerator Lab Thailand seized this opportunity to embark on a journey to support the growing momentum for sustainable tourism by contributing innovative approaches to the redefinition of the country’s tourism industry, specifically from the angle of community-based tourism.

Why community-based tourism?

Emerged in Thailand in the 1990s, ‘community-based tourism (CBT)’ proposes the idea of ‘tourism by the local people for the local people’ . It is one of the solutions for sustainable tourism because, under this framework, local people are the key decision-makers of their tourism development and the ones to fully benefit from it. Being long-term residents of the areas, local communities are more incentivised to balance economic growth and socio-cultural and environmental impacts caused by tourism activities. At the end of the day, it is their home. However, it is crucial to clear the misconception that CBT refers to ‘village tourism,’ limited only to certain styles of tourism that take place in rural areas. CBT is a tourism management model that puts local communities at the center of the process and can encompass diverse tourism styles from rural tourism to urban tourism, nature tourism, or even luxury tourism. Essentially, CBT is about community empowerment as it is a process in which local people are empowered to uplift their own livelihood.

The pandemic has posed both challenges and opportunities for CBT. International travel restrictions caused a major drop in foreign visitors which used to make up a significant portion of visitors for CBT. Local communities needed to adjust themselves to the domestic tourism market and diversify their offers e.g. community products beyond tourism activities. On the other hand, the pandemic has shaped new tourist behaviours- traveling in smaller groups, choosing less crowded destinations, escaping to nature, and searching for unique experiences and activities for well-being, among others. Many of these new preferences match very well with what CBT can offer and can potentially pave way for a golden age of CBT. Moreover, pandemic-induced lockdowns in major cities led to a reverse in rural-urban migration. Many people working in the cities returned to their hometowns during the lockdown and some sought to find livelihood options at home. CBT provides an alternative and in turn benefits from increased human resources- the skilled workforce who have gained skills and exposure from their time working in the cities. All in all, it is an important time for CBT to take the next step to ensure its thrivability in this rapidly changing world.

Making sense of CBT and contemplating on the way forward

            As a starting point, national-level workshops were co-organized by UNDP Accelerator Lab Thailand, Thailand Policy Lab, the Designated Areas for Sustainable Tourism Administration (DASTA) , and Local Alike (one of Thailand’s leading social enterprises working on CBT). Representatives from local communities, relevant governmental agencies, the private sector, civil society organizations, and academia exchanged views on trends and weak signals affecting CBT as well as discussed the desirable future and way forward. A few interesting points from the exercise include:

• CBT can go beyond leisure tourism and provide learning experiences for visitors, for example community-based environmental conservation and waste management and tap into opportunities from the rise of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and Thailand’s Bio-Circular-Green (BCG) Economy Model of the government.
• Communities need to build the next generation of CBT leaders. Involvement and incentives for the new generation are key for successful engagement and transition.
• Planning and decision-making should be a bottom-up and collaborative process between the government and local communities to avoid projects which do not fit local contexts or serve the real needs of stakeholders. For instance, many tourism applications were created but abandoned.
• Multisectoral support is crucial for CBT development e.g. support from the private sector on digital transformation, academia on CBT-related curriculum for young leaders, etc.
• Funding mechanisms must be further developed e.g. shifting from an informal arrangement to a social enterprise, setting up CBT development funds, etc.

While the discussion revealed multiple areas for development, capacity building for local communities stood out as one of the prerequisites for success. Since local communities are the main drivers of CBT, they must be equipped with frameworks and tools that will enable them to flourish in the rapidly changing world. Existing capacity-building initiatives have been fairly successful in supporting local communities to begin their CBT journey, often focusing on building the foundation and taking a short/medium-term view. While such emphasis is essential, it might not be sufficient any longer. Especially once local communities manage to set up the basics of their CBT, they also need to start thinking about sustainability and being anticipatory. As a result, the Lab identified this as our area of work: how local communities can make their CBT become more sustainable.

Learnings with the locals

            UNDP Accelerator Lab Thailand in collaboration with Local Alike joined hands with two pilot communities to start our learning journey. Social innovation tools were applied to invite local stakeholders to reflect on the becoming of their CBT and look forward through the lens of sustainability. Given the different nature of each community, the discussions and sustainability initiatives took on different directions. However, one commonality revealed itself. Community is never homogeneous; CBT development is an area of convergence for different groups to interact and build momentum toward sustainability. To elaborate, let’s take a closer look at each of the pilot communities…

Chulabhorn Pattana 9 community: A case of nature-based tourism from the South

As a neighbour of the world-famous Hala-Bala Wildlife Sanctuary, Chulabhorn Pattana 9 community of Yala province in Southern Thailand has attracted many nature lovers; some visited the village just to enjoy the serenity and beauty of the natural environment while others were excited by the rich biodiversity of the Hala-Bala Forest, not to mention the village’s charming cultural heritage from their Community Malaya time. The village is familiar with receiving visitors as they have been welcoming relatives and friends from Malaysia and Singapore (legacy of Community Malaya time) for decades. Eight years ago, the concept of CBT was introduced, and the new generation stepped up to lead CBT management. The intergenerational difference is reflected in the different views on tourism management- one hoping to increase the number of visitors while another seeking to keep the delicate balance. The new generation realizes that their main target group is nature lovers. Thus, nature is the main capital for their CBT and its conservation is of paramount importance. Hence, the discussion about limiting the number of visitors with consideration of the area’s carrying capacity was very well received by the CBT management team.

CBT at Chulabhorn Pattana 9 does not only aim to mitigate the negative effects of tourism activities but also inspires positive changes in the local community. In many cases, tourism may have resulted in waste management problems. On the contrary, for Chulabhorn Pattana 9 community, the visitors are the ones demanding that waste in the village needs to be better managed. Hearing these comments, the CBT management team was eager to start a waste management initiative with support from the Lab and Local Alike. Waste separation and organic compost-making have been pioneered by the CBT group and will be shared with fellow villagers to inspire more people to join the effort.

In addition, the CBT management team sought to further develop tourism activities that highlight the value of biodiversity and incentivize conservation. Birdwatching was identified as a viable option. Interestingly, apart from our support, birdwatching was born out of collaboration with a visitor who happens to be a bird expert, an ex-member of the Bird Conservation Society of Thailand. Feeling that Chulabhorn Pattana 9 is more than a touristic destination to him, this bird expert saw the potential and was more than willing to help provide training on birdwatching to local guides. Chulabhorn Pattana 9 is able to shift from selling their services to ‘tourists’ to building relationships with ‘visitors’, some of whom have become ‘friends’ to co-create a sustainable future for their CBT.

Nong San community: Local life and craft in the Northeast

Nong San community of Sakon Nakhon province in the Northeast of Thailand is famous for its indigo dye handicrafts. Traditional knowledge on indigo dye has been passed on from generation to generation at Nong San village. When combined with the skills of a new generation artist, Pornpimon Mingmitmee, this cultural capital becomes the starting point of Nong San CBT. Visitors, both craft lovers and chillax tourists, enjoy the simple slow life and recharge themselves with natural dye crafts, organic agriculture, and the beauty in the local lifestyle. However, the early days of Nong San CBT were not all easy. The community did not believe that CBT was viable at first, so Pornpimon had to start small and gradually showed other people the success to inspire more support from within the village and nearby community. Furthermore, with the COVID-19-induced lockdown, villagers who used to work in other cities returned to the village and joined force to expand Nong San CBT. However, unlike Chulabhorn Pattana 9 case, Nong San CBT opts for a more decentralized model where each member acts as an independent micro-entrepreneur and loosely connects to provide tour packages for visitors. Therefore, the work here was about business incubation for female micro-entrepreneurs to enhance the distribution of benefits from CBT among the local people. Entrepreneurial skills, including digital marketing, were provided to interested locals.

Circularity is another theme as Pornpimon has been trying to manage waste materials from textile crafts production e.g. left-over threads and fabric scraps. Drawing inspiration from India, the initial idea was to turn textile waste into paper. Local knowledge in Thailand provides a technique for turning natural fibers into handmade paper. Yet, from the prototyping phase, cotton textile waste has proven to be more difficult to handle than other fibers. An alternative was presented as Pornpimon connected with a company working on recycled textiles. The idea is to compile textile waste from the local community, turn it into recycled fabrics, and send it back to the community as raw materials for new products. At the time of writing, the discussion is still ongoing to develop a suitable model of collaboration. This case demonstrates the power of cross-sectoral collaboration in driving CBT toward sustainability.

Sharing our experiences

    Through the working process with our partners, UNDP Accelerator Lab Thailand was able to learn about CBT development as well as share our social innovation tools with key change agents like Local Alike and relevant governmental agencies. Realizing the value of these tools in facilitating processes towards sustainability and resilience, the Lab together with Local Alike co-produced the Community-Based Tourism Social Innovation Playbook to share with others the experience of Thailand. The Playbook emphasized that social innovation process is not linear. While the tools are categorized into three groups (making sense of the past and present; looking forward to the future; and taking actions), users can always jump back and forth between each category of tools to fill the gaps of knowledge as they surface. Case studies from our work with Chulabhorn Pattana 9 and Nong San communities demonstrate this non-linear journey as well as the fact that no two communities are alike; thus, the social innovation tools must be ultilized in consideration of specific local contexts.

In addition to the publication, the Accelerator Lab Thailand will be working with the Accelerator Lab Bangladesh on CBT development in their context. Follow our next blog to see how Thailand’s experiences can be adapted and what lessons we will learn on the journey to transform tourism into a vehicle for sustainable development.

Thailand works to preserve its natural wonders

Tourism authorities are encouraging visitors to leave "only their footprints and take only good memories".

Thailand is known for its warm hospitality, lush rainforests with spectacular waterfalls, pristine beaches, and spicy cuisine from the freshest ingredients. Yet, its surging global popularity as a tourism hotspot means the government has to work hard to preserve and conserve the country’s natural wonders.

Bearing this in mind, there are a number of initiatives designed to boost the sustainability of the local travel industry including one spearheaded by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) to reduce plastic garbage by up to 50% by 2020.

The federal collaboration, Travel Thailand in Style, Reduce Plastic Waste , involving hotels, Expedia and local communities encourages tourists and businesses to address waste problems generated by the country’s 32 million-plus visitors each year.

Provinces showcase conservation efforts

Tourism authorities are encouraging visitors to leave “only their footprints and take only good memories”.

The campaign encourages reusable or sustainable items including substituting plant-based drinking straws, using cotton bags instead of plastic bags, water tumblers instead of plastic bottles and reusable food utensils instead of single-use plastic or foam items.

While the initiative began in the eight million-strong megalopolis Bangkok, a number of the nation’s quieter, relatively unspoiled tourist destinations are leading the charge. For example, in Trat province, the island of Ko Mak, famous for its pure white sandy beaches and the popular diving isle Ko Tao, have embraced an environmental imperative.

Selected as Thailand’s first low-carbon destination, Ko Mak, with its bucolic fishing villages nestled among bendy palm trees, has established itself as a role model for surrounding islands.

The island’s residents, who are anxious to keep their home a laidback, natural destination have reached out for advice from the designers of other green initiatives after being selected for the honour by Designated Areas for Sustainable Tourism Administration (DASTA).

Their commitment includes using only locally sourced food, avoiding petroleum-based fuels, implementing water and waste management as well as preserving local activities and traditional ways of life.

Serene, romantic destination

Known as Thailand’s best kept secret, Ko Mak is a smaller island away from the bright lights and throbbing music of nearby Ko Chang. As one of Thailand’s more serene destinations, it is increasingly attracting couples and those with young families keen to get away from late-night bars and the party scene.

But what it does do, it does very well. A chance to rewind and recharge while staying on the beach, with some fantastic food options, including the popular breakfast haunt, The Food Art Hut, and deserted white sandy beaches are within arm’s reach.

Meanwhile on Ko Tao in Surat Thani Province, the azure waters that attract tourists including many divers from around the world, are being fiercely protected by local dive operators.

A group of dive centres have banded together to form Get Involved Ko Tao , a community-based conservation initiative to help preserve the natural resources and environment of the island by organising a monthly clean-up to remove waste and encouraging locals and tourists to "get involved" by saying no to the use of plastic straws, cups and bags.

The private sector has collectively embraced the "5Rs" dedicated to reducing, reusing, repairing, recycling and rejecting.

This involves reducing consumption; no-recyclable packaging, reusing items that can be used again like glass bottles, boxes or paper; repairing an item instead of buying a new one; recycling all materials that can be transformed into a new product and; finally, rejecting any item that pollutes or harms the environment.

From palm-fringed beaches to crisp mountain air

The eight-square mile island, with a permanent population of just over 1300, is known for its palm-lined beaches and coral reefs. Restaurants and bars are concentrated at Mae Hat Beach and near Sai Ri Beach.

If you are visiting Ko Tao, a day trip to Ko Nang Yuan is essential. This tiny island is only a brief speed boat ride away from the main island and, has a stunning beach and secluded places to take a swim.

A short hike to the island’s summit gives visitors views of the whole nearby island chain.

Moreover, Thailand not only boasts some of the best diving in the world, it is also one of the most affordable and best places to get your PADI diving certification, and Ko Tao just happens to be the most popular place in Thailand to get your credentials.

While the fragile island marine ecosystems are a focus of Thailand’s drive to promote sustainable tourism, some of the nation’s stunning natural landlocked destinations are also playing a significant role. A case in point is Loei province in the north-east, renowned for its cool mountain trails, rainforests and many waterfalls.

In May, Loei’s Phu Kradueng National Park—with its misty hiking trails up mountain crags—introduced the Go Green: Go Clean: Go Grow program which encouraged visitors to plant a tree and help clean up the area during a two-day event.

Stunning scenery and abundant wildlife

A key reason for cleaning up the National Park is that it is Thailand’s most popular trekking destination and parts of it were beginning to feel the pressure of having a continuous visitor presence.

The mountain park’s attraction to visitors is the top 23-square mile plateau of Phu Kradueng. It towers 3,000 feet above the valley floor and is blessed with beautiful scenery, lush pine forests and abundant wildflowers. For the lucky few who choose to camp overnight and away from the rainforest canopy, they can catch the spectacular mist-filtered first light of day or the crimson evening sun dipping below the horizon.

The Park’s cool climate can see temperatures drop to near freezing at night which contrasts with the balmy conditions many tourists associate with Thailand. Wandering along the mountain trails hikers may spy an array of wildlife, including sambar deer, the goat-like serow, foxes, squirrels, silver pheasant and (if lucky) the occasional elephant.

While a visit to Phu Kradueng is mostly about marvelling at Loei Province’s diverse natural wonders, it’s also important to recognise the conservation efforts currently being undertaken to preserve the fragile mountain habitat. Similar to the work being done to the marine ecosystems of Ko Mak and Ko Tao, these conservation initiatives serve as a reminder of our own responsibility to help preserve the environment for future generations.

Related Topics

• CULTURAL TOURISM

You May Also Like

Inside the northern Thailand town reviving indigo textile production for a new generation

Beach clean-ups, biking and art bars on a slow tour of Thailand's Koh Mak island

Cave meditiation to colonics: 5 ways to experience Thai wellness on Koh Samui and Koh Phangan

A UK break to Arnside and Silverdale, the little-known region of natural wonders

Meet the Thai women reviving ancient recipes for food-lovers in Bangkok

Carthage was Rome’s greatest rival. Go see its side of the story.

