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new frontiers

Briefing on Tourism, Development and Environment Issues

in the Mekong Subregion

Vol. 6, No. 5                                                                                       September-October 2000

THE REGION

ASIA'S AIRPORT BOOM CAUSES ENVIRONMENTAL THREATS AND FEARS OF OVER-CAPACITY

[The Nation: 6.10.00] - Despite the serious financial and economic crisis, a recently released report by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) suggests that Asia may drive global growth in air traffic over the next years.

   Renewed optimism "is fuelled in large part by a new positive outlook for Asia," according to IATA director-general Pierre Jeanniot. Passenger traffic between Europe and East and Southeast Asia is expected to grow by more than six per cent, he said.

   Before the financial turmoils began in the region in 1997, many Asian countries made ambitious plans to develop their international airports in the hope of grabbing a bigger share of the buoyant travel and tourism dollar. Now, the optimism about an economic recovery and accompanying high tourist arrivals have actually prompted governments to allocate huge amounts of money for such schemes.

   Over the past few years, Asia has seen three huge new airports completed: Kansai in Osaka, Japan, Chek Lap Kok in Hong Kong, and Kuala Lumpur International in Malaysia. In addition, airport expansion plans in Singapore, Bangkok and major cities in China have been announced. Airport projects are also high on the agenda of the Greater Mekong Subregion's (GMS) mega-infrastructure programme, led by the Asian Development Bank. Just a few weeks ago, Burma's military leaders presided over the opening ceremony of Mandalay International Airport, which has the longest runway in Southeast Asia (see Burma section).

   On the southeastern outskirts of Bangkok, a vast plot of land is presently being transformed into the Second Bangkok International Airport. Thailand's major rival, Singapore, meanwhile hopes to maintain its competitiveness by completing expansion of its third terminal by 2004 and to become a leader in information technology for airport facilities throughout the region.

   Airport development is well known for causing tremendous environmental problems and has, thus, been met with growing resistance by local residents worldwide. Local impacts of airport projects are: destruction of valuable land and important wildlife habitats, more urbanization and loss of green recreation area, more road building and traffic, increased air and noise pollution from air and road traffic. Air travel in general is one of the fastest-growing contributor to global warming and causes destruction of the ozone layer. A German research report revealed that on one flight from Europe to Thailand, for example, about 370,000 kilograms of emissions are released into the atmosphere.

   In addition, Asian airports are now facing the danger of over-capacity. "This wave of airport expansion is threatening to bring about over-capacity and enhanced competition for the business of passenger and cargo airlines," said a recently published report by the international ratings agency Standard and Poor's. "Individual operators will become increasingly vulnerable to market dynamics as airlines seek out low cost, high quality service providers in an ever more option-filled region." It added that the trend towards privatization could affect long-term credit quality of airports. The newer, more extravagant airports are also causing concern for many airlines because of their high operation costs.   v

MOVES TO CURB 'ZERO TOURS'

[Bangkok Post: 24.8.00; The Nation: 24.8.00; 31.8.00] - THAILAND, Malaysia and Singapore have agreed to work with China's tourism authorities to crack down on illegal travel agents, tour operators and guides in order to protect the tourist industry and its image. The three Southeast Asian countries have become leading destinations for so-called "zero-dollar tours", in which mainland Chinese tourists are lured into buying cheap tour packages.

   The packages include a round-trip ticket and accommodation but little else. Instead of taking the tourists to popular sights, the Chinese are taken to selected stores and shops, and are encouraged to engage in illegal activities such as gambling and prostitution. In return, the tour operators get kickbacks on the amount of tourists spent.   v

CAMPAIGN

CALL FOR A FUNDAMENTAL REASSESSMENT OF THE

UN INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF ECOTOURISM 2002

In November 1998, the United Nations' General Assembly agreed to declare the year 2002 as the International Year of Ecotourism (IYE) and invited  UN states members, and members of the specialized agencies and pertinent intergovernmental and governmental organizations, to participate in the programme, in particular regarding ecotourism in developing countries. The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Tourism Organization (WTO) have been mandated by the UN to organize events and activities around the IYE, the most important of which is the World Ecotourism Summit  to be held in Quebec, Canada, in May 2002. Many governmental, private and non-governmental agencies are already making preparations for the event. Following an invitation by UNEP's tourism programme coordinator to organizations to share their experiences on ecotourism and to collaborate in furthering related debates, a coalition of civic groups from Asia and beyond, issued a statement to express a number of serious concerns regarding eco-tourism and to call for a fundamental reassessment of the IYE.

