Academic Report Writing Benefits of Ecotourism in Thailand Although there is some downside of ecotourism, it should be acknowledged that ecotourism is advantageous for Thailand in several aspects which include the fact that it contributes benefits for local communities and for the environment. The first reason why ecotourism is advantageous is because it creates positive impacts on local communities in several ways. First of all, it creates economic opportunities for the locals which leads to the financial stability of local villagers and strengthens the local economy. Many jobs and business opportunities for the locals are created when ecotourists travel to natural destinations because they are essential parts of the tourist visits, for instance, tour guides are needed for leading the tourist to the must-see natural sights along with giving them tips and knowledge about each location or homestay business which is necessary because provides the tourist accommodation during their stay. These are the jobs that are the most suitable for the locals because they are familiar with the location and are already equipped with the appropriate knowledge and skills and resources in the area. Other business such as local vendors, restaurants and local products and souvenir shops may also increase their sales when ecotourists visit the villages. In addition, some provinces in Thailand in which the local’s income depends on agriculture, for example, most incomes of Surat Thani depend on the rubber industry, oil palm, rambutan fruit, but because of the low price in some seasons, there are fewer farms cultivating it. (Bunruamkaew, 2012) If ecotourists visit the villages during the seasons, their expenses can help compensate the local’s lack of income from agriculture. Second of all, ecotourism is advantageous for the locals because it could lead to development in the local communities. When ecotourists visit the area, facilities and infrastructure are likely to be created and developed. For example, road construction and water supply in small villages near natural attractions might be implemented by the provincial government in order to ensure a good experience for the tourists. The government and eco-tour companies may also continue to maintain the infrastructure and support the villagers to maintain tourist satisfaction so they can spread their words and attract more ecotourists. Even though the facilities may be created for the tourists’ convenience, they do not only benefit the tourists who come to visit the villages for a short time but also benefit those who stay in the area for a long period of time which are the locals. Last of all, ecotourism provides cultural benefits for the locals. When ecotourists come to visit the villages and interact with the locals, they would have an opportunity to experience unique locals cultures such as learn the ways of life, learn simple words in a local dialect, and try traditional food. The locals or tour operators may arrange regional cultural performances such as Manora dance of Southern Thailand for the tourists as a part of ecotour activities. According to Vittorio Rigatti, the local performances are considered as “the way of local cultural preservation since it is presented and preserved from one generation to another.” (Sangpikul, 2017) As the tourists learn local cultures, they can gain cultural sensitivity, respect local people and culture, and behave appropriately, which can help reduce cultural conflicts and misunderstandings between them and the locals, and play a role in cultural preservation by appreciating the local culture and inform others about it. Therefore, ecotourism which helps with economy, development, and cultures, is beneficial for local communities. Another reason why Ecotourism beneficial for Thailand is because it is good for the environment. Firstly, it creates less environmental impacts than other types of tourism. In the mass tourism industry, for example, a large number of tourists tend to travel to the same destinations at the same time which can be difficult to control their behavior and the impact they create. Some tourists might litter natural areas or do some activities that create pollution like motorcycle riding or water skiing. With more tourists visiting each destination, more pollution is created. Ecotourism, on the other hand, aims to minimize the environmental impact. The ecotourists are normally informed about the natural environment and codes of conduct for ecotourism by the tour guides which lead to a better understanding and respect for natural heritage. When tourists have positive attitudes toward the natural environment, they are likely to be more mindful of their behavior when visiting ecotourism destinations. (Sangpikul, 2011) Moreover, the activities that ecotourism operators and local people provide for tourists are likely to be environmentally friendly. For example, ecotourism companies in Phuket’s main products are canoeing, kayaking and nature walk/trekking (Sangpikul, 2017). The eco tourists behavior and activities generate only generate a small impact on the natural environment. Secondly, ecotourism promotes the conservation of nature. Ecotour operators and local people may be encouraged to start environment conservation projects in ecotourism sites such as planting rainforest to improve the quality of natural landscape as well as natural resources and the projects can be included as a part of tourist activities as well. Other than that, ecotourism is the environment-friendly alternatives for the financial use of natural resources when comparing to such activities as mining, hunting, farming and others (Li, 2006). For Thailand, ecotourism can be a great alternative use of resources to deforestation and