Canada's greatest natural wonders, from icebergs to the world's highest tides

• Terms of Use
• Privacy Policy
• Your US State Privacy Rights
• Children's Online Privacy Policy
• Interest-Based Ads
• About Nielsen Measurement
• Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information
• Nat Geo Home
• Attend a Live Event
• Book a Trip
• Inspire Your Kids
• Shop Nat Geo
• Visit the D.C. Museum
• Learn About Our Impact
• Support Our Mission
• Advertise With Us
• Customer Service
• Renew Subscription
• Manage Your Subscription
• Work at Nat Geo
• Sign Up for Our Newsletters
• Contribute to Protect the Planet

Copyright © 1996-2015 National Geographic Society Copyright © 2015-2024 National Geographic Partners, LLC. All rights reserved

TAT working to further develop Carbon Neutral Tourism in Thailand

Increased efforts are in line with the new, more sustainable and responsible, direction of thai tourism..

Bangkok, 5 July, 2022 – The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is continuing with its mission to grow the Carbon Neutral Tourism sector in Thailand, in accordance with the Thai government’s Bio-Circular-Green or BCG Economy Model that is taking Thai tourism in a more sustainable and responsible direction.

Mr. Yuthasak Supasorn, TAT Governor, said “In addition to helping to reduce negative impacts on the environment and society, this ‘carbon neutral tourism’ initiative also helps to add value, creativity, and competitiveness to Thai tourism products and services in the global market. It also increases Thailand’s appeal to quality tourists who are environmentally conscious, and who want to contribute to reducing economic, social and environmental impacts.”

TAT is using a concept of ‘adjust, reduce, compensate’ in business development and prototype tourism activities that are in line with Carbon Neutral Tourism.

Using tourism resources in a cost-effective manner for maximum benefits, TAT is working to build capacity, and develop and extend Carbon Neutral Tourism management in a way suited to tourism operators, which creates participation in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The focus is on turning normal business tourism activities into low-carbon tourism activities towards the goal of achieving tourism that reduces an environmental impact. Carbon credits can be provided for what impact is created, as well as a source to absorb greenhouse gases, to reduce the total impact to zero (none or virtually no greenhouse gas emissions).   

TAT is promoting five pilot business units in three types of business – communities, farm stays, and smart farms. These are:

• Tham Suea Community in Phetchaburi Province promoting zero carbon tourism (contact: Tel. +66 (0) 8291 87774);
• Rimklong Homestay Community in Samut Songkhram Province highlighting environmental-friendly, slow-life travel in coconut plantations (contact: Tel. +66 (0) 8917 02904);
• Rai Jai Yim Farm Stay in Kanchanaburi Province featuring camping and farm activities (contact: Tel. +66 (0) 8548 26559);
• Rai Khuean Rang Farm Stay in Nakhon Ratchasima Province focusing on zero carbon tourism and slow-life experience in mixed farming (contact: Tel. +66 (0) 8924 41369);
• Thai Tawee Pomelo Garden in Nakhon Pathom Province a smart farm showcasing educational farm life experiences in a pilot smart organic farm (contact: Tel. +66 (0) 8362 65499).

Tourists interested in experiencing zero carbon emissions tourism in Thailand can contact the Travel Buddy hotline on Tel. 1672, or go to www.gogreenbooking.com , or call the respective model business units.

TAT Newsroom

Thailand’s deepak ohri, william heinecke named among ‘100 most powerful people in global hospitality’, thailand tourist police launches ‘i lert u’ mobile app for 24-hour assistance, related articles.

TAT and Klook sign Letter of Intent of Strategic Partnership

Maha Songkran World Water Festival 2024 Unveiled with Epic Spectacle

Advertisement

Determinants of the ecological footprint in Thailand: the influences of tourism, trade openness, and population density

• Research Article
• Published: 13 July 2020
• Volume 27 , pages 40171–40186, ( 2020 )

Cite this article

• Nattapan Kongbuamai 1 ,
• Muhammad Wasif Zafar 2 ,
• Syed Anees Haider Zaidi 1 &
• Yun Liu 1 , 3  

1940 Accesses

57 Citations

1 Altmetric

Explore all metrics

This paper investigates the impact of economic growth, energy consumption, tourism, trade openness, and population density on the ecological footprints in Thailand over the period from 1974 to 2016. We applied the augmented Dickey–Fuller and Zivot–Andrews unit root tests to check the stationary properties of the data. The ARDL bounding test approach and VECM Granger causality were used to investigate (i) the long-run and short-run effects and (ii) directions of such effects respectively. The long-run results showed that economic growth, energy consumption, and trade openness have positive relationships with the ecological footprint, while tourism and population density are negatively associated with the ecological footprint in Thailand. The results of VECM Granger causality confirmed that the bidirectional causality (i) between tourism and population density in the long run and (ii) between trade openness and population density in the short run. Furthermore, the unidirectional causality runs from the ecological footprint, economic growth, energy consumption, and trade openness to tourism and population density in the long run. The country policy combined with economic growth, energy consumption, tourism, international trade, and population density perspectives need to be revisited towards sustainable development by mitigating the effects of these variables on environmental depletion especially the ecological footprint.

Graphical abstract

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price includes VAT (Russian Federation)

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Rent this article via DeepDyve

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Dynamic linkages between financial development, economic growth, urbanization, trade openness, and ecological footprint: an empirical account of ECOWAS countries

Nazir Muhammad Abdullahi, Adamu Ali Ibrahim, … Xuexi Huo

The relationship between CO2 emissions, economic growth, available energy, and employment in SEE countries

Petar Mitić, Aleksandra Fedajev, … Abdul Rehman

Determinants of green growth in developed and developing countries

Vincent Tawiah, Abdulrasheed Zakari & Festus Fatai Adedoyin

Abbasi SA, Abbasi N (2000) The likely adverse environmental impacts of renewable energy sources. Appl Energy 65:121–144. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0306-2619(99)00077-X

Article   Google Scholar  

Ahmed Z, Wang Z (2019) Investigating the impact of human capital on the ecological footprint in India: an empirical analysis. Environ Sci Pollut Res 26:26782–26796. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-05911-7

Ahmed Z, Zafar MW, Ali S, Danish (2020) Linking urbanization, human capital, and the ecological footprint in G7 countries: an empirical analysis. Sustain Cities Soc 55:102064. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2020.102064

Akella AK, Saini RP, Sharma MP (2009) Social, economical and environmental impacts of renewable energy systems. Renew Energy 34:390–396. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2008.05.002

Alam MS, Paramati SR (2017) The dynamic role of tourism investment on tourism development and CO2 emissions. Ann Tour Res 66:183–215. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2017.07.013

Alam MS, Raza SA, Shahbaz M, Abbas Q (2015) Accounting for contribution of trade openness and foreign direct investment in life expectancy: the long-run and short-run analysis in Pakistan. Soc Indic Res 129:1155–1170. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-015-1154-8

Allaro HB, Belay K, Kotu BH (2011) A time series analysis of structural break time in the macroeconomic variables in Ethiopia. Afr J Agric Res 6:392–400. https://doi.org/10.5897/AJAR10.016

Al-Mulali U, Weng-Wai C, Sheau-Ting L, Mohammed AH (2015) Investigating the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis by utilizing the ecological footprint as an indicator of environmental degradation. Ecol Indic 48:315–323. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2014.08.029

Al-Mulali U, Solarin SA, Ozturk I (2016) Investigating the presence of the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis in Kenya: an autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach. Nat Hazards 80:1729–1747. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-015-2050-x

Alola AA, Bekun FV, Sarkodie SA (2019) Dynamic impact of trade policy, economic growth, fertility rate, renewable and non-renewable energy consumption on ecological footprint in Europe. Sci Total Environ 685:702–709. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.05.139

Article   CAS   Google Scholar  

Altıntaş H, Kassouri Y (2020) Is the environmental Kuznets curve in Europe related to the per-capita ecological footprint or CO2 emissions? Ecol Indic 113:1–45. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2020.106187

Andersson JO, Lindroth M (2001) Ecologically unsustainable trade. Ecol Econ 37:113–122. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0921-8009(00)00272-X

Aşıcı AA, Acar S (2016) Does income growth relocate ecological footprint? Ecol Indic 61:707–714. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2015.10.022

Aşıcı AA, Acar S (2018) How does environmental regulation affect production location of non-carbon ecological footprint? J Clean Prod 178:927–936. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.01.030

Azam M, Alam MM, Haroon Hafeez M (2018) Effect of tourism on environmental pollution: further evidence from Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. J Clean Prod 190:330–338. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.04.168

Aziz N, Sharif A, Raza A, Rong K (2020) Revisiting the role of forestry, agriculture, and renewable energy in testing environment Kuznets curve in Pakistan: evidence from Quantile ARDL approach. Environ Sci Pollut Res 27:10115–10128. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-07798-1

Balaguer J, Cantavella-Jordá M (2002) Tourism as a long-run economic growth factor: the Spanish case. Appl Econ 34:877–884. https://doi.org/10.1080/00036840110058923

Balsalobre-Lorente D, Driha OM, Shahbaz M, Sinha A (2019a) The effects of tourism and globalization over environmental degradation in developed countries. Environ Sci Polution Res 27:7130–7144. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-07372-4

Balsalobre-Lorente D, Gokmenoglu KK, Taspinar N, Cantos-Cantos JM (2019b) An approach to the pollution haven and pollution halo hypotheses in MINT countries. Environ Sci Pollut Res 26:23010–23026. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-05446-x

Balsalobre-Lorente D, Driha OM, Bekun FV, Adedoyin FF (2020) The asymmetric impact of air transport on economic growth in Spain: fresh evidence from the tourism-led growth hypothesis. Curr Issue Tour 0:1–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2020.1720624

Bella G (2018) Estimating the tourism induced environmental Kuznets curve in France. J Sustain Tour 26:1–11. https://doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2018.1529768

Bello MO, Solarin SA, Yen YY (2018) The impact of electricity consumption on CO2 emission, carbon footprint, water footprint and ecological footprint: the role of hydropower in an emerging economy. J Environ Manag 219:218–230. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2018.04.101

Brida JG, Cortes-Jimenez I, Pulina M (2014) Has the tourism-led growth hypothesis been validated? A literature review. Curr Issue Tour:1–37. https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2013.868414

Brida JG, Cortes-Jimenez I, Pulina M (2016) Has the tourism-led growth hypothesis been validated? A literature review. Curr Issue Tour 19:394–430. https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2013.868414

Castellani V, Sala S (2008) Ecological footprint: a way to assess the impact of tourists’ choices at the local scale. WIT Trans Ecol Environ 115:197–206. https://doi.org/10.2495/ST080201

Charfeddine L (2017) The impact of energy consumption and economic development on ecological footprint and CO2 emissions: evidence from a Markov switching equilibrium correction model. Energy Econ 65:355–374. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2017.05.009

Charfeddine L, Mrabet Z (2017) The impact of economic development and social-political factors on ecological footprint: a panel data analysis for 15 MENA countries. Renew Sust Energ Rev 76:138–154. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2017.03.031

Chen H, Jia B, Lau SSY (2008) Sustainable urban form for Chinese compact cities: challenges of a rapid urbanized economy. Habitat Int 32:28–40. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.habitatint.2007.06.005

Comerio N, Strozzi F (2018) Tourism and its economic impact: a literature review using bibliometric tools. Tour Econ 25:1–23. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354816618793762

Danish, Hassan ST, Baloch MA, et al (2019a) Linking economic growth and ecological footprint through human capital and biocapacity. Sustain Cities Soc 47:101516. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2019.101516

Danish, Ulucak R, Khan SUD (2019b) Determinants of the ecological footprint: Role of renewable energy, natural resources, and urbanization. Sustain Cities Soc 54:101996. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2019.101996

Danish, Wang Z (2019a) Investigation of the ecological footprint’s driving factors: what we learn from the experience of emerging economies. Sustain Cities Soc 49:101626. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2019.101626

Danish, Wang Z (2019b) Dynamic relationship between tourism, economic growth, and environmental quality. J Sustain Tour 26:1928–1943. https://doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2018.1526293

de Sherbinin A, Carr D, Cassels S, Jiang L (2007) Population and environment. Annu Rev Environ Resour 32:345–373. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.energy.32.041306.100243.Population

de Vita G, Katircioglu S, Altinay L, Fethi S, Mercan M (2015) Revisiting the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis in a tourism development context. Environ Sci Pollut Res 22:16652–16663. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-4861-4

Destek MA, Sarkodie SA (2019) Investigation of environmental Kuznets curve for ecological footprint: the role of energy and financial development. Sci Total Environ 650:2483–2489. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.10.017

Destek MA, Sinha A (2020) Renewable, non-renewable energy consumption, economic growth, trade openness and ecological footprint: evidence from organisation for economic co-operation and development countries. J Clean Prod 242:118537. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.118537

Destek MA, Ulucak R, Dogan E (2018) Analyzing the environmental Kuznets curve for the EU countries: the role of ecological footprint. Environ Sci Pollut Res 25:29387–29396. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-2911-4

Dincer I (2000) Renewable energy and sustainable development: a crucial review. Renew Sust Energ Rev 4:157–175. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1364-0321(99)00011-8

Dogan E, Aslan A (2017) Exploring the relationship among CO2 emissions, real GDP, energy consumption and tourism in the EU and candidate countries: evidence from panel models robust to heterogeneity and cross-sectional dependence. Renew Sust Energ Rev 77:239–245. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2017.03.111

Dogan E, Ulucak R, Kocak E, Isik C (2020) The use of ecological footprint in estimating the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis for BRICST by considering cross-section dependence and heterogeneity. Sci Total Environ 723:138063. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.138063

Gao J, Xu W, Zhang L (2019) Tourism, economic growth, and tourism-induced EKC hypothesis: evidence from the Mediterranean region. Empir Econ. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00181-019-01787-1

Gill AB (2005) Offshore renewable energy: ecological implications of generating electricity in the coastal zone. J Appl Ecol 42:605–615. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2664.2005.01060.x

Global Footprint Network (2019) Country trends: Thailand. Global Footprint Network

Gormus S, Aydin M (2020) Revisiting the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis using innovation: new evidence from the top 10 innovative economies. Environ Sci Pollut Res. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-09110-7

Gössling S, Peeters P (2015) Assessing tourism’s global environmental impact 1900–2050. J Sustain Tour 23:639–659. https://doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2015.1008500

Gössling S, Hansson CB, Horstmeier O, Saggel S (2002) Analysis ecological footprint analysis as a tool to assess tourism sustainability. Ecol Econ 43:199–211. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0921-8009(02)00211-2

Hajko V, Sebri M, Al-saidi M, Balsalobre-lorente D (2018) The energy-growth nexus: history, development, and new challenges. Elsevier Inc.