…we, the undersigned NGOs from the South and North, feel compelled to warn all concerned parties not to skirt the critical issues of ecotourism and the fact that a mountain of money will be spent and a flood of projects initiated around the IYE in order to boost the ecotourism industry. In contrast to advocates who tend to portray ecotourism development as a "win-win" approach, a means to protect biodiversity and enhance the well-being of local people, we are gravely concerned that this IYE will result in a "lose-lose" situation for communities and the environment in destination countries.

One of the most worrisome aspects is that the UN General Assembly and agencies have agreed to give the green light for the IYE, without first making an adequate assessment of the nature of the ecotourism industry and its multi-dimensional effects. Nor have the priorities and objectives of the IYE been clearly spelled out.

(UNEP's tourism programme coordinator) state(ed), "For UNEP in general and for me and my colleagues in particular, the occasion of the International Year of Ecotourism should be used to assess what it is, or can be, what is currently called ecotourism, rather than only a promotional event for UN member governments, for the private sector and for recipients of development aid. No previous agenda should be set."

To suggest, let's have the event first and then we may understand better what ecotourism means or what it can be, is unconscionable, given that the fate of local communities and biodiversity-rich areas worldwide is at stake. Such a laisse faire approach is also unacceptable, given that the rampant misconduct in ecotourism practice and many of the negative impacts of such developments have been widely acknowledged.

Too often, international agencies have used the South as a playground for misguided and outright destructive development experiments, and in the light of this conventional wisdom, we oppose the idea that the IYE serves as an instrument for ecotourism experiments in developing countries, which are likely to cause more harm than good.

… our experience is that "bad" policies and practices in ecotourism by far outweigh the "good" examples. We fear that the IYE in combination with the globalization policies underway will make things worse. As supranational institutions such as the World Bank, the IMF and the World Trade Organization are pressuring developing countries towards trade and investment liberalization, national and local governments are increasingly disabled to plan and manage tourism - and ecotourism - on their own terms. The corporate tourism industry aggressively pushes for non-intervention in companies' decision-making processes to expand their business and maximize their profits. As nature-based tourism is presently seen as one of the most lucrative niche markets, powerful transnational corporations are likely to exploit the IYE to dictate their own definitions and rules of ecotourism on society, while people-centred initiatives will be squeezed out and marginalized.

For all these reasons, we shall direct all our efforts to resist this IYE, unless the World Tourism Organization and UNEP agree to initiate a comprehensive and sincere reassessment before any more praparations are made for the event. We demand a complete review of ecotourism issues that takes into consideration the political, social, economic and developmental conditions and the serious issues of globalization. It is also necessary to examine why existing recipes to tackle ecotourism-related problems - planning and management tools, best practice initiatives, etc. - have not worked in practice and sometimes even create new risks.

If this IYE is to go ahead, it must be made clear to all actors and the public, what the event is about, what it tries to achieve, and how it seeks to do so. Precautionary measures must be put in place in advance so that countries and societies are properly equipped against abuse and backlashes.

We also appeal to you to use your influence to ensure full and fair Southern participation in the IYE process. In cooperation with our grassroots networks, we will further investigate and monitor ecotourism-related issues and put forward our findings and proposals regarding the IYE directly to decision-making bodies. 

The full text of the statement can be requested at t.i.m.-team, P.O. Box 51 Chorakhebua, Bangkok 10230, Thailand, Email: tim-team@access.inet.co.th.

