|
 |
»
»
» Master
Planning The Andaman Triangle
ARTICLES, SPEECHES AND OTHER READING
GRAY AREA from the Phuket Gazette
MASTER PLANNING THE ANDAMAN TRIANGLE June 2007
In legitimate planning circles, island tourism development is likened to a
do-nut. Resort development occurs on the coastline, and the seashore is the
indicator of positive or negative impact. If development is varied - an
enclave of resorts separated by undeveloped beaches and coastal cliffs with
open access, development is generally regarded as "sustainable".
Infrastructure problems are minimized, and development is balanced by
natural beauty and quality environment. There is room for gradual growth,
keeping tourists, land owners, local residents, industry and government
officials happy with "balanced growth".
That's the perfect world scenario, and it does work in places like Carmel,
California, famous for their movie-star mayor, Clint Eastwood. During his
two-decade tenure as Mayor, "Dirty Harry" jealously guarded a balance
between growth and prosperity that turned artists, silversmiths and boutique
hotel owners into millionaires while maintaining the ambiance of a quaint
little town.
Dr Chamniern Vorratnchaiphan of the Thailand Environmental Institute is
currently emphasizing planning projects and ecotourism in the South with
projects from Ranong to Songkhla and Satun.
On the other end of the scale is Spain's Costa del Sol. I've never been
there, but photos and academic essays are enough to tell the horror story.
Starting with fishermen renting out apartments, today's Costa del Sol is
generally regarded by tourists, academic and many locals as a man-made
natural disaster. Destinations like Phuket prosper as Europeans prefer to
travel long-haul just to find a pleasing vacation rather than be packed like
lemmings into wall-to-wall shoeboxes.
However, in the past six months my office became a stop for travel academics
studying the post-Tsunami development of the Andaman Triangle. These folks
did their research before coming to Thailand, so they knew what to expect,
but as thorough academics, they had to see the development of Phuket, Phang
Nga and Krabi for themselves - and they were not impressed.
Thanks to Phang Nga province, the Andaman Triangle still has some open
space, but development on Koh Yai Noi is eating up that "grace" area. Things
are pretty good for now, with only three resorts, two of them tastefully
developed. We've discussed the tasteful Koyao Resort and Evason Hideaway
properties, but over 30 hotel sites are available on Koh Yai Noi's east
coast, the chances are most will be built in the next few years, filling the
center of the planners' donut. And there are already signs of off-island
encroachment.
With its turnstile management ethic, Phang Nga National Park is basically a
cash cow, collecting Park fees with no return in the form of poaching
enforcement or nature education. Even if one accepts the official National
Park website claim of just under 50,000 visitors a year in the Park
(including James Bond Island and over 20 sea canoeing operators), there are
no poaching patrols in the Bay. We've seen giant trees felled even on Koh
Penak, where wildlife and exotic plants are brazenly poached in broad
daylight. In one February afternoon, three three-meter banded waster monitor
lizards were poached. Field guides list this species at 2.5 meters, making
these spectacular specimens special cases.
The far reaches of the Park are even worse off. A fellow kayaker recently
observed a film crew on Lau Gudu (just north of Koh Yao Noi) who ran into
the bushes when sighted. Do they have a permit? After the lessons of the
disgusting post-production degradation of Maya Bay following a bad movie
called "The Beach", Lau Gudu might be worse off if the film crew does have a
permit. Phi-Phi rests in open seas that still don't flush out the 2-cycle
pollution from the Bay, and the illegal wildlife feeding at Monkey Bay is
actually endorsed (not simply overlooked) by TAT officials, who actively
promote 2-cycle speedboat trips to Maya Bay. Monkey attacks conveniently go
unreported, but we've seen the results of many on our boat.
What happens to the upper reaches of Phang Nga should Lau Gudu become the
next Maya Bay? Forget water quality around the Ao Luk coast and Koh Yao Noi.
The sea water in the Bay's upper reaches just doesn't flush out like the
open ocean at Koh Phi-Phi, but that won't stop irresponsible tours from
polluting the Bay. Hopefully operators and their sellers love their
children, so let's hope they simply don't understand the implications of
selling tours by 2-cycle engines.