Hunter C (2002) Sustainable tourism and the touristic ecological footprint. Environ Dev Sustain 4:7–20. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1016336125627

Hunter C, Shaw J (2007) The ecological footprint as a key indicator of sustainable tourism. Tour Manag 28:46–57. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2005.07.016

Imamoglu H (2018) Is the informal economic activity a determinant of environmental quality? Environ Sci Pollut Res 25:29078–29088. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-2925-y

Jalil A, Mahmood T, Idrees M (2013) Tourism-growth nexus in Pakistan: evidence from ARDL bounds tests. Econ Model 35:185–191. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econmod.2013.06.034

Katircioglu S (2009) Tourism, trade and growth: the case of Cyprus. Appl Econ 41:2741–2750. https://doi.org/10.1080/00036840701335512

Katircioglu ST (2014) International tourism, energy consumption, and environmental pollution: the case of Turkey. Renew Sust Energ Rev 36:180–187. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2014.04.058

Katircioǧlu ST (2014) Testing the tourism-induced EKC hypothesis: the case of Singapore. Econ Model 41:383–391. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econmod.2014.05.028

Katircioglu S, Gokmenoglu KK, Eren BM (2018) Testing the role of tourism development in ecological footprint quality: evidence from top 10 tourist destinations. Environ Sci Pollut Res 25:33611–33619. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-3324-0

Kongbuamai N, Bui Q, Yousaf HMAU, Liu Y (2020) The impact of tourism and natural resources on the ecological footprint: a case study of ASEAN countries. Environ Sci Pollut Res 27:19251–19264. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-08582-x

Kuznets S (1995) Economic growth and income inequality. Am Econ Rev 45:1–28. https://doi.org/10.2307/2296740

Lee JW, Brahmasrene T (2013) Investigating the influence of tourism on economic growth and carbon emissions: evidence from panel analysis of the European Union. Tour Manag 38:69–76. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2013.02.016

Lenzen M, Sun Y-Y, Faturay F, Ting YP, Geschke A, Malik A (2018) The carbon footprint of global tourism. Nat Clim Chang 8:522–528. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-018-0141-x

Lin W, Li Y, Li X, Xu D (2018) The dynamic analysis and evaluation on tourist ecological footprint of city: take Shanghai as an instance. Sustain Cities Soc 37:541–549. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2017.12.003

Liu X, Bae J (2018) Urbanization and industrialization impact of CO2 emissions in China. J Clean Prod 172:178–186. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.10.156

Mrabet Z, AlSamara M, Hezam Jarallah S (2017) The impact of economic development on environmental degradation in Qatar. Environ Ecol Stat 24:7–38. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10651-016-0359-6

Nathan TM, Liew VK-S, Wong W-K (2016) Disaggregated energy consumption and sectoral outputs in Thailand: ARDL bound testing approach. J Manag Sci 3:34–46. https://doi.org/10.20547/jms.2014.1603103

National Statistical Office of Thailand (2020) Demography population and housing branch. http://statbbi.nso.go.th/staticreport/page/sector/en/01.aspx . Accessed 15 Apr 2020

Nunkoo R, Seetanah B, Jaffur RZK et al (2019) Tourism and economic growth: a meta-regression analysis. J Travel Res 59:1–20. https://doi.org/10.1177/0047287519844833

Oh C-O (2005) The contribution of tourism development to economic growth in the Korean economy. Tour Manag 26:39–44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2003.09.014

Ohlan R (2017) The relationship between tourism, financial development and economic growth in India. Futur Bus J 3:9–22. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fbj.2017.01.003

Ozcan B, Ulucak R, Dogan E (2019) Analyzing long lasting effects of environmental policies: evidence from low, middle and high income economies. Sustain Cities Soc 44:130–143. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2018.09.025

Ozturk I, Al-Mulali U, Saboori B (2016) Investigating the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis: the role of tourism and ecological footprint. Environ Sci Pollut Res 23:1916–1928. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-5447-x

Pablo-Romero MDP, Molina JA (2013) Tourism and economic growth: a review of empirical literature. Tour Manag Perspect 8:28–41. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tmp.2013.05.006

Paramati SR, Alam MS, Chen CF (2017a) The effects of tourism on economic growth and CO2 emissions: a comparison between developed and developing economies. J Travel Res 56:712–724. https://doi.org/10.1177/0047287516667848

Paramati SR, Shahbaz M, Alam MS (2017b) Does tourism degrade environmental quality? A comparative study of eastern and Western European Union. Transp Res D 50:1–13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trd.2016.10.034

Peeters P, Dubois G (2010) Tourism travel under climate change mitigation constraints. J Transp Geogr 18:447–457. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2009.09.003

Pesaran MH, Shin Y (1997) An autoregressive distributed-lag modelling approach to cointegration analysis. In: Econometrics and economic theory in the 20th century: the Ragnar Frisch Centennial Symposium. The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, pp 1–24

Pesaran MH, Shin Y, Smith RJ (2001) Bounds testing approaches to the analysis of level relationships. J Appl Econ 16:289–326. https://doi.org/10.1002/jae.616

Popp J, Lakner Z, Harangi-Rákos M, Fári M (2014) The effect of bioenergy expansion: food, energy, and environment. Renew Sust Energ Rev 32:559–578. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2014.01.056

Qureshi MI, Elashkar EE, Shoukry AM, Aamir A, Mahmood NHN, Rasli AM, Zaman K (2019) Measuring the ecological footprint of inbound and outbound tourists: evidence from a panel of 35 countries. Clean Techn Environ Policy 21:1949–1967. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10098-019-01720-1

Rafindadi AA, Ozturk I (2016) Effects of financial development, economic growth and trade on electricity consumption: evidence from post-Fukushima Japan. Renew Sust Energ Rev 54:1073–1084. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2015.10.023

Rees WE (1992) Ecological footprints and appropriated carrying capacity: what urban economics leaves out. Environ Urban 4:121–130

Remoundou K, Koundouri P (2009) Environmental effects on public health: an economic perspective. Int J Environ Res Public Health 6:2160–2178. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph6082160

Saidur R, Rahim NA, Islam MR, Solangi KH (2011) Environmental impact of wind energy. Renew Sust Energ Rev 15:2423–2430. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2011.02.024

Sarkodie SA (2018) The invisible hand and EKC hypothesis: what are the drivers of environmental degradation and pollution in Africa? Environ Sci Pollut Res 25:21993–22022. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-2347-x

Sarkodie SA, Strezov V, Weldekidan H, Asamoah EF, Owusu PA, Doyi INY (2019) Environmental sustainability assessment using dynamic autoregressive-distributed lag simulations—nexus between greenhouse gas emissions, biomass energy, food and economic growth. Sci Total Environ 668:318–332. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.02.432

Shahbaz M, Zeshan M, Afza T (2012) Is energy consumption effective to spur economic growth in Pakistan? New evidence from bounds test to level relationships and Granger causality tests. Econ Model 29:2310–2319. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econmod.2012.06.027

Shahbaz M, Mallick H, Mahalik MK, Sadorsky P (2016) The role of globalization on the recent evolution of energy demand in India: implications for sustainable development. Energy Econ 55:52–68. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2016.01.013

Shahbaz M, Ahmed K, Tiwari AK, Jiao Z (2019) Resource curse hypothesis and role of oil prices in USA. Res Policy 64:101514. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resourpol.2019.101514

Shakouri B, Khoshnevis Yazdi S, Ghorchebigi E (2017) Does tourism development promote CO2 emissions? Anatolia 28:444–452. https://doi.org/10.1080/13032917.2017.1335648

Sharif A, Baris-Tuzemen O, Uzuner G et al (2020) Revisiting the role of renewable and non-renewable energy consumption on Turkey’s ecological footprint: evidence from quantile ARDL approach. Sustain Cities Soc 101070:101070. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addma.2020.101070

Sinha A, Driha O, Balsalobre-Lorente D (2020) Tourism and inequality in per capita water availability: is the linkage sustainable? Environ Sci Pollut Res 27:10129–10134. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-07955-6

Solarin SA, Bello MO (2018) Persistence of policy shocks to an environmental degradation index: the case of ecological footprint in 128 developed and developing countries. Ecol Indic 89:35–44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2018.01.064

TAT (1995) Annual report 1995. TAT, Bangkok, Thailand

Thailand Ministry of Energy (2019) Thailand energy situation January–December 2018. Thailand Ministry of Energy, Bangkok, Thailand

Thailand Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (2018) Annual report 2018 of environmental fund. Bangkok, Thailand

Uddin GA, Salahuddin M, Alam K, Gow J (2017) Ecological footprint and real income: panel data evidence from the 27 highest emitting countries. Ecol Indic 77:166–175. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2017.01.003

Ulucak R, Bilgili F (2018) A reinvestigation of EKC model by ecological footprint measurement for high, middle and low income countries. J Clean Prod 188:144–157. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.03.191

UNWTO (2011) Tourism towards 2030 global overview. UNWTO, Madrid

UNWTO (2018) UNWTO tourism highlights 2018 edition. UNWTO, Madrid

UNWTO (2019) International tourist arrivals reach 1.4 billion two years ahead of forecasts. https://www.unwto.org/global/press-release/2019-01-21/international-tourist-arrivals-reach-14-billion-two-years-ahead-forecasts . Accessed 15 Feb 2020

Wackernagel M, Yount JD (2000) Footprints for sustainability: the next steps. Environ Dev Sustain 2:21–42

Wang J, Dong K (2019) What drives environmental degradation? Evidence from 14 sub-saharan African countries. Sci Total Environ 656:165–173. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.11.354

Wang M, Wang C (2018) Tourism, the environment, and energy policies. Tour Econ 24:1–18. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354816618781458

Wooldridge JM (2015) Introductory econometrics: a modern approach, 5th. South-Western, Cengage Learning, Mason

World Bank (2019) World development indicators. https://data.worldbank.org/ . Accessed 15 Apr 2019

WTTC (2018) Travel & tourism economic impact 2018 world. WTTC, London, United Kingdom

Zafar MW, Zaidi SAH, Khan NR, Mirza FM, Hou F, Kirmani SAA (2019) The impact of natural resources, human capital, and foreign direct investment on the ecological footprint: the case of the United States. Res Policy 63:101428. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resourpol.2019.101428

Zaman K, Shahbaz M, Loganathan N, Raza SA (2016) Tourism development, energy consumption and environmental Kuznets curve: trivariate analysis in the panel of developed and developing countries. Tour Manag 54:275–283. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2015.12.001

Zhang L, Gao J (2016) Exploring the effects of international tourism on China’s economic growth, energy consumption and environmental pollution: evidence from a regional panel analysis. Renew Sust Energ Rev 53:225–234. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2015.08.040

Zhang S, Liu X (2019) The roles of international tourism and renewable energy in environment: new evidence from Asian countries. Renew Energy 139:385–394. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2019.02.046

Zivot E, Andrews DWK (1992) Further evidence on the great crash, the oil-price shock, and the unit-root hypothesis. J Bus Econ Stat 10:251–270. https://doi.org/10.1080/07350015.1992.10509904

Download references

This study is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Reference No. 71810107004;L1924081).

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

School of Management and Economics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 100081, China

Nattapan Kongbuamai, Syed Anees Haider Zaidi & Yun Liu

College of Management, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, 518060, China

Muhammad Wasif Zafar

School of Public Policy and Management, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yun Liu .

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest.

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Kongbuamai, N., Zafar, M.W., Zaidi, S.A.H. et al. Determinants of the ecological footprint in Thailand: the influences of tourism, trade openness, and population density. Environ Sci Pollut Res 27 , 40171–40186 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-09977-6

Download citation

Received : 30 March 2020

Accepted : 01 July 2020

Published : 13 July 2020

Issue Date : November 2020

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-09977-6

Share this article

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

• Trade openness
• Population density
• Ecological footprint
• Find a journal
• Publish with us
• Track your research

SMU Economics Intelligence Club

• Jun 21, 2023
• 11 min read

Thriving with Nature: Exploring Ecotourism in Thailand

Written by Li Laiyi and Woon Shijie , with inputs from Ng Yu Kang

Executive Summary

The reopening of Thailand’s international borders in the post-pandemic era has heralded a new direction of tourism, one that is aligned with safe and sustainable travel. Overall, Thailand’s tourism industry has bounced back through the adoption of ecotourism. First, we seek to explore Thailand’s commitment to sustaining ecotourism under its Bio-Circular-Green (BCG) model, along with its significant schemes. Given that Thailand’s tourism sector is a significant contributor to its Gross Domestic Product (GDP), we would then examine the positive economic impact brought about by Thailand’s move into ecotourism as well as its accompanying limitations.

Thailand is in a good position to take advantage of the move, given the intersections between a high reliance on tourism, as well as 21st century trends. Already, we are seeing success in job creation and growth. However, it is equally crucial for the Thai government to sustain its progress by acknowledging and addressing limitations that threaten its long-term prospects, such as those of overcrowding, ecotourism’s high vulnerability to disasters, and greenwashing. Moving forward, we have suggested standards and frameworks for Thailand to secure the profits of a sustainable eco-tourism sector in the long run.

Introduction to Ecotourism in Thailand

Ecotourism: What is it all about?

Ecotourism is a “form of tourism that attempts to take responsibility for its current and future economic, social, and environmental impacts, by looking at the needs of visitors, the industry, the environment, and host communities”. Around the globe, ecotourism is rising in demand and popularity, with over 80% of global travellers believing that ecotourism is important to counter the adverse impacts of tourism. With the growing availability of eco-friendly tourist accommodations and activities, given its environmental sustainability and enhanced travel experiences, the global ecotourism market is expected to reach an astounding USD526.16bn by 2027 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.24%.

Ecotourism in Thailand and the Bio-Circular-Green (BCG) model

Tourism is especially significant in Thailand, being one of the world’s leading travel destinations known for its rich historical sites, unique culture, and delectable local cuisines and landscapes. Accounting for a fifth of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and about 20% of national employment , as well as knock-on impacts on informal sectors, Thailand’s tourism industry is a major contributor to the country’s employment and economic wealth. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Thailand received 39.8 million international visitors in 2019 alone and collected USD60.5bn in international tourism receipts. Tourist revenues were more than the likes of the United Kingdom, Germany, and Japan. As seen in Figure 1, Thailand’s tourism industry only seems to be growing exponentially from 2017 to 2019 with the total value of tourism’s contribution to Thailand’s GDP amounting to THB3028.78b in 2019, up until the 2020 pandemic-fuelled economic downturn, when Thailand’s GDP fell by about -6.1% y/y in 2020.

Post-Pandemic Tourism Revival: Going Green

The Thai government in 2021 announced plans to revive its tourism industry creatively in line with the Bio-Circular-Green (BCG) model , signalling Thailand’s commitment to furthering ecotourism in its national agenda following the COVID-19 pandemic. Spanning from 2021 to 2026, the BCG model seeks to aid in Thailand’s recovery post-pandemic while targeting global environmental concerns . Taking inspiration from the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the BCG model capitalises on Thailand’s strengths in biological diversity and cultural richness to employ technology and innovation in promoting secondary cities and rural communities as tourism spots. They also target niche market segments such as wellness tourism and cultural tourism, in their bid to stimulate sustainable economic growth.

Being supported by both the abundance of natural resources and man-made infrastructure as important enablers, the Thai government has pushed for local tourism businesses to adopt the BCG model. In turn, businesses have generally responded positively .

Notable Schemes in Thailand

The UNESCO Sustainable Travel Pledge

In line with its existing ‘No Foam No Plastic’ initiative, Thailand has been the first country to implement the UNESCO Sustainable Travel Pledge nationwide , with more than 500 hotels signing the pledge to eliminate single-use plastic and promote local culture. The changing nature of business needs also leads to a shift along the supply chain needed to sustain regular operations. This has resulted in a diverse range of support coming from local businesses, and profits as well. The growth of eco-tourism is important not just for greater tourism revenues, but also to support the growth of local businesses and productive labour.

Greater local conservation through activities in Nature

Thailand, being home to a myriad of natural attractions, provides ample opportunities for visitors to engage more in local conservation and activities that promote sustainability. This includes activities such as interactions with the mistreated national animals.

At the elephants of Thailand’s Elephant Nature Park, for example, visitors can learn more about the endangered species. Meanwhile, the new heaven reef conservation program ensures visitors can experience first-hand the range of marine conservation activities, including the maintenance of coral reefs to caring for baby turtle hatchling s.