BURMA

HITTING BACK AT TOURISM BOYCOTT CAMPAIGNS

[Myanmar Times: 28.8.-3.9.00; 4-10.9.00; 11-17.9.00; The Nation: 3.9.00; Bangkok Post: 4.9.00] - A TOURISM wish-list produced at a seminar in Rangoon in August called for "more tourist-friendly conditions", according to Myanmar Times. The seminar, entitled "Sustainable Tourism Development: Principles and Practices" was organized by the World Tourism Organization (WTO), the United Nations' Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific (ESCAP) and the Burmese Ministry of Hotels and Tourism.

   One of the themes that emerged from it was the very negative international perception of Burma as tourist destination. Tourism operator Virendra Arora, from HIS Tours based in Bangkok, told the seminar’s 60 participants that media reports and coverage about Burma was an important issue facing the country. He and other speakers urged the local industry and the government to respond more aggressively to negative media coverage in the West.

   Shaken by the latest anti-Burma tourism campaign by British action groups (see new frontiers 6[3] and 6[4]), the military regime also decided to hire a public-relations and marketing executive, whose main responsibility will be to counter "negative media reports" about visiting Burma. It has got help from the English-language weekly  Myanmar Times, which recently published an advertisement promising "an excellent salary and benefits package" to the successful candidate in exchange for helping the Myanmar Tourism Promotion Board (MTPB) "create increased awareness of Myanmar (Burma) as a destination by promoting the benefits of the tourism sector."

   Meanwhile, the Bangkok daily The Nation called the Myanmar Times a "subtle mouthpiece for the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC)". Its managing director and editor-in-chief Ross Dunkley, who purportedly worked as a consultant to the Vietnamese government, "balances vilification of the SPDC's enemies with features emphasizing positive trends in the military junta-ruled country," it said. Recent issues of Myanmar Times included, for example, an interview with a US tourist agent who criticizes the sanctions placed on travel to Burma, as well as an article that attempted to shoot down the UK tourism boycott campaign, by citing reports from London's Daily Telegraph. Headlined "British say 'yes' to travel despite UK lobby group snub", Myanmar Times reported:

   "The Daily Telegraph, one of the largest and most respected broadsheet newspapers in the UK, has found its readers overwhelmingly support increased tourism to Myanmar despite their government’s long held sanctions against the country. The finding is also in sharp contrast with the sentiments of an anti-Myanmar campaign launched jointly in June by the UK Tourist Concern and Burma Campaign UK. The campaign has included the prominent display of billboards in the London tube system urging a complete boycott of Myanmar by British citizens. Last month, an article in the travel section of the paper, which criticized the anti-Myanmar campaign triggered a swift public response. Letters of support and agreement poured in to the paper’s London office, prompting the Daily Telegraph to publish a follow-up article. More than 90 per cent of readers’ letters advocated continued and increased contact with Myanmar, according to journalist Rosemary Behan." 

   According to the Bangkok Post's "Travel Monitor" columnist Imtiaz Muqbil, copies of the controversial Daily Telegraph articles have been "gleefully and widely circulated within the Burmese tourism industry." 

   Nevertheless, PR for Burma tourism undoubtedly remains an extremely difficult affair. Visit Burma Year in 1996 was a big failure, and the beauty of the country has done nothing to lessen international condemnation of its government's brutal policies and human rights atrocities. In the 1998-99 season, barely 120,000 tourists visited Burma, less than half as many as the government had hoped for when it started its 1996 tourism campaign.

   In view of this, it is bizarre that in a recent speech to the government’s Tourism Development and Management Committee, Secretary No.1 Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt urged officials from tourism-related departments to aim for visitor numbers in the “millions." But the supreme irony is the fact that the persistent travel restrictions on opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her colleagues from the National League for Democracy (NLD) are in absolute contradiction to the junta's efforts to attract foreign tourists.   v

QUIET DEBUT FOR MANDALAY AIRPORT

[Myanmar Times: 11-17.9.00; 25.9.-1.10.00; Bangkok Post: 21.9.00; The Nation: 23.9.00] - MANDALAY International Airport officially opened in September despite the fact that scheduled flights to the Burmese city by international airlines are not on the horizon. Nevertheless, the Burmese military junta hopes that the new airport will make Mandalay more accessible to international tourists and boast the country's infrastructure development.