Koh Chong Lat is only 10K from Lau Gudu. It does have a Hong - cemented over
for a non-existent fish farm by the time we arrived 18 years ago. As if that
criminal act wasn't enough, locals report the constant sound of chain saws
on this formerly beautiful and pristine island. The loggers operate
brazenly, knowing that forestry officials are asleep at the wheel.
Offering an alternative to Phuket's "overdevelopment", Krabi's Ao Nang and
Railey are now as dense as Patong - if not more. And those academics come
back from Phi-Phi with tears in their eyes, remind us of the TAT
post-Tsunami "planning" conference where we suggested that Phi-Phi had a
clean slate to return to it's pristine National Park Status. The planning
director replied that it was "all under control". Sounded ominous, and the
result is infrastructure problems and concrete multi-story hotels in the now
gerrymandered former National Park.
From a planning standpoint, Phuket, the excuse for developing these
locations in the first place, looks the best of all. As noted in past "Gray
Area" columns, there is still room for growth, especially north of the
airport and across Sarasin Bridge.
If this sounds gloom and doom, forget it. There is still hope in the form of
the prestigious Thailand Environmental Institute and the fact that about a
dozen new Phuket-Phang Nga 5-star hotels are from responsible chains
including Shangri-la, Four Seasons, Raffles, Six Senses and Oriental.
We've known and worked with the TEI's Dr. Chamniern P Vorratnchaiphan since
the early 90's, inspecting most black water canals and undersized sewage
treatment plants in South Thailand. Phuket can thank Chamniern and others
for the resurgence in Sino-Portuguese architecture - after we alerted him
that several of these historical building were waiting for the wrecking
ball. Funded then by the German Technological Co-operation Project (GTZ),
Vorratnchaiphan worked tirelessly with Phuket officials on a policy saving
this historical style. Phuketians can thank him for gems like the Thai
Airways downtown office and even the newly constructed TAT headquarters.
Hopefully, the days of hotel GM's "forgetting" to turn on their sewage
treatment plants are over. On the national level, Thailand's refrigerators
have enough insulation to significantly reduce national energy consumption
and numerous other environmental innovations that changed Thailand's
environmental landscape.
Chamniern works throughout SE Asia, taking his Model Cities program to
countries including Vietnam and the Philippines, but now he's emphasizing
planning and ecotourism in the South with projects from Ranong to Songkla
and Satun. When we interviewed this old friend, we were skeptical that
Thai's can practice and implement the Academic-Government-Private
Sector-Local User model that was so successful for the Hawai'i Marine
Resources Master Plan, a late 80's effort that remains unchanged to this
day. Dr. Chamniern disagreed, rattling off example after example of how
local Thai's contribute positively to the Planning process to the balanced
benefit of all parties. It became obvious that resistance to Planning in
Thailand often comes from local bureaucrats and business people rather than
local residents and users - just the same as in the West.
Less than three years after the Tsunami, the lack of planning in the Andaman
Triangle is an international issue. This year's National Geographic
Destination survey coincidently includes both Phuket and Palawan, two
locations dear to my heart. Eighty percent of Palawan is typical Philippines
- a denuded environment in both land and sea suffering from nearly 500 years
of abuse. The other 20% is Puerto Princesa, a jewel of responsible
development in a pristine municipality (and recently declared as the
Philippines Top Destination). We are currently in Princesa for this year's
edition of the highly successful "Festival of the Forest". When we mentioned
at the pre-event reception that Mayor Edward Hagedorn eliminated illegal
logging, illegal fishing and all forms of poaching along with maintaining a
perfectly clean city in the Philippines geographically largest municipality
for only B10 million/year, both citizens and politicians replied in concert
that maintaining environmental integrity isn't a question of being able to
afford enforcement - the real issue is that "we" cannot afford NOT to plan
and protect the environment no matter what the cost - especially in tourism
destinations.
The highly regarded Thailand Environmental Institute reads this concept loud
and clear, and Dr. Vorratnchaiphan is available to help develop the "Four
Publics" planning concept that he claims works just as well in Thailand as
in the West.
If we expect quality tourists to keep on coming, and protect the Nature for
our children, send Vorratnchaiphan an email at
chamniern@tei.or.th At the end of
the day, The Andaman Triangle can't afford not to.
Time is running out. |
|