Community-based tourism

More importantly, the BCG model has made a major impact through its greater promotion of community-based tourism, a type of excursion created for tourists to experience local communities. Community-based tourism is often concentrated in rural areas, extending the benefits of tourism to areas that historically had lower footfall and income streams as well.

Collaborative initiatives under the BCG model such as the joint effort between the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and the Thai Organic Consumers Association (TOCA) seek to promote organic tourism. In Phuket, for example, tourists are able to learn more about organic farming first-hand and collect their own produce to cook - straight from farm to pot. Local restaurants and hotels in Thailand are also sourcing directly from organic farmers. These initiatives are in conjunction with TOCA’s current platform which allows businesses to order local produce and consumers to search for organic farms for farm tours and restaurants that source their ingredients from local farmers.

In the process, ‘Earth Points’ can be earned through greater eco-friendly contributions from both businesses and consumers in the formation and sustenance of an organic society while increasing tourism revenue. These ‘Earth Points’ can be fully redeemed for rewards and promotions on the TOCA platform, further incentivising sustainable practices through the TOCA platform.

This creates a gamified ecosystem that creates a greater appreciation for the environment and strengthens tourism sustainability. Overall, greater exposure of local communities to tourist and business traffic helps create more revenue streams for local farmers, and their communities.

Positive Economic Impact

Rise in GDP and job opportunities for Thais

Following Thailand’s committed move to ecotourism within its tourism sector, TAT hosted an “Amazing Thailand Countdown 2023” on Dec 22 to celebrate its tourism achievements going into the new year. Mr Yuthasak Supasorn, the TAT Governor, commented that Thailand’s tourism sector has generated THB1.5tr in total tourism revenue, half of the pre-pandemic level seen in 2019.

Despite not being at pre-pandemic levels, Thailand’s revitalised tourism sector has boosted its GDP to reach a +4.5% y/y expansion in 3Q22, going against the odds of rising inflation and the global economic slowdown .

The Thai economy is now “growing at an accelerating rate” according to Thailand’s National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC) which is predicting further growth of +3% to +4% in 2023 . With the revival of tourist arrivals in Thailand in accordance with its BCG model, tourism in Thailand is expected to be among the main sectors to contribute to overall GDP growth once again. This is as it continues to strengthen in supporting jobs and incomes in related sectors as well.

Improved quality of life and income for local farmers

More specifically, given the greater prevalence of community-based tourism, greater income and work opportunities are automatically granted to local communities. The additional effects should not be understated. Tourism infrastructure is often a chicken-and-egg problem, with insufficient tourist amenities in rural areas often being a problem in raising revenues. However, through branding and natural tourism pipelines, Thailand is able to increase the amount of exposure and tourism less affluent communities receive without them supplying much capital in the first place. From these tourist activities, naturally, more hotels and restaurants can be set up, and survive. These benefits are further entrenched into local communities, for example when local farmers sell their produce to these establishments.

Eco-Tourism: Limitations and Challenges

Tourism is considered to be one of the most essential drivers of Thailand’s economic progress and in alleviating unemployment. Overall, Thailand is fortunate enough to have multiple geographical and comparative advantages in terms of lifestyle, culture, and food agronomy to make the sustainable tourism market a sizable one. However, eco-tourism comes with its own sets of limitations which must be addressed or at least mitigated by the public sector for continuity.

Overcrowding

Overcrowding is one of the major concerns for Eco-tourism , as it can lead to undesired impacts on the wildlife, habitats, eco-system and even the indigenous community living in the area. Greater exposure to untouched areas leaves an environmental footprint the area might not be sufficiently well-equipped to handle.

One prominent example would be the closure of Maya Bay on Koh Phi Phi in southern Thailand. It was a popular tourist destination for many years, known for its crystal-clear blue water, and towering limestone monoliths that have been worn by millions of years of seawater ebbing. Having this magnificent scene destroyed by tourists is considered by many to be heartbreaking. The effects are detrimental: in June 2000, 70-80% of the bay’s reef was intact. In 2018, less than 8% remained. Thai authorities had to resort to a closure of the bay in June 2018 for conservation efforts despite the large revenue it was generating for the country.

Fortunately, COVID-19 has allowed Thailand’s ecosystem to reset and recover in a more sustainable way. While COVID-19 has negative effects on Thailand’s tourism industry in terms of the economy, it provides plenty of opportunities for sustainability efforts in 2022, such as natural resource restoration. With the abundance of eco-tourism hotspots, the right question to ponder is not how natural resources can be recovered. But instead, how the recovered natural resources may be sustained in the long run.

The solution to sustained usage of natural resources to meet the demands of eco-tourists is through public sector strategy and action. Overcrowding is not the sole result of eco-tourism. Overcrowding is the result of unplanned and poor regulations, that prioritise maximising revenue over conservation. If organisations carry out their operations at the expense of the communities and indigenous people's way of living, Thailand can expect many recurrences of Maya Bay’s tragedy. Repeated offences might mean that rescue efforts may no longer suffice.

High Vulnerability to Natural and Human-Induced Hazards

Thailand is highly vulnerable to natural and human-induced hazards such as tsunamis, storms, droughts, landslides, forest fires and epidemics. The most recent trending disaster in Thailand is flooding. Despite the nature of the hazard, the number of casualties remains relatively high in the millions in regions since the 1990s. The areas being hit the hardest by the hazards are normally eco-tourist hot spots such as the Phuket Tsunami disaster in 2004.

While eco-tourism as a driver of growth is good news for the Thai economy, eco-tourism is highly prone to the effects of natural disasters. One event can lead to a loss of revenue lasting weeks or even months before tourists deem it safe to return. Thailand would also incur high costs to fund relief and restructuring efforts. Hence, it is crucial for the Thai government to consistently upgrade the country’s capital to dampen the effects of natural disasters on Thailand’s economic growth. Having strong industrial policy upgrades would also allow room for career mobility such that the employment rate does not take a sudden dip.

Some policy suggestions by the Asian Development Bank for Thailand include strengthening research and development to support technology absorption. While a reliance on tourism is not inherently wrong, the natural inherent risk means that aggressively diversifying through adopting high-growth sectors is important. With the increasing prevalence of natural disasters due to climate change, diversification becomes especially more pressing.

The Thai government can consider strategically positioning itself to promote the country as a high-tech centre and research base for global firms. This would entice more foreign direct investments which in turn generate more jobs and boost the Thai economy. However, climbing up the technological ladder also requires a simultaneous improvement in workers’ skill levels. It is crucial to increase availability and access to highly specialised vocational education and training and ensure that content is systematically aligned with industry needs. Nonetheless, over the past few decades, Thailand has established a robust manufacturing sector. The focus is on attracting investments for mid/high-tech manufacturing. One area that Thailand could exploit would be Electric Vehicles (EV) and other sustainable products, which align with the eco-tourism sector’s objective to better protect the environment. Already, there are plans to increase EV production to 30% of all cars by 2030. Thailand is also the world’s fifth-largest rare earth metals producer. As renewables become more widely produced due to the world’s quest for net-zero, and the West looking to diversify its renewable production sources outside of the Middle Kingdom, Thailand has a potential opportunity to increase its exports or move up the renewable supply chain with the abundance of these metals.

Greenwashing

Greenwashing is another prominent issue. Greenwashing is a practice in which businesses make false or misleading claims about their environmental practices to appeal to consumers. Unfortunately, greenwashing is a common practice in the tourism industry, including in Thailand's eco-tourism sector.

Naturally, the booming sector allows eco-tourism operators to reap high revenue and accelerate expansion. Hence, firms are more likely to jump onto the trend hoping to get a fair share of the eco-tourism business. Rushing into the sector with profits as the main objective, while neglecting the essence of sustainability, would inevitably cause greenwashing.

Fortunately, the Thai government launched a few initiatives to tackle the issue of greenwashing. One of the notable ones is the ‘GSTC-Recognized Standard’ status launched by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council. Attaining the GSTC-Recognized status signifies that a sustainable tourism standard has been reviewed by GSTC technical experts and the GSTC Accreditation Panel and deemed equivalent to the GSTC Criteria for sustainable tourism. This prevents firms from fabricating results as the certificate can only be achieved after an in-depth and comprehensive check by the experts. The GSTC programs serve to recognise genuine practitioners of sustainable tourism, which in turn builds confidence and credibility with consumers.

However, GSTC has its limitations. The GSTC uses a compliance-based approach, meaning that businesses are expected to meet specific requirements in order to be certified. While this approach can be useful in ensuring that businesses meet minimum standards, it may not necessarily encourage innovation or continuous improvement beyond the requirements of the standard. One possible outcome could be that thriving firms may not see the need to transition to cleaner energy or better environmental practices so long they can continue generating profits.

Moving Forward

To sum it up, a healthy and sustainable eco-tourism practice should aim to have the following:

Ensure sustainability by limiting the number of tourists in an area. This prevents overcrowding which can lead to detrimental damage to the environment as mentioned above. It did lead to the closure of popular tourist hot spots, taking a toll on Thailand’s eco-tourism revenue.

Maximise local economic benefits by including residents in projects, encouraging local investments and regulating foreign ones. Not only would an inclusive eco-tourism sector generate more jobs for the locals, but the Thai government could also better control the extent of exploitation of natural reserves when the operators are local as compared to when it is foreign companies. This includes fair distribution of the eco-tourism revenue to locals whose spaces were used in the process.

Regular collaboration between government officials and conservation groups. It is crucial to tap into the environmental knowledge and advice of non-governmental groups in the space. In doing so, it allows for the better and timely protection of the natural reserves. It adds resources and capital to groups already doing good work while reducing the need for more costly government intervention. Enhancing these synergies could strike a sustainable balance between economic growth and environmental protection.

While Thailand’s eco-tourism sector has its merits such as the abundance of guided environment tours, sustainable resorts and nature conservation, the country still has some ways to go. The introduction of Thailand’s Bio-Circular-Green Economy Model (BCG), which aims to use natural assets more efficiently with the least impact on the environment, is a good stepping stone moving forward for the eco-tourism sector. However, it is essential that the Thai government continues to ramp up efforts in protecting the country’s natural resources given the surge in tourists following China’s reopening. Moving forward, Thailand's sustainable tourism market size is estimated to grow tremendously at a 17.8% CAGR from 2022 to 2032, which represents nearly 3-4% of the share in the global tourism industry. Such a bright outlook for the eco-tourism market is not an opportunity to miss out on. With proper regulation and new initiatives, Thailand can anticipate many fruitful years ahead.

Li Laiyi is a Research Analyst covering Southeast Asia the SMU Economics Intelligence Club (SEIC) and a third-year social sciences undergraduate majoring in Politics, Law, and Economics.

Woon Shijie is a Research Analyst covering Southeast Asia at SEIC, and a second-year economics undergraduate.

Ng Yu Kang is the Director of the Southeast Asia desk at SEIC.

The views expressed are the authors’ own and do not represent the official position of the SMU Economics Intelligence Club. This article may not be reproduced without prior permission from SEIC and due credit to the author(s) and SEIC.

Recent Posts

Dollarisation in Argentina: A Mistargeted Silver Bullet

The 'Right' to Govern.

The Philippines Maharlika Investment Fund: Boon or Bane

The Colours of Thailand

The Thai government’s effort for the sustainable tourism

Last updated: 18 April 2023

Millions of people travel to Thailand every year, and this puts an impact on the country’s beautiful nature. To prevent Thailand’s nature deterioration , many organisations across the country are putting effort and working to preserve the kingdom’s nature.

Sustainable tourism is not just a global trend, but also a movement that the Thai government takes it seriously. Here you can find out what the Thai government has set out its sustainable tourism projects in recent years.

The Thai government’s own initiatives

The Thai government has seen the impacts of tourism in recent years, both positive and negative, and has taken a firm step to improve sustainability throughout the country. To read more about this, check out Tourism Authority of Thailand’s dedicated website, 7 Green Projects .

Here are some examples of what the Thai government has done:

Closing some popular national parks

Every year the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation takes extreme measures to protect the most heavily-visited regions of the country by closing them to tourists.

The biggest example of this when Thailand closed Maya Bay, near Koh Phi Phi, which was featured in the famous movie The Beach.

The government decided to close the island in June 2018, citing the need for it to recover.

Apart from Maya Bay, the Thai government is doing similar things to other popular destinations, often during the rainy season when the environment is at its most fragile, and are seeing excellent results.

No Foam and no Plastics

The other big initiative in 2018 that the Thai government and local businesses have introduced is banning single-use plastics from all 154 national and regional parks across the country.

In 2020 Thailand took its further step by banning single-use plastic bags.

Bio-Circular-Green Economic Model (BCG)

The Bio-Circular-Green Economic Model (BCG) has been implemented and advocated by research groups and the Thai government to bring about inclusivity and sustainability. The model capitalizes on Thailand’s wealth of biological diversity, cultural heritage, technology advancement, as well as international Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This is also done with reference to Sufficiency Economy Philosophy (SEP), which serves as a guideline for its economic development. To expand upon this concept within the tourism sector, secondary cities are being promoted for new vacation spots; digital platforms are used to improve convenience; national guidelines have been established concerning carrying capacity; sustainable standards systems have been set up; conservation efforts remain ongoing. Furthermore, creative economy has enabled various niche markets such as wellness travel experiences or eco-tourism activities become more accessible than before.

Stricter smoking laws

Smoking is prohibited in all indoor public places, indoor workplaces, and public transport. Smoking is prohibited in the following outdoor places: facilities for exercise, sports training, sports playing, and sports competitions of every kind, public parks, zoological parks, and amusement parks, children’s playgrounds, and markets. Read more about Thailand tobaco control law here.

Ecotourism in Thailand

Ecotourism is defined as “tourism directed towards exotic, often threatened, natural environments, intended to support conservation efforts and observe wildlife”.

It is not new, but rather a niche to offer a new way of travel to tourists. More and more businesses are incorporating ecotourism practices into their products. You can find varierty of projects, focusing on sustainable travel and save the environment and wildlife. Here are some of our favourites for the environmental and wildlife protections:

TRASH HERO   ‘s mission is to bring communities together to clean and reduce waste. It is community-based projects that remove existing waste, and reduce future waste by inspiring long-term behavior change. Here you can find out Trash Hero’s activities in Thailand.

New Heaven Reef Conservation

Based on Koh Tao in the Gulf of Thailand, the  New Heaven Reef Conservation runs marine-specific courses and projects to protect and study the underwater world in the Gulf of Thailand.

Soi Dog Foundation

The  Soi Dog Foundation  has made it their mission to protect the thousands of stray dogs that are found all over Thailand and to end the dog meat trade in Southeast Asia.

May Term Thailand

Effects of tourism on thailand.

By Rylee Adkison and Erin Macinnis

Thailand has become one of the biggest booming areas for tourism lately and all in good reason as thailand is home to amazing beaches, greenery, and fun! Thailand has so much to offer but specific landmarks in thailand have been getting hit harder than others in terms of the rising numbers of tourist populations. There have been some positive and negative effects on some popular thai cities. Tourism can offer countries an economic boost but can have other adverse effects such as impacting the environment and destroying some beautiful landmarks. Some specific places that are being hit the hardest include Koh Tachai, koh phi phi island and the infamous maya bay. (below)

“over tourism” in thailand has been wreaking havoc on the beautiful scenery and ecosystems that the local beaches procure. Some beaches have even closed because the amount of tourists have been exceeding the max population for too long ; maya bay in specific 820 feet long and it sees about five thousand visitors each and every day. Some of the effects this has had on May bay is the “ decimation of entire ecosystems on these islands: Their beaches and waves have become littered with trash , their reefs severely damaged by irresponsible snorkelers and boats (Maya is estimated to have lost 80 percent of its coral cover), and marine life virtually wiped out as a result”. This beach has been a spot for many tourists since the 2000 film “the beach” and as progressed into such a popular spot for tourism that the local thai government had to issue a “ temporary tourist ban” but has denounced that since with closing the beach indefinitely to restore what once was.