   “The new airport can provide easy access to upper Myanmar (Burma) to set up big businesses,” said Mandalay Division chief of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), Maj-Gen Ye Myint. “At the same time it will enable the portraying of the enchanting topography of Myanmar.”

   Even though tourism industry analysts have expressed reservations over the immediate effect the airport could have on tourism - particularly with no international flights scheduled for the airport in the next year -, many of them believe in the long-term benefits of establishing facilities with a mass-tourism capacity.

   The Director General of the Hotels and Tourism Department, U Khin Maung Latt, said the airport opening would have a direct impact on the country’s stagnant tourist inflows because it could accept the big aircraft. He explained, “… larger planes can not land at the (Rangoon's) Mingladon airport, so most of the tourists have to stop over at Bangkok. With the Mandalay airport operational, there will be no aircraft limitations for the international airlines.”

   The US$3.15-billion Mandalay airport was first conceived in 1996 and built by Italian-Thai Development Plc. Thai Airport Ground Service Co, a privately owned operator, is providing ground service under a one-year contract, and also training local staff. The airport is located 35 km south of the city. It has been designed to accommodate all available commercial aircraft up to the 450-passenger Boeing 747-400. It can serve 1,000 passengers per hour or three million a year, with expansion capacity to more than 15 million. At 4,267 metres, the runway is the longest in Southeast Asia, 517 metres longer than the one at Bangkok International Airport. With a total area of 37,020 square metres, the airport terminal has ample space to accommodate passengers. However, the present low tourist volume means few international carriers are looking to expand business to Burma. Currently, the airport has only  16 domestic flights a day.   v

CAMBODIA

DECLARATION OF WAR AGAINST SEX TOURISTS AND TRAFFICKERS

[Phnom Penh Daily: 7.9.00; Bangkok Post: 15.9.00; The Nation: 27.9.00] - AS Cambodia struggles to recover from three decades of genocide and war, a vicious combination of poverty, corruption and global tourism has produced a new threat - sexual exploitation of children and women. In September, the government announced it would launch a new campaign against sex tourism by posting signs at hotels, guest houses and nightclubs to shame sex tourists.

   "Sex tourism - No," Cambodia's Tourism Minister, Veng Sereyvuth said in an emotional speech to reporters at a recent tourism-industry conference in Phnom Penh. "Cambodia should prevent this trend. The country has more than 1,000 temples and more to be discovered… We don't need the sex industry to attract tourists."

   Veng also called on other ministries to help eradicate Cambodia's image as a sex tourism destination. "We also will have a policy to withdraw the licence of any business-owner who is involved in the sex industry," he added.

   Children's rights exports have reported an upsurge in child-sex cases as the number of tourist arrivals has increased. "The sexual exploitation of children is a very serious problem in Cambodia, and its perpetrated by both Cambodians and foreigners," said Chanthol Ung, executive director of the Cambodian Women's Crisis Centre. "But we're noticing the trend of more and more foreigners coming here to sexually exploit children."

   At risk are girls as young as ten years old brought in from the countryside or smuggled across the Vietnamese border to service a seemingly insatiable sex industry centred in Phnom Penh. "Children are often forced into prostitution by their parents or tricked into the trade by pimps," said Chanthol Ung, adding, "Vietnamese girls are brought here under similar circumstances."

   Internet websites and pornographic magazines that advertise child sex in Cambodia as cheap and easy ensures a constant stream of customers for child prostitutes, explained Yim Po, executive director of the Cambodian Centre for the Protection of Children's Rights.