overly fishery in natural areas, and this can help preserve the environment in long term. Thus, ecotourism helps to protect nature because it underlines the importance and benefits nature gives to tour companies, the locals and visitors and therefore makes them feel the need to conserve nature. Lastly, ecotourism helps protect endangered species and other wildlife. When a stakeholder is careful about the environment in the ecotourism sites, it is likely that natural habitats of wildlife would not be destructed. Furthermore, ecotourism may motivate tour operators and villagers to ensure that endangered species and wildlife remain healthy and alive because many ecotourism activities involved wildlife in it. For example, some tourists may be interested in ecotours because they learned about turtle conservative activities or they would like to observe wild birds in the jungles in Thailand. Ecotourism can also help to promote animal protection organizations, such as the Wild Animal Rescue Foundation of Thailand and their projects like Gibbon rehabilitation project in Phuket and forest fire protection project in Chiang Mai. Organizations like this aim to protect wildlife’s’ well beings and its natural habitats, and with the help of ecotourism, they have more support to achieve their goals. To sum up, ecotourism is beneficial for the environment as it creates low environmental impacts and promotes conservation of natural areas and wildlife. Although the benefits of ecotourism in Thailand are evidenced, some people argue that ecotourism still have negative impact on the environment. They may believe that even though human are careful not to make impact when they explore and visit the natural sites, big groups of people and their behaviors would disturb and exploit the natural environment. For instance, when the tour guide and tourists visit waterfalls, they might be loud which can drive wild animals away from their habitats or they might accidentally throw their trash in the water. These effects created by the rising trend of ecotourism might polluted the natural environment of the sites permanently. However, while it is true that ecotourism may not cause only positive impact to the natural areas, the notion about ecotourism from those who are opposed it are inaccurate. Because the quality of environment is one of the crucial element of ecotourism industry, most ecotour operators in Thailand are concerned about environmental issues that can be caused by the tours. They normally would limit visitation to areas by limiting the number of tours to visit natural areas at the same time or limiting the size of tour group. Also as mentioned above, the tourists would be informed by the guides about the ecotourism code of conducts to promote environmental awareness and as studies have shown that “tour guides have a significant influence over tourists” (Skanavis and Giannoulis, 2010), there are possibilities that the tourists would behave properly and would be concerned about their impacts on the natural areas, which can reduce negative impacts on the environment. Moreover, the benefits from ecotourism in Thailand still outweigh the a small negative impact. One of the important aspects is economic benefit which can be used for environmental conservation. Some money that the tour companies and the locals gained from ecotourism may be used for conservation efforts, such as funding Thai elephant rescue and rehabilitation center or reforesting. The money that ecotourism generate for the villagers can be used in education which will also extend their opportunity. For example, if the local children get basic education, they might learn English and can communicate with and understand the tourists better. The money from ecotourism can be used to educate local adults, which do not only have positive impact on the environment but also the future development of the area. To illustrate, environmental adult education in southern Thailand includes “skills and knowledge in ecotourism management, environmental conservation, cross-cultural exchange and political activism.” (Walter, 2009) which help them achieve the ideal Ecotourism. To sum up, ecotourism in Thailand can increase knowledge and awareness about environment issues in the locals, tourists and tour operators and overall, provide more advantages than disadvantages. Work Cited Bunruamkaew, Khwanruthai. “Site Suitability Evaluation for Ecotourism Using GIS & AHP: A Case Study of Surat Thani Province, Thailand” Jan. 2012, http://giswin.geo.tsukuba.ac.jp/sis/thesis/Final dissertation_Pai.pdf. Li, WenJun. “Community Decisionmaking Participation in Development.” Annals of Tourism Research, Pergamon, 11 Jan. 2006, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0160738305001210. Sangpikul, Aswin. “Ecotourism Impacts on the Economy, Society and Environment of Thailand.” Journal of Reviews on Global Economics, 2017, pp. 302–312., https://www.lifescienceglobal.com/pms/index.php/jrge/article/download/4744/2677. Sangpikul, Aswin. “Developing good practices for ecotourism tour operators.” Sasin Journal of Managment, 2011, pp. 53-86., https://lib.dpu.ac.th/upload/content/file/article_instrctor/article-2556/B156.pdf. Skanavis, Constantina. and Giannoulis, Christos. “Improving quality of ecotourism through advancing education & training of Greek eco-tour guides: The role of training in environmental interpretation.” TOURISMOS: An International Multidisciplinary Journal of Tourism, 2010, pp. 49-68., https://ideas.repec.org/p/pra/mprapa/25314.html. Walter, Pierre. “Local Knowledge and Adult Learning in Environmental Adult Education: Community‐Based Ecotourism in Southern Thailand.” Taylor & Francis, 2009, www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02601370903031363.