Wildlife has also been majorly affected by tourism. Specifically in Chiang Mai, elephant rides are becoming more and more popular. Although these rides are fun for tourists and throw more money into the Thai economy, they are ethically questionable. The elephants are kept in captivity and chained up in between rides. In addition, they are subjected to all kinds of abuse brought on by their mahouts, which are supposed to be the people that care for them. Elephants are supposed to be able to free roam and act as they please, but being used recreationally takes away their ability to do these things.

Another serious issue that has resulted from Thai tourism is the exponential growth of sex work and human trafficking. Although it is beyond the tourist’s control, many people are roped into the industry either voluntarily or involuntarily. According to the UN’s refugee agency in 2013, there were at least three million migrant workers in Thailand. The majority of these workers are involved in the sex industry. While walking through Patpong Market, a popular location for sex workers, you will hear western languages being spoken. You will hear more English and Spanish than Thai and Khmer. Sex trafficking in Thailand is a developing problem and there is little incentive to enforce laws against it.

There are many negative effects of tourism, especially in thailand in the last decade, but there are also many positive effects. Tourism doesn’t only do the obvious of bringing in cash but also benefits the “country’s transport systems, electricity supply and telecommunications.” Tourism can also offer places like thailand an increase in jobs for the locals which will in turn not only bring in money, but will give back to the thai community as a whole. Overall as there are many negative effects of tourism in thailand there can also be positive ones as long as the local government is keeping up with the demand for protection of the most beautiful places there country has to offer.

Tigtag UK. (2019). Tourism in Thailand. [online] Available at: https://www.tigtagworld.co.uk/film/tourism-in-thailand-PRM00784/ [Accessed 10 May 2019].

Editors, C. (2019). 15 Beloved Places Struggling With Overtourism. [online] Condé Nast Traveler. Available at: https://www.cntraveler.com/galleries/2015-06-19/barcelona-bhutan-places-that-limit-tourist-numbers [Accessed 10 May 2019].

CNN Travel (2019). Thailand Bay made popular by ‘The Beach’ to remain closed for two more years. [online] Available at: https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/maya-bay-closure-thailand/index.html [Accessed 10 May 2019].

Valenta, K. (2019). The Dark Side of Tourism in Thailand. [online] Oyster.com. Available at: https://www.oyster.com/articles/60615-the-dark-side-of-tourism-in-thailand / [Accessed 10 May 2019].

Share this:

Leave a comment cancel reply.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed .

Website Built with WordPress.com .

• Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
• Subscribe Subscribed
• Copy shortlink
• Report this content
• View post in Reader
• Manage subscriptions
• Collapse this bar

An official website of the United States government

The .gov means it’s official. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

The site is secure. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

• Publications
• Account settings

Preview improvements coming to the PMC website in October 2024. Learn More or Try it out now .

• Advanced Search
• Journal List
• Elsevier - PMC COVID-19 Collection

Marine resource recovery in Southern Thailand during COVID-19 and policy recommendations

COVID-19 and subsequent government health containment measures have slowed down economic activities worldwide, particularly tourism. With the number of foreign tourists entering Thailand during 2020 and 2021 greatly diminished, the number of tourists at marine and coastal attractions in Southern Thailand has declined as well. This study found evidence of a relationship between the decline of the number of tourists and marine resource recovery. This recovery appears in the form of cleaner beaches, clearer seawater and increased sighting of marine animals. Between 2020 and 2021, official reports found increased sighting of dugongs, dolphins, blacktip reef sharks, whale sharks, leopard sharks, sea turtles, green turtles, hawksbill turtles, and false killer whales at marine national parks in Southern Thailand. The study also found that, prior to the COVD-19 outbreak, the number of tourists at Patong Beach and Maya Bay exceeded their tourism carrying capacities. Finally, this study proposes eight policy measures related to tourism management for marine resource sustainability: conservation and recreation zoning, enforcing marine park closure, redesigning marine park entrance fee systems, ensuring adequate recreational facilities, stricter enforcement of the law, promoting alternative tourism sites, encouraging more inclusivity and participation in decision making processes, and enhancing public awareness.

1. Introduction

With a total of 2614 kilometers of shoreline and 936 islands, Thailand is rich in marine resources and tourist destinations [26] . The more well-known marine destinations in Southern Thailand include the James Bond Island, Koh Samui Island, Patong Beach, Phi Phi Island, and Maya Bay. Each year, marine resources in Southern Thailand attract more than 50 million tourists. Although tourism generates significant income for the Thai economy, it also exerts pressure on marine resources and the environment.

In Thailand, tourism affects marine resources and the environment in several ways, such as, coral damage, collecting coral for souvenirs, solid waste generation, wastewater discharge, seagrass damage, beach littering, visual pollution and marine littering [26] , [29] , [39] . Moreover, tourism-related urbanization at coastal areas in the Eastern region of Thailand also imposes negative impacts on climate change resilience of the community, such as, impact on water scarcity through intensive use [27] . Maya Bay, where the Hollywood movie ‘The Beach’ starring Leonardo DiCaprio filmed one of its scenes, hosted more than one million visitors in 2017. As a result, the beach at Maya Bay was severely disrupted. The deterioration at Maya Bay included tourist overcrowding, conflicts between boat docking and swimming, coral destruction from snorkeling and use of illegal suntan lotion, fish capturing for photographs, fish feeding, fishing, seawater deterioration, and insufficient restroom and garbage disposal facilities. These events eventually led the Thai marine park authority to close Maya Bay from visitation in July 2018 [9] .

The COVID-19 outbreak that began in early 2020 affected the global community far more than the Subprime Mortgage Crisis or the Asian Economic Crisis. With a sharp reduction in both international and domestic travels, lockdowns, and working from home, COVID-19 significantly affected the wellbeing of societies around the world.

In the fishing industry, COVID-19 resulted in a decrease in fishery demand and had negative impacts on the seafood industry in many countries, such as, small-scale fisheries in Mexico [20] , salmon production in Chile [33] , fisheries in the European Union [19] , the aquatic food system, aquaculture industry, and small-scale fisheries in Bangladesh [14] , [17] , [36] , the aquatic food value chain in Asia and Africa [3] , and the livelihoods and food security in the Republic of Vanuatu [35] . The impact of COVID-19 on marine pollution, particularly the disposal of sanitary masks, still remains unclear. Estimates show an increase in sanitary masks that may end up in the oceans [7] , but other studies find no evidence of COVID-19 related products leaking into marine environment [28] .

Despite all these negative global impacts, some countries took the opportunity of decreased tourism and fishing demands to rehabilitate their oceans. For example, the United Kingdom, experiencing the negative impacts of COVID-19 in the commercial fishery industry, saw the opportunity to rehabilitate the fishery stocks by realigning fishery policies for future sustainability [18] . Higgins-Desbiolles [16] also suggests that the COVID-19 global shutdown should provide an opportunity to rethink and reset tourism towards a better pathway for the future. This pandemic may be an opportunity for Thailand as well. In Thailand, right after the COVID-19 outbreak and the large reduction in tourism, Thai media began reporting increases in marine animal sighting in several parts of the Southern Thai oceans ( Fig. 1 ). Linking the decline of tourist visitation to the increased marine animal sighting is important as it provides evidence that tourism is a threat to marine animals. Thus, if more concrete evidence can be collected to support this negative linkage between tourism activities and the wellbeing of marine animals, it will enable the Thai marine park authority to propose a stronger argument in favor of tighter regulations over tourism activities as a means for sustainable marine resource management.

Media reports of increased marine animal sighting in Southern Thailand.

Previous pandemic events, such as, SAR or Cov-2 virus, demonstrated that decrease in human activities in marine ecosystems tends to have positive impacts on marine resource recovery. Coll [8] and Kemp et al. [18] illustrate that when the oceans are not disrupted, marine ecosystems can improve, with more frequent wildlife sightings such as baleen whales, dugongs, manatees, toothed whales, orcas, and dolphins, as they appear in unexpected areas. These increases in marine animal sighting may be due to reductions in accidental deaths, collision with boats, underwater noise and marine traffic, and fishing effort [8] . Hall [11] also recognizes that excessive growth in tourism can lead to deterioration at tourist destinations. This observation supports the argument of overtourism and a need for degrowth in tourism activities.

With this rationale, this study asks three research questions. First, is there evidence linking the level of tourism and sighting of marine animals before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Southern Thailand? Second, do tourism activities at the study sites exceed their tourism carrying capacities? Third, what are the policy measures that will gear marine tourism and marine resource management towards sustainability?

The contribution of this study is to provide strong evidence for Thailand to recognize the cost of overutilization of marine resources and the need to tailor marine tourism policy measures to recognize the natural ecological limit. An important message this study aims to communicate to governments all around the world is that ‘COVID-19 provides an opportunity for marine policy adjustment leading to a healthier marine resource today and sustainable tourism tomorrow’ [8] .

Five marine recreational sites in Southern Thailand were selected for this study: Patong Beach in Phuket province, Maya Bay, Koh Rok Island, Koh Hong Island in Krabi province, and Koh Libong Island in Trung province. These study sites were chosen because their marine/natural resource endowments are tourist attractions.

2. Methodology

The study contains three components: first, linking the trends of tourism activities with marine animal sighting before and during the COVID-19 pandemic; second, calculating the tourism carrying capacities and compare them with the actual number of tourists; and third, proposing policy recommendations for sustainable marine resource tourism. Although several definitions of resource recovery can be used, this study measures resource recovery based on increases in marine animal sighting compared to historical levels [21] . Because of the short timespan between the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and this study, a healthier ocean will not appear in the form of increased marine animal population. Many megafauna species identified in this study take many years to recover from low population abundance (Lotze, [21] ). Rather, the decrease tourism traffic, marine disturbances, accidental deaths, collision with boats, underwater noise, or fishing effort may have led to increased sightings due to change in animal behavior and distribution [8] . These increased sightings are still an encouraging sign of recovery. When marine animals return to the surface and their original habitat ranges, this opens up increased opportunities for breeding, foraging, and creating safe spaces for juveniles.

For the first component, trends of tourism activities and marine animal sightings during the study period are shown. Pearson correlations are also calculated to show if there exist correlations between the number of tourists and marine animal sightings. At Patong Beach, where records on marine animal sightings do not exist because it is located outside national park boundary, trends of tourism activities against seawater quality were used instead.

On recreation carrying capacities, there has been increasing scrutiny on using numerical carrying capacity as a tool for managing recreational resources. McCool and Lime [25] are critical of the use of a numerical carrying capacity, as it may not reflect the appropriate balance between social and biophysical conditions of recreation nor will it reflect the optimum trade-off between the social benefits of the use level and the cost in terms of environmental impact. While such remark has its validity when addressing a specific recreation site, using numerical carrying capacity as a tool to gain an overview assessment of recreation activities is still useful. Calculating numerical carrying capacities based on available secondary data is beneficial in providing cost effective information as to where detailed attention should be directed. Once recreational sites that are heavily visited can be identified, the more detail analysis of tourism behavior vs. the biophysical impacts can be carried out. In this study, the calculation of carrying capacity serves as a tool to identify recreation sites that need a further looking into.

This study adopts two measures of the tourism carrying capacity calculations: Physical Carrying Capacity (PCC) and Real Carrying Capacity (RCC) as indicated in (1) , (2) [40] , [22] .

Where PCC = Physical Carrying Capacity (the number of visitors per day).

• A = recreational area at study sites (square meters)
• a u = recreational area recommended for a visitor (square meter per visitor)
• Rf = rotation factor (the number of rounds of visitation each site can accommodate per day calculated by operating hours per day/average visitation hours per visitor). Rf takes the value of 1 for whole day recreation.

Real Carrying Capacity (RCC) measures PCC and also takes into consideration the number of days that can reduce visitation at the recreational site -- the correction factors. The study considers two limiting magnitudes that give rise to correction factors (Cf i ) that reduce recreational visitation: the number of rainy days per year and the number of thunder days per year. The total magnitude is the number of days in a year, 365 days.

Where RCC = Real Carrying Capacity (the number of visitors per day).

• Cf i = correction factors i
• Lm i = limiting magnitude of factor i
• Tm i = total magnitude of factor i

PCC shows the maximum number of tourists recommended while RCC takes a close examination of the actual maximum number of tourists recommended by deducting days that recreational sites are out of service due to factors such as raining and thunders. Given all the five study sites are located in Southern Thailand that tend to receive higher precipitation than other parts of the country, RCC will be a more preferred measure of carrying capacity.

On policy recommendations, the study uses in-depth interviews with various stakeholders in marine resource management and marine tourism. Six groups of stakeholders are included in the in-depth interviews: municipalities, national park offices, marine and coastal resource offices, tour companies, local villages, and volunteer groups. The in-depth interviews cover discussion on the suitability of policy measures and implementation. The suitability of policy measure and implementation is assessed in four separate areas: legal feasibility, site suitability, local acceptance, and business acceptance. After the in-depth interview each policy measure is evaluated for each area separately whether such policy measure is (1) feasible/suitable/acceptable, (2) feasible/suitable/acceptable but needs further improvement, or (3) infeasible/unsuitable/unacceptable.

3. Study sites and data collection

The study adopted a five-year timeframe between 2017 and 2021 to cover activities both pre and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Establishing an appropriate geographical unit of analysis is essential as the volume of tourists need to be mapped against marine animal sightings and recreational areas. The marine animal sighting data is collected by the national park authority. The national park authority patrols the ocean to observe its condition every other day (around 14 days per month) by speed boat and inflatable boats. Each patrol involves five to seven officers who collect data, such as, Global Positioning System (GPS) location, marine animal sighting, or marine animal threats and deaths. The coastal resource authority, on the other hand, flies small aircraft using line transect method for a duration of 5–6 days. The line transect flights are carried out once a year only.

In linking the trends of tourism activities with marine animal sightings, the study adopts an island as the unit of analysis. Table 1 shows all the five marine study sites: Patong Beach, Maya Bay, Koh Rok Island, Koh Hong Island and Koh Libong Island. Patong Beach and Maya Bay are not islands per se, but they are included because of their policy relevance. The locations of these five study sites are shown in Fig. 1 .

Five study sites and their locations.

The number of tourists and the number of marine animal sightings were obtained from records of the national park offices in which the islands are located. The number of tourists at Patong Beach required additional calculation as Patong Beach is an open space and tourism data are not available. The number of tourists at Patong Beach is based on the total number of tourists coming to Phuket province, but scaled down proportionally by a fraction. The fraction used is the percentage of hotels at Patong Municipality to the total number of hotels in Phuket province. The study uses seawater quality records at Patong Beach, measured as the Marine Water Quality Index (MWQI), 1 from the marine and coastal resource office. As Koh Libong Island is located outside a national park, the data on the number of tourists and marine animal sightings were obtained from the marine and coastal resource office ( Fig. 2 ).

Map indicating the locations of the five study sites.

On tourism carrying capacities, the study adopted a beach as the unit of analysis as tourism carrying capacities are specific to each recreational area. The recreational areas (A) are measured in square meters at each study site and the rotation factors (R f ) were obtained from national park offices. The Ministry of Tourism and Sports provided the values for the suitable recreational area per visitor (a u ). The number of rainy days per year (Lm 1 ) and the number of thunder days per year (Lm 2 ) were from the Thai Meteorological Department offices in the area. The total magnitude factor is 365 days per year.