   "The child sex trade spills over from Thailand… Cambodia is becoming a favourite destination for both sex tourists and paedophiles," said Sebastian Marot, coordinator of an organization that assists Phnom Penh's 10,000 street children. "Cambodia is one of the hunting grounds of European, Asian and Australian paedophiles, and every kind of exploitation imaginable is going on."

   Cambodian police and courts are generally unable and unwilling to take effective action against foreigners accused of sex offences. Suspects are often freed by the courts amid allegations of corruption. According to a recent Cambodia Daily report, however, the government plans to draw up a blacklist of all foreign sex-crime suspects and to expel those on the list, regardless of whether they are found guilty or not. "When they finish their visa, they will have to leave our country and will not be able to return," Minister of Women's Affairs Mu Sochua told the newspaper. The blacklist would be distributed to Cambodian embassies overseas and at all border-crossing points, she said, adding that Cambodian courts were not dealing properly with foreign sex offenders.

   In a separate development, two Taiwanese men and a Romanian woman have recently been arrested, facing human trafficking charges that carry up to 20 years imprisonment. The Taiwanese are accused of luring local women into false marriages and then selling them into prostitution in their country. The Romanian woman is alleged to have done the same with seven women from Eastern Europe and bringing them to Cambodia for vice. Six local women, who acted as procurers for the Taiwanese, are also in detention. However, a Cambodian court released the suspect Chinese-Canadian hotel manager, who has been charged of holding the European girls in a forced prostitution ring catering to rich businessmen and high government officials.

   The release of the hotelier brought condemnation from human rights workers. Marlene Alejos, an investigator for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said the UN would press to see that all involved in human trafficking were charged. Meanwhile, the Cambodian police vowed to continue the crackdown against human traffickers indefinitely as the country had become a focal point for the illegal trade in women.   v

 

MALAYSIAN MOGUL BETS ON CAMBODIAN CASINOS

[Phnom Penh Post: 20.9.00; The Nation: 9.10.00] - CAMBODIA is ideally positioned to reap potentially huge profits from Asia's obsession for gambling, recently said Malaysian business mogul Chen Lip Keong, chairman of Malaysia's Lipkland Group and owner of Ariston Sdn Bhd. Chen has exclusive rights to gaming facilities in Phnom Penh - and 200 kms in any direction.

   In September, he announced plans for a new US$100-million hotel and casino complex in Phnom Penh. Ariston has bought 1.4 hectares of land near the Mekong River and plans to begin construction in October. The company hopes that the casino resort will be finished in 14 to 16 months. The massive complex, named Nexus Naga Hotel, will include 750 hotel rooms, conference facilities for 900 people, shops, restaurants, a nightclub and a casino. The resort has been designed by a US architect group, Wimberly Allison Tong & Goo, which has previously designed renowned venues such as Sun City in South Africa, the Venetian City in Las Vegas and Ritz-Carlton hotels. "Our intention is to build the biggest landmark in Cambodia after Angkor Wat. As the temples become more and more famous, the capital shouldn't be ignored," said Chen.

   "What is it that makes tourism tick? To put up a hotel costs tens of millions of dollars. To get a return takes 10 or 20 years. Meanwhile you could be dead, or the Asian crisis comes along," said Chen. "It is a challenge to make it work, and hence the concept of gaming comes along as a catalyst."

   Chen continued to say, "Cambodia is in the midst of a gaming culture. You look up and you see China. You look down, Malaysia and Singapore. To the left, Thailand. You are right smack in the middle of it, and you feel the chance of success is much higher."

   In 1994, Chen's Ariston company won a highly controversial tender to develop a US$1-billion tourism and infrastructure project in Sihanoukville. It included a mega-resort and casino complex and an international airport in this coastal port city.

   Chen has Prime Minister Hun Sen's support, and has flown him on golfing holidays to his lavish resort in Sabah. When the government decided to ban all gambling houses in Phnom Penh last year, Chen's Naga casino on a ship moored in the Mekong River was given a dispensation, sparking a frenzy in parliament and the media over bribery allegations and preferential