On policy recommendation, the study interviewed a total of 28 offices and groups of people as indicated in Table 2 . During the in-depth interviews, officers, staff, and respondents were asked to discuss the suitability and feasibility of policy measures that will help balance tourism and marine resource sustainability. The policy measures discussed during the in-depth interviews are listed in Table 4 and the respondents were also given opportunities to suggests other measures they felt suitable. The in-depth interviews at Phuket province took place during December 16–17, 2020, Krabi province during March 8–11, 2021 and Trung province during March 15–18, 2021.

Number of agencies for in-depth interviews.

Note: Each agency may have several offices located in the study sites. Each office is interviewed one time only, but there may be more than one interview for each agency if such agency has several offices scattered in the study sites. Some agencies do not have offices on the island but their offices are located in the inland area of the provinces.

Policy measures and implementations.

Note: After each focus group discussion, the study team evaluated the outcome of each focus group. After all the focus group discussions were completed at the end of data collection process, the study team analyzed all the results and qualitatively assigned a color-code to each aspect of the policy measures. Fortunately, most people interviewed tended to have similar views on each aspect of the policy measures and there were no strong disagreements. This similarity in opinion occurred because each aspect of the policy measures, they are, legal feasibility, site suitability, local acceptance, and business acceptance, is evaluated separately therefore helped minimize disagreements.

*Feasibility/Suitability/Acceptability depends on site location.

4.1. Marine resource recovery

Patong Beach, a very popular tourist destination in Southern Thailand, is located on the mainland of Phuket province. Each year, Patong Beach hosts around five million visitors, but after the implementation of COVID-19 measures, the number of tourists drastically declined but started to return again towards the end of 2020 when the situation eased (see Fig. 3 ). Being a public beach on the Phuket mainland, Patong Beach is under the jurisdiction of Patong Municipality. As reports on the marine animal sighting at Patong Beach were unavailable, the study mapped the number of tourists against seawater quality. Prior to COVID-19, the seawater quality, measured as MQWI at Patong Beach from station 1–3, showed mixed results, but during COVID-19, the seawater quality improved at all three stations (see Fig. 3 ). The level of Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) also improved significantly from around 120 mg/l before COVID-19 to only 7.9 mg/l in December 2020. This indicates that tourism has a strong negative impact on seawater quality and most likely the health of marine resources as well.

Number of tourists and seawater quality at Patong Beach, Phuket province. Note: BOD = Biological Oxygen Demand. It is a measure of water quality.

Maya Bay is also popular among tourists as it was used in one of the scenes in the movie ‘The Beach’ starring Leonardo DiCaprio. Fig. 4 (A) shows the number of tourists at Maya Bay reached as high as 1.2 million in 2017. With the continued deterioration in beach quality, the national park authority decided to close Maya Bay in July 2018 [9] . However, despite the close down of Maya Bay, a number of tourists (shown as the dotted line) still wished to cruise by and catch a glimpse of Maya Bay at a distance. With a decline in the number of tourists in 2020, the authority recorded as many as 132 blacktip reef sharks and a small number of leopard sharks, hawksbill turtles, and green turtles around Maya Bay. The Pearson correlation coefficients (r) between the number of tourists and marine animal sightings are negative, as expected. The p-values of Pearson correlations coefficients are also given in Fig. 4 (A).

Marine resource recovery and the number of tourists at the four national park study sites. (A) Maya Bay, Krabi province (B) Koh Rok Island, Krabi province (C) Koh Hong Island, Krabi province, and (D) Koh Libong Island, Trung province. Patong Beach is not presented here as animal sighting data is not available, therefore water quality has been used to indicate resource recovery (see Fig. 3 ).

In 2020, the number of tourists at Koh Rok Island declined by about a half compared to the previous years (see Fig. 4 B). At Koh Rok Island and Koh Hong Island, the number of tourists began to decline since 2019 even before COVID-19 incidence that took place in the early quarter of 2020. As a result, 18 false killer whales, 2 whale sharks and 2 hawksbill turtles were sighted in 2020 when their sightings were not reported in the previous years. In 2020, Koh Hong Island experienced the similar decline of the number of tourists and reported sighting of 296 blacktip reef sharks when only 60 were sighted in 2019 and none were sighted during 2017–2018 (see Fig. 4 C). The Pearson correlation coefficients between the number of tourists and marine animal sighting are negative, as expected. Lastly, following the decline in the number of tourists at Koh Libong Island in 2020, the number of dugongs sighting rose from 186 in 2019–221 in 2020 (see Fig. 4 D). However, sighting of other marine animals, such as, whale shark, dolphin and sea turtle at Koh Libong Island fluctuated during the study period.

The negative correlations between the number of tourists and marine animal sighting are confirmed by their p-value statistics (at 90% significant level) at Koh Rok Island (B) for false killer whale, whale shark and hawsbill turtle, Koh Hong Island (C) for blacktip reef shark, and Libong Island (D) for dugongs and whale sharks. The correlations between the number of tourists and other marine animals are still negative, although not supported by p-value statistics.

4.2. Carrying capacity

Table 3 shows the calculations of tourism carrying capacities measured as PCC and RCC at all five study sites. Based on the suggested recreational standard of the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, Table 3 shows that Patong Beach is able to host 7500 tourists per day and 2952 tourists per day when taking into consideration rain and thunder. At Maya Beach, their tourism carrying capacities are 1040 tourists per day and 436 tourists per day when taking into consideration rain and thunder. Fig. 5 shows the actual number of tourists at Patong Beach exceeded their carrying capacities for all months even during the low tourist seasons. Only during COVID-19 did the number of tourists at Patong Beach fall within the carrying capacities. At Maya Beach, the number of tourists were more than triple the carrying capacity before it was closed down in 2018 (see Fig. 6 ). As for Koh Rok Island, Koh Hong Island, and Koh Libong Island, the numbers of tourists did not exceed their carrying capacities both before and during COVID-19.

Tourism carrying capacities.

The number of tourists and the carrying capacities at Patong Beach, Phuket province.

The number of tourists and the carrying capacities at Maya Bay, Krabi province.

At Koh Rok Island, the average tourist visitation per day before COVID-19 was 243 which is well below the RCC of 7794 visitors per day and during COVID-19 the average number of tourists dropped to around 85 visitors per day. At Koh Hong Island, the average tourist visitation per day before COVID-19 was 348 which is still below the RCC of 584 visitors per day and during COVID-19 the average number of tourists dropped to around 161 visitors per day. And, at Koh Libong Island, the average tourist visitation per day before COVID-19 was 561 which is still below the RCC of 1731 visitors per day and during COVID-19 the average number of tourists dropped to around 235 visitors per day.

4.3. Policy measures and implementation

The study undertook in-depth interviews with 28 agencies at the study sites. The in-depth interviews enabled the local staff, entrepreneurs, and local people to share their views on marine tourism policy measures in four areas: legal feasibility, site suitability, local acceptance, and business acceptance. The color-code in Table 4 represents the views of the.

majority of the respondents at all the five study sites. The opinion of the respondents from all the study sites tends to conform to the same direction, hence allowing the study to assign a color-code to each aspect of each policy measure. However, the respondents reported that implementation of each policy measure at each study site may vary depending on the local circumstances.

All agencies interviewed agreed that tourism should be geared towards marine resource sustainability. However, there is a need for a well-designed policy measure and implementation that balances the need for income generation today against marine resource sustainability tomorrow. Table 4 shows the results of the in-depth interview.

Tourism licensing is essential as it requires tour businesses to observe the code of conduct. However, violations are sometime observed, and a more effective enforcement of the code of conduct is needed. Zoning is seen as an essential element of marine resource management, but enforcing a maximum allowable number of tourists can only be implemented at marine national parks where laws are already in place and controlling tourist arrival on the islands is practical. However, imposing the maximum allowable number of visitors at public recreational sites, such as public beaches, remains a problem partly because there are no laws that prohibit tourists from entering public beaches, and preventing people from entering public beaches is also physically difficult. Similarly, while closing recreational sites for a given period is a suitable measure for island recreation, such measure cannot be implemented on public beaches outside national park jurisdiction.

There is skepticism with regards to imposing parking fees for public recreational sites as an indirect measure to control the number of tourists at public beaches. Site accessibility and lack of local acceptance makes this measure impractical. This is because it is known among the Thai people that the Thai law declares beaches to be public property and openly accessible. It was also agreed that more efforts are needed on strict law enforcement, raising public awareness, and providing rewards and incentives for environmentally friendly practices. A study at Koh Tao Island, Trad province, also found similar results. The authority and local residents at Koh Tao also view recreational zoning, limiting the number of tourists, creating public awareness, and regulation enforcement as key policy measures for marine resource sustainability [39] .

5. Policy recommendations

Preparing a set of policy prescriptions is key in marine resource management and sustainable tourism. Gearing tourism towards sustainability and becoming environmentally friendly is interdisciplinary in nature, encompassing of economic, social, cultural, political and environmental considerations. While combining views of different disciplines can be conflicting and involves trade-offs between objectives, a well-designed policy prescription where disciplines are well integrated and complement one another can actually enhance policy efficacy. Bramwell et al. [5] describes the evolution of sustainable tourism studies and shows that sustainable tourism general involves issues, such as, altering human behavior or attitude, social and production systems, transition from the old path to new path creation, governance system, interconnection between human and natural systems, and ethical and political considerations. In connection with COVID-19, several studies argue that tourism of pre-COVID-19 era may be characterized as overtourism and suggest for ways to rethink tourism leading to degrowth in tourism trend. (Higgins-Desbiolles [16] , [32] , [34] ).

Marine resource recovery during the COVID-19 pandemic at five study sites in Southern Thailand shows a strong link between the number of tourists and frequency of marine animal sightings. This information, coupled with the fact that the number of tourists at Patong Beach and Maya Bay also exceeded their carrying capacities, are crucial in supporting further investigations at these two study sites as to how tourism can be better managed leading to sustainability. Drawing the observed healthier ocean following the decline in the number of tourists led the study to propose ways to ease the tourism pressure on marine resources [4] . For successful implementation, policy measures also need to conform to the local conditions, namely, legal feasibility, site suitability, local acceptance, and business acceptance [21] . Therefore, this study finds that successful marine resource policy measures need to be indigenous and may need to vary with time and space. An experience drawn from Easter Island, Chile, shows that even the traditional Rapanui fishing management also needed to be modified to meet new challenges facing their fishery sector today [1] .

Based on the findings of this study and the in-depth interviews, this study hereby proposes eight policy recommendations that aim to ease the tourism pressure on marine ecology and promote sustainability in tourism and marine resource management.

5.1. Conservation and recreation zoning

Establishing zones where recreation is separated from conservation is essential for minimizing negative externalities from tourism activities and conservation as well as maintaining a well-balanced marine resource utilization. Zoning should be designated for fishery, aquaculture, beach recreation, scuba diving and snorkeling, vessel routes, vessel docking, park conservation areas, coral and seagrass conservation, and nesting and nursery areas. Zoning is currently practiced in some coastal areas in Thailand, such as, swimming vs motorized sport areas, or seagrass conservation areas, thus, expanding and enforcing the use of zoning as a tool for marine resource conservation is promising.

5.2. Enforcing marine park closure

Evidence from increased marine animal sighting during COVID-19 supports the view that giving marine parks a break from tourism will lead to healthier marine ecosystems. Marine park closure is already practiced in Thailand, but such measure can be extended without significant impacts on tourism. Marine parks can be closed for a period of months or years. If marine park closure is well planned in advance and the schedule is known to the public in advance, tour businesses can redesign their tour package programs to divert tourism to other marine parks that are in operation. Tourists can also make arrangements in advance and be minimally affected.

5.3. Advancing the marine park entrance fee systems

Most national parks in Thailand adopt some form of an entrance fee system. Marine national parks currently charge an entrance fee higher than that of inland national parks. This entrance fee system is useful in communicating congestion information to the tourists as well as incentivize tourists to visit the destinations during less congested time. Entrance fee differentiation can be established between weekend vs. weekday visitation, high season vs. low season, or between fragile vs. conventional marine sites. Entrance fee differentiation will help even out tourism traffic throughout the year and lessen the pressure on marine resources. The increase in revenue collected will also help strengthen marine park monitoring and management. Grilli et al. [10] conducts a willingness-to-pay study to advocate for using payment for ecosystem service for sustainable tourism projects and found that charging an entrance fee is feasible. It is also important to take into consideration the impact of marine park entrance fee systems on the low-income visitors and the local community. In these cases, entrance fee exemption or discounted entrance fee can be established for local citizens, children, the elderly, and other groups as deemed appropriate by the park authorities. Entrance fee exemption or discounts can be used during some public holidays, such as, labor day or national day.

5.4. Ensuring adequate recreational facilities

To lessen the adverse impacts of tourism on marine ecology, authorities should provide adequate recreational facilities for tourists. Such facilities include, for instance, clear boundary marking, warning and instruction signs, restrooms, garbage disposal, closed-circuit camera systems, global position system for vessels, or weather warning systems. Many tourists want to be involved in conservation efforts, but the authorities must provide adequate facilities that enable them to do so.

5.5. Strict enforcement of the law

Despite the best conservation efforts, violations of laws and regulations are inevitable. Frequent reports of violations include, for instance, fishing activities within marine national park areas and discarded plastic water bottles found in the ocean. With modern technology such as close-circuit camera systems, law enforcement can be carried out more effectively and at a much lower cost. The use of closed-circuit camera systems will also store evidence that facilitates further litigation.

5.6. Promoting alternative tourism sites

To ease the tourism pressure on marine resources, there is a need for the government, together with the private sector, to invest in substitute recreational sites as a means to diversify tourism activities. These additional tourism sites may include, for instance, marine animal hatchery center, coral and seagrass rehabilitation center, mangrove or coastal walking route, local cultural heritage center, water park, local markets, or cuisine and street walk. Engaging the local communities in providing sustainable tourism services has been recognized as an effective and beneficial. Such local community-centered tourism or localhood tourism is recognized to be an important part of sustainable tourism. Cakar, Uzut [6] In Fiji, it is found that the tourists place high value for community-based tourism management practices [38] .

5.7. Encouraging more inclusivity and participation in decision making processes

Currently, the Thai authority manages marine resources and tourism via committees comprising of representatives of agencies. However, many local enterprises, food vendors, entertainment personnel, and taxi drivers who are at the forefront of tourism are often left out of policy discussion. Including the local stakeholders in policy discussions and decision making will not only help gather useful information, but is prerequisite for successful and effective policy implementation [21] , [12] . More importantly inclusivity and participatory are crucial as it provides a sense of local ownership and good governance in marine resource and tourism management. Collaboration between regional and local government, and local stakeholders including capacity building programs will strengthen coastal resource governance [27] . Community-driven tourism projects that are well managed can benefit the local community as well as promoting sustainable livelihood. Matiku et al. [24] .

5.8. Enhancing public awareness

The need to instill public awareness on marine resource conservation and a sense of public ownership is fundamental in conservation. Although much effort has been invested, the government, local communities, and civil society must continue shaping the general public’s mindset into one where sustainable use of resources is key in maintaining long term wellbeing. Altering people’s attitude and behavior through education will always be a key component in achieving sustainability [5] , [12] , [13] .

6. Conclusion

The event of COVID-19 enabled this study to establish a link between tourism and marine animal sightings. With a drastic decline in the number of tourists at marine parks, there are official reports of increase marine animal sightings at many marine national parks in Southern Thailand. This linkage provides a support for exercising policy measures that are designed to lessen the tourism pressure on marine national parks and provide marine ecology adequate resting periods. This line of policy measures, whilst seeming to impose some negative impacts on tourism now, will result in a healthier marine ecosystem and a brighter tourism prospect in the future [8] . On carrying capacity, the study finds the number of tourists at Patong Beach and Maya Beach has exceeded their carrying capacities. This information calls for a more thorough examination leading to preparation of appropriate measures at these two sites.

This study recommends eight policy measures that are designed to balance tourism and marine resource conservation, as follows: conservation and recreation zoning, enforcing marine park closure, advancing marine park entrance fee systems, ensuring adequate recreational facilities, stricter enforcement of the law, promoting alternative tourism sites, encouraging more inclusivity and participation in decision making processes, and enhancing public awareness.

COVID-19 provides marine parks a resting period and enables marine animals to return to cleaner oceans with less disturbances. After COVID-19 when health containment measures subside, marine tourism should not return to its previous pattern or what may be referred to as path dependence, but assume a new path, or path creation, where tourism is better designed to coexist with healthy marine ecology and return Southern Thailand, once again, to the land of the long blue sea.

Declaration of interest

Acknowledgements.

The author would like to thank the following agencies who provided secondary data and opportunities for in-depth interview: the Ministry of Tourism and Sports (DOT), the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMC), the Department of National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP), Thai Meteorological Department (TMD) and Patong Municipality. The author appreciates the help of Associate Professor Somporn Isvilanonda of the Knowledge Network Institution of Thailand (KNIT) who helped coordinate research funding from the Thailand Research Fund (TRF), Thailand -- research grant ID number 571/2563. Last but not least, the author would like to thank the research staff of Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI) who assisted with the data collection and in-depth interview: Kanjana Yasen, Thippawan Keawmesri, Prinyarat Laengcharoen, Promphat Bhumiwat and Patree Witoonchart.

1 Marine Water Quality Index (MWQI) measures water quality based on a weighted score of eight parameters: 1) dissolved oxygen, 2) coliform bacteria, 3) phosphate-phosphorus, 4) nitrate-nitrogen, 5) ammonia-nitrogen, 6) pH, 7) suspended solid, and 8) temperature. The weighted scores are then rated in five categories: very good (90−100), good (80−89), fair (50−79), poor (25−49), and very poor (0−24).

Addressing the Benefits and Consequences of Tourism in Thailand

Thailand’s 2004 Tsunami Recovery

Tourism both aided and hindered Thailand in its post-tsunami state. With a high need for jobs and funds, many luxury hotels were able to reopen within months. Unfortunately, some groups such as migrant workers had a difficult time receiving aid, if they even received any at all.

The event was also a catalyst for the marginalization of those in a lower socioeconomic status as many were barred from returning to their homes in popular tourist areas such as the beach. It is estimated that upwards of 10,000 were either prevented from returning or an attempt was made to prevent them from returning.

The Marginalized in Thailand

The country’s social bias against migrant workers, immigrants and refugees is one of Thailand’s biggest criticisms. People in these marginalized groups are at a legal disadvantage compared to Thai citizens. Migrant workers are at the will of their employer, needing a “ termination and employer transfer form ” (in other words, permission from their current employer) in order to switch jobs. Research by the International Labor Organization (ILO) in 2010 found 33 to 50 percent of employers in the fishing, domestic and manufacturing sector used this law to their advantage to prevent losing migrant workers as employees.

There are also multiple reports of migrant workers being punished by law in what seem like uncertain situations. One example is the fourteen migrant workers who filed a complaint against their employer for exploitation , thus damaging the company’s reputation. This resulted in the employer filing a lawsuit against the workers with potential consequences being imprisonment and fines. 

Another unfortunate example occurred in 2015 when two migrant workers from Myanmar were sentenced to death for the murder of two tourists; the case was marred by police misconduct such as the mishandling of evidence and the alleged torture of the workers. While it is difficult to find an exact number of migrant workers convicted of a crime in Thailand, it is becoming increasingly clear to the world that this is a human rights issue that needs to be addressed.

Sex Tourism in Thailand

Prostitution was outlawed in the 1960s, but Thailand still has a growing trade revolving around paid sex. There is no way to get a real number on those traveling for sex tourism in Thailand, but NGOs estimated 70 percent of male travelers were visiting specifically for the sex industry in 2013. Prostitution does not have a social stigma in Thailand like in other countries and many Thais have accepted it as part of the culture, creating growth in the industry despite questionable legalities.

Medical Tourism in Thailand

Many tourists travel to Thailand because of the low-cost medical treatment. In 2006, about 200,000 tourists traveled to Thailand explicitly for medical treatment. By 2011, that number rose to half a million .

According to insurance company Thai Expat Club , Thailand was third in the world as the most likely destination for health tourism in 2016. Many medical tourists are saving at least half of what they would pay in the US. Add on recovery by the beach or in a resort and it is no wonder Thailand has become the medical hub of Asia.

Tourism’s Impact on the Environment

With tourism in Thailand increasing, trash increases as well. Unfortunately, Thailand’s infrastructure has been unable to keep up. A common assessment has been waste left over from beach parties. It is estimated that Ko Phangan Full Moon beach parties leave about 12 tons of debris per day behind which mostly goes into landfills or the ocean.

Many groups are currently trying to highlight this issue which will hopefully create a springboard for biodegradable materials and other environmentally conscious decisions. Some of the organizations partnering with Thailand to address the waste issues are the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency , which collaborates with Thailand to protect environmental laws, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature , which works on conservation within the country.

Tourism in Thailand is drawing in great opportunities such as growing jobs, a developing medical field and cultural awareness. However, there are some points of contention with prostitution, the waste problem and an increasing awareness of the marginalized in Thai society. Curbing environmental problems and working toward a more equal society will create a stronger Thailand and, ultimately, a stronger world.

– Natasha Komen Photo: Flickr

“The Borgen Project is an incredible nonprofit organization that is addressing poverty and hunger and working towards ending them.”

-The Huffington Post

Inside the borgen project.

• Board of Directors

Get Smarter

• Global Poverty 101
• Global Poverty… The Good News
• Global Poverty & U.S. Jobs
• Global Poverty and National Security
• Innovative Solutions to Poverty
• Global Poverty & Aid FAQ’s

Ways to Help

• Call Congress
• Email Congress
• 30 Ways to Help
• Volunteer Ops
• Internships
• The Podcast

• Energy & Environment

Environmental pollution in Thailand - statistics & facts

Pollution issues in thailand, pollution management and solutions in thailand, key insights.

Detailed statistics

CO2 emissions per capita Thailand 2011-2021

Government expenses on environmental protection Thailand 2012-2022

Share of pollution sources Thailand 2022

Editor’s Picks Current statistics on this topic

Current statistics on this topic.

Waste Management

Volume of solid waste Thailand 2012-2022

Volume of recycled solid waste Thailand 2012-2022

Government Finances

Related topics

Recommended.

• Sustainable consumption in Thailand
• Energy sector in Thailand
• Construction industry in Thailand
• Agriculture in Thailand

Recommended statistics

• Premium Statistic Pollution index score of megacities APAC 2023, by city
• Premium Statistic Share of pollution sources Thailand 2022
• Premium Statistic CO2 emissions per capita Thailand 2011-2021
• Premium Statistic Government expenses on environmental protection Thailand 2012-2022

Pollution index score of megacities APAC 2023, by city

Pollution index score of selected megacities in the Asia-Pacific region in 2023, by city

Share of environmental pollution sources in Thailand in 2022

Carbon dioxide emissions per capita in Thailand from 2011 to 2021 (in metric tons per capita)

Government expenditure on environmental protection in Thailand from 2012 to 2022 (in billion Thai baht)

Air pollution

• Premium Statistic Cities with highest air pollution Thailand 2023
• Premium Statistic Cities with highest air quality Thailand 2023
• Premium Statistic CO2 emissions from energy consumption Thailand 2022, by sector
• Premium Statistic CO2 emissions Thailand 2022, by energy type
• Premium Statistic PM2.5 levels in BMR Thailand 2022
• Premium Statistic PM2.5 levels in northern Thailand 2020-2022

Cities with highest air pollution Thailand 2023

Cities with the highest air pollution in Thailand as of November 2023 (in US AQI points)

Cities with highest air quality Thailand 2023

Cleanest cities for air quality in Thailand as of November 2023 (in US AQI points)

CO2 emissions from energy consumption Thailand 2022, by sector

Carbon dioxide emissions from energy consumption in Thailand in 2022, by sector (in thousand metric tons)

CO2 emissions Thailand 2022, by energy type

Carbon dioxide emissions in Thailand in 2022, by energy type (in thousand metric tons)

PM2.5 levels in BMR Thailand 2022

Average levels of particulate matter (PM2.5) in the air in Bangkok Metropolitan Region (BMR) in Thailand in 2022 (in micrograms per cubic meter)

PM2.5 levels in northern Thailand 2020-2022

Average levels of particulate matter (PM2.5) in the air in the northern region of Thailand from 2020 to 2022 (in micrograms per cubic meter)

Noise pollution

• Premium Statistic Noise levels in general areas BMR Thailand 2012-2022
• Premium Statistic Noise levels in roadsides BMR Thailand 2012-2022
• Premium Statistic Noise levels in general areas in upcountry regions Thailand 2012-2022
• Premium Statistic Noise levels in roadside areas in upcountry regions Thailand 2012-2022

Noise levels in general areas BMR Thailand 2012-2022

Average levels of noise in general areas in Bangkok Metropolitan Region (BMR) in Thailand from 2012 to 2022 (in A-weighted decibels)

Noise levels in roadsides BMR Thailand 2012-2022

Average levels of noise in roadside areas in Bangkok Metropolitan Region (BMR) in Thailand from 2012 to 2022 (in A-weighted decibels)

Noise levels in general areas in upcountry regions Thailand 2012-2022

Average levels of noise in general areas in the upcountry regions in Thailand from 2012 to 2022 (in A-weighted decibels)

Noise levels in roadside areas in upcountry regions Thailand 2012-2022

Average levels of noise in roadside areas in the upcountry regions in Thailand from 2012 to 2022 (in A-weighted decibels)

Land pollution

• Premium Statistic Number of trash disposal facilities Thailand 2021, by type
• Premium Statistic Number of waste processors Thailand 2022, by region
• Premium Statistic Volume of solid waste Thailand 2012-2022
• Premium Statistic Volume of solid waste Thailand 2022, by disposal method
• Premium Statistic Infectious waste volume Thailand 2016-2022

Number of trash disposal facilities Thailand 2021, by type

Number of solid waste disposal plants in Thailand in 2021, by type

Number of waste processors Thailand 2022, by region

Number of waste processors in Thailand in 2022, by region

Volume of solid waste in Thailand from 2012 to 2022 (in million metric tons)

Volume of solid waste Thailand 2022, by disposal method

Volume of solid waste in Thailand in 2022, by disposal method (in million metric tons)

Infectious waste volume Thailand 2016-2022

Volume of infectious waste generated in Thailand from 2016 to 2022 (in 1,000 tons)

Water pollution

• Premium Statistic Quality of surface water sources Thailand 2022
• Premium Statistic Quality of coastal seawater Thailand 2022
• Premium Statistic Number of red tide cases Thailand 2019-2022
• Premium Statistic Number of oil spill cases at sea Thailand 2019-2022
• Premium Statistic Share of coral bleaching cases Thailand 2020, by level

Quality of surface water sources Thailand 2022

Water quality of surface water sources in Thailand in 2022

Quality of coastal seawater Thailand 2022

Water quality of coastal seawater in Thailand in 2022

Number of red tide cases Thailand 2019-2022

Number of red tide cases in Thailand from 2019 to 2022

Number of oil spill cases at sea Thailand 2019-2022

Number of oil spill cases at sea in Thailand from 2019 to 2022

Share of coral bleaching cases Thailand 2020, by level

Share of coral bleaching cases in Thailand in 2020, by level of severity

Pollution management

• Premium Statistic Private governmenconsumption expenditure on environment protection Thailand 2011-2022
• Premium Statistic Environmental department budget appropriation Thailand FY 2023, by function
• Premium Statistic National budget for managing environment Thailand 2022, by type of pollution
• Premium Statistic Budget distribution of Water Quality Management Division Thailand 2021, by purpose
• Premium Statistic Budget distribution of Solid and Hazardous Waste Management Thailand 2021, by purpose

Private governmenconsumption expenditure on environment protection Thailand 2011-2022

Value of government final consumption expenditure on environmental protection in Thailand from 2011 to 2022 (in billion Thai baht)

Environmental department budget appropriation Thailand FY 2023, by function

Total budget appropriation of environmental protection department in Thailand in fiscal year 2023, by function (in billion Thai baht)

National budget for managing environment Thailand 2022, by type of pollution

Distribution of national budget for environmental management in Thailand in 2022, by type of pollution (in million Thai baht)

Budget distribution of Water Quality Management Division Thailand 2021, by purpose

Budget allocation of the Water Quality Management Division in Thailand in 2021, by purpose (in million Thai baht)

Budget distribution of Solid and Hazardous Waste Management Thailand 2021, by purpose

Budget allocation of Solid and Hazardous Waste Management Division in Thailand in 2021, by purpose (value in million Thai baht)

Citizens' perspective

• Premium Statistic Number of environmental pollution complaints Thailand 2016-2022
• Premium Statistic Number of filed pollution complaints Thailand 2021, by selected provinces
• Premium Statistic Number of pollution complaints filed across Bangkok Thailand 2023, by type
• Premium Statistic Share of pollution complaints Thailand 2022, by type

Number of environmental pollution complaints Thailand 2016-2022

Number of complaints on environmental pollution in Thailand from 2016 to 2022 (in 1,000 cases)

Number of filed pollution complaints Thailand 2021, by selected provinces

Number of filed pollution complaints at the Pollution Control Department of Thailand in 2021, by selected provinces

Number of pollution complaints filed across Bangkok Thailand 2023, by type

Number of pollution complaints filed across Bangkok in Thailand in 2023, by type

Share of pollution complaints Thailand 2022, by type

Share of environmental pollution complaints in Thailand in 2022, by type

Further reports Get the best reports to understand your industry

Get the best reports to understand your industry.

• Environmental pollution worldwide
• Environmental pollution in India
• Environmental pollution in Japan
• Pollution in South Korea

Mon - Fri, 9am - 6pm (EST)

Mon - Fri, 9am - 5pm (SGT)

Mon - Fri, 10:00am - 6:00pm (JST)

Mon - Fri, 9:30am - 5pm (GMT)

TOURISM'S THREE MAIN IMPACT AREAS

Negative impacts from tourism occur when the level of visitor use is greater than the environment's ability to cope with this use within the acceptable limits of change. Uncontrolled conventional tourism poses potential threats to many natural areas around the world. It can put enormous pressure on an area and lead to impacts such as soil erosion, increased pollution, discharges into the sea, natural habitat loss, increased pressure on endangered species and heightened vulnerability to forest fires. It often puts a strain on water resources, and it can force local populations to compete for the use of critical resources.

DEPLETION OF NATURAL RESOURCES

Tourism development can put pressure on natural resources when it increases consumption in areas where resources are already scarce.

Water resources

Water, and especially fresh water, is one of the most critical natural resources. The tourism industry generally overuses water resources for hotels, swimming pools, golf courses and personal use of water by tourists. This can result in water shortages and degradation of water supplies, as well as generating a greater volume of waste water..

Golf course maintenance can also deplete fresh water resources. In recent years golf tourism has increased in popularity and the number of golf courses has grown rapidly. Golf courses require an enormous amount of water every day and, as with other causes of excessive extraction of water, this can result in water scarcity. If the water comes from wells, overpumping can cause saline intrusion into groundwater. Golf resorts are more and more often situated in or near protected areas or areas where resources are limited, exacerbating their impacts.

Local resources

Tourism can create great pressure on local resources like energy, food, and other raw materials that may already be in short supply. Greater extraction and transport of these resources exacerbates the physical impacts associated with their exploitation. Because of the seasonal character of the industry, many destinations have ten times more inhabitants in the high season as in the low season. A high demand is placed upon these resources to meet the high expectations tourists often have (proper heating, hot water, etc.).

Land degradation

Important land resources include minerals, fossil fuels, fertile soil, forests, wetland and wildlife. Increased construction of tourism and recreational facilities has increased the pressure on these resources and on scenic landscapes. Direct impact on natural resources, both renewable and nonrenewable, in the provision of tourist facilities can be caused by the use of land for accommodation and other infrastructure provision, and the use of building materials.

Forests often suffer negative impacts of tourism in the form of deforestation caused by fuel wood collection and land clearing. For example, one trekking tourist in Nepal - and area already suffering the effects of deforestation - can use four to five kilograms of wood a day.

Tourism can cause the same forms of pollution as any other industry: air emissions, noise, solid waste and littering, releases of sewage, oil and chemicals, even architectural/visual pollution.

Air pollution and noise

Transport by air, road, and rail is continuously increasing in response to the rising numbe reported that the number of international air passengers worldwide rose from 88 million in 1972 to 344 million in 1994. One consequence of this increase in air transport is that tourism now accounts for more than 60% of air travel and is therefore responsible for an important share of air emissions. One study estimated that a single transatlantic return flight emits almost half the CO2 emissions produced by all other sources (lighting, heating, car use, etc.) consumed by an average person yearly. (Mayer Hillman, Town & Country Planning magazine, September 1996. Source: MFOE ).

Transport emissions and emissions from energy production and use are linked to acid rain, global warming and photochemical pollution. Air pollution from tourist transportation has impacts on the global level, especially from carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions related to transportation energy use. And it can contribute to severe local air pollution. Some of these impacts are quite specific to tourist activities. For example, especially in very hot or cold countries, tour buses often leave their motors running for hours while the tourists go out for an excursion because they want to return to a comfortably air-conditioned bus.

Noise pollution from airplanes, cars, and buses, as well as recreational vehicles such as snowmobiles and jet skis, is an ever-growing problem of modern life. In addition to causing annoyance, stress, and even hearing loss for it humans, it causes distress to wildlife, especially in sensitive areas. For instance, noise generated by snowmobiles can cause animals to alter their natural activity patterns.

Solid waste and littering

In mountain areas, trekking tourists generate a great deal of waste. Tourists on expedition leave behind their garbage, oxygen cylinders and even camping equipment. Such practices degrade the environment with all the detritus typical of the developed world, in remote areas that have few garbage collection or disposal facilities. Some trails in the Peruvian Andes and in Nepal frequently visited by tourists have been nicknamed "Coca-Cola trail" and "Toilet paper trail".

Aesthetic Pollution

Often tourism fails to integrate its structures with the natural features and indigenous architectural of the destination. Large, dominating resorts of disparate design can look out of place in any natural environment and may clash with the indigenous structural design.

A lack of land-use planning and building regulations in many destinations has facilitated sprawling developments along coastlines, valleys and scenic routes. The sprawl includes tourism facilities themselves and supporting infrastructure such as roads, employee housing, parking, service areas, and waste disposal.

PHYSICAL IMPACTS

Attractive landscape sites, such as sandy beaches, lakes, riversides, and mountain tops and slopes, are often transitional zones, characterized by species-rich ecosystems. Typical physical impacts include the degradation of such ecosystems.

An ecosystem is a geographic area including all the living organisms (people, plants, animals, and microorganisms), their physical surroundings (such as soil, water, and air), and the natural cycles that sustain them. The ecosystems most threatened with degradation are ecologically fragile areas such as alpine regions, rain forests, wetlands, mangroves, coral reefs and sea grass beds. The threats to and pressures on these ecosystems are often severe because such places are very attractive to both tourists and developers.

Physical impacts are caused not only by tourism-related land clearing and construction, but by continuing tourist activities and long-term changes in local economies and ecologies.

Physical impacts of tourism development

• Construction activities and infrastructure development The development of tourism facilities such as accommodation, water supplies, restaurants and recreation facilities can involve sand mining, beach and sand dune erosion, soil erosion and extensive paving. In addition, road and airport construction can lead to land degradation and loss of wildlife habitats and deterioration of scenery.

In Yosemite National Park (US), for instance, the number of roads and facilities have been increased to keep pace with the growing visitor numbers and to supply amenities, infrastructure and parking lots for all these tourists. These actions have caused habitat loss in the park and are accompanied by various forms of pollution including air pollution from automobile emissions; the Sierra Club has reported "smog so thick that Yosemite Valley could not be seen from airplanes". This occasional smog is harmful to all species and vegetation inside the Park. (Source: Trade and Environment Database)

Deforestation and intensified or unsustainable use of land Construction of ski resort accommodation and facilities frequently requires clearing forested land. Coastal wetlands are often drained and filled due to lack of more suitable sites for construction of tourism facilities and infrastructure. These activities can cause severe disturbance and erosion of the local ecosystem, even destruction in the long term.

• Marina development Development of marinas and breakwaters can cause changes in currents and coastlines. Furthermore, extraction of building materials such as sand affects coral reefs, mangroves, and hinterland forests, leading to erosion and destruction of habitats. In the Philippines and the Maldives, dynamiting and mining of coral for resort building materials has damaged fragile coral reefs and depleted the fisheries that sustain local people and attract tourists. Overbuilding and extensive paving of shorelines can result in destruction of habitats and disruption of land-sea connections (such as sea-turtle nesting spots). Coral reefs are especially fragile marine ecosystems and are suffering worldwide from reef-based tourism developments. Evidence suggests a variety of impacts to coral result from shoreline development, increased sediments in the water, trampling by tourists and divers, ship groundings, pollution from sewage, overfishing, and fishing with poisons and explosives that destroy coral habitat.

Physical impacts from tourist activities

• Trampling Tourists using the same trail over and over again trample the vegetation and soil, eventually causing damage that can lead to loss of biodiversity and other impacts. Such damage can be even more extensive when visitors frequently stray off established trails.
• Anchoring and other marine activities In marine areas (around coastal waters, reefs, beach and shoreline, offshore waters, uplands and lagoons) many tourist activities occur in or around fragile ecosystems. Anchoring, snorkeling, sport fishing and scuba diving, yachting, and cruising are some of the activities that can cause direct degradation of marine ecosystems such as coral reefs, and subsequent impacts on coastal protection and fisheries.
• Alteration of ecosystems by tourist activities Habitat can be degraded by tourism leisure activities. For example, wildlife viewing can bring about stress for the animals and alter their natural behavior when tourists come too close. Safaris and wildlife watching activities have a degrading effect on habitat as they often are accompanied by the noise and commotion created by tourists as they chase wild animals in their trucks and aircraft. This puts high pressure on animal habits and behaviors and tends to bring about behavioral changes. In some cases, as in Kenya, it has led to animals becoming so disturbed that at times they neglect their young or fail to mate.

Hello Positive Mindset

Community Connection: 10 Inspiring Journeys Through Community-Based Tourism Projects in 2024

Posted: April 22, 2024 | Last updated: April 22, 2024

Travel today transcends traditional sightseeing, evolving into a more immersive and impactful experience. Community-based tourism projects offer a unique opportunity to engage with local communities, understand their culture, and contribute positively to their development.

This guide explores various destinations where you can participate in and support these initiatives. From helping with conservation efforts in Africa to learning traditional crafts in Southeast Asia, each project allows you to connect deeply with local cultures while supporting sustainable tourism practices.

1. Conservation Efforts in Kenya

In Kenya, community-based tourism takes a front seat in wildlife conservation efforts. Projects like the Maasai Mara Wildlife Conservancies involve local communities in protecting the region’s iconic wildlife. As a visitor, you can participate in guided safaris led by local Maasai guides who share their in-depth knowledge of the ecosystem.

Your visit contributes to the conservancies’ efforts to protect species like lions, elephants, and rhinos. Additionally, many of these projects offer cultural experiences, such as village visits and traditional dance performances, providing a holistic understanding of the Maasai community’s way of life.

Insider’s Tip: Opt for lodges or camps that are part of the conservancy program, ensuring your stay directly benefits local conservation efforts.

2. Traditional Weaving in Guatemala

Guatemala has many community-based tourism projects focus on preserving traditional arts and crafts. Towns like San Juan La Laguna on Lake Atitlán are known for their textile cooperatives. Here, you can learn about the art of weaving from local artisans, understanding the significance of their traditional techniques and patterns.

Participating in these workshops provides you with a unique souvenir and supports the artisans and their craft. These cooperatives often use natural dyes and sustainable practices, making your participation a support for eco-friendly initiatives.

Insider’s Tip: Engage with the artisans, ask questions about their craft, and purchase directly from them to ensure they receive fair compensation.

3. Eco-Tourism

Costa Rica, a pioneer in eco-tourism, offers a plethora of community-based tourism projects that focus on environmental sustainability. In areas like Monteverde and Tortuguero, local communities are deeply involved in preserving their unique ecosystems. You can participate in guided rainforest hikes, wildlife spotting tours, and even sea turtle conservation programs.

These experiences are led by local guides who provide invaluable insights into the biodiversity and conservation efforts of the region. Your participation in these tours enhances your understanding of environmental conservation and directly contributes to the livelihoods of local families and the protection of natural habitats.

Insider’s Tip: Choose tours and accommodations that are certified by the Costa Rican Tourism Board for their sustainability practices.

4. Cultural Immersion in Rajasthan, India

Rajasthan, India, offers a rich tapestry of community-based tourism experiences that allow for deep cultural immersion. Projects in villages like Chandelao and Barli enable visitors to experience the rural lifestyle of Rajasthan. You can participate in activities like cooking classes, traditional craft workshops, and village walks.

The locals curate these experiences, offering an authentic glimpse into their daily lives and traditions. By engaging with these communities, you enrich your travel experience and contribute to the local economy and the preservation of cultural heritage.

Insider’s Tip: Respect local customs and dress modestly during village tours and home visits.

5. Agro-Tourism in Tuscany, Italy

In Tuscany, Italy, agro-tourism is a growing trend where travelers can participate in sustainable farming practices. Local farms offer experiences like grape harvesting, olive picking, and cheese making. These activities provide an insight into the region’s traditional farming methods and food production.

Staying at a farm or agriturismo allows you to enjoy fresh, locally sourced food while supporting the local agricultural community. This form of tourism connects you with the land and its produce and promotes sustainable agricultural practices.

Insider’s Tip: Plan your visit during harvest seasons to participate in picking grapes or olives.

6. Community-Based Tourism in Thailand

Thailand offers a range of community-based tourism projects, particularly in the northern regions. Villages like Mae Kampong in Chiang Mai province specialize in eco-friendly tourism and cultural experiences. Visitors can engage in activities like Thai cooking classes, bamboo rafting, and learning about local tea production.

Staying in homestays and participating in daily village life allows for a genuine connection with the local community and supports their sustainable tourism initiatives.

Insider’s Tip: Learn a few phrases in Thai to communicate with your hosts and show respect for their culture.

7. Supporting Marine Conservation in the Philippines

With its rich marine biodiversity, the Philippines has several community-based tourism projects focused on marine conservation. In places like Apo Island, you can participate in snorkeling and diving tours that are managed by the local community.

These tours offer spectacular underwater experiences and educate visitors about marine conservation and the importance of protecting coral reefs. Your participation in these activities support the local economy and funds conservation efforts, ensuring the preservation of these vital ecosystems for future generations.

Insider’s Tip: Always follow the guidelines provided by local guides to minimize your impact on the marine environment.

8. Participating in Wildlife Conservation in Botswana

Botswana’s approach to wildlife tourism involves local communities in conservation and tourism management. Projects like the Okavango Community Trust offer opportunities to engage in wildlife monitoring and sustainable tourism practices. Visitors can join guided wildlife safaris, bird-watching excursions, and cultural tours, all led by local community members.

This provides an authentic wildlife experience and ensures that tourism’s benefits are shared with the local communities, contributing to wildlife conservation and community development.

Insider’s Tip: Opt for accommodations and tours that are part of community trusts or conservancies.

9. Engaging in Community Projects in Peru

Peru offers unique community-based tourism experiences, particularly in the Andean regions. Projects in communities like the Sacred Valley involve locals in tourism, offering homestays, agricultural experiences, and cultural exchanges.

Participating in these projects allows you to learn about Andean culture, traditions, and sustainable living practices. Your involvement supports the preservation of local culture and provides economic benefits to the community.

Insider’s Tip: Show appreciation for your hosts’ hospitality and participate actively in daily activities to gain the most from your experience.

10. Volunteering in Community Initiatives Worldwide

Many destinations around the world offer volunteering opportunities in community-based projects. These can range from teaching English in schools to participating in environmental clean-ups. Volunteering allows you to contribute your skills and time to meaningful causes while immersing yourself in the local culture.

Insider’s Tip: Choose ethical volunteering projects that have a clear positive impact on the community.

The Bottom Line

As you embark on your journey of community-based tourism, remember that your travel choices can have a significant impact. By participating in and supporting these projects, you’re not just a tourist but a contributor to sustainable development and cultural preservation.

Embrace these experiences with an open heart and mind, and you’ll find that the most rewarding travels are those that connect you deeply with the world and its diverse communities.

The post Community Connection: 10 Inspiring Journeys Through Community-Based Tourism Projects in 2024 first appeared on Hello Positive Mindset .

Featured Image Credit: Shutterstock / Elizaveta Galitckaia.

More for You

NBA champ blasts Gayle King over Caitlin Clark remark during interview with Dawn Staley

Why Donald Trump Didn’t Sink Mike Johnson’s Ukraine-Aid Bill

Ghosts of the USA: The Most Haunted Places in America

ACP Ends in One Week: Affordable Internet Alternatives at AT&T, Verizon and More

Taylor Swift draws backlash for 'all the racists' lyrics on new 'Tortured Poets' album

Frightening map shows the best parts of the United States to withstand a nuclear apocalypse

When 48 y/o Michael Jordan joined Hornets practice and dominated Stephen Jackson: "He got furious, trash-talking and killing him and all of us"

CNN reporter describes what Trump was doing during opening statements

Tesla crash continues as Musk doubles down on 'blindingly obvious' strategy

Comedian defends decision to kick ‘breastfeeding’ mother and baby out of show

James Bond Trailer Featuring Henry Cavill Receives 2.3M Views Despite Being an AI Fake | THR News Video

Map reveals best places to live in the US if nuclear war breaks out

I moved my family from California to Austin, Texas, and regretted it. Here are 10 things to consider before making an expensive mistake.

Volkswagen ‘the first domino to fall’ after union vote, says UAW president

The best Western show in TV history isn't 'Gunsmoke' or 'Bonanza,' according to data. Check out the top 50.

223 vs 556: What's the Difference?

Donald Trump Stung as New York Poll Shows Massive Drop in Jewish Support

Famous Roles That 16 Actors Never Want to Play Again

Baking Soda Makes a Great DIY Weed Killer—Here's How to Use It

The Most Visited Attraction in Every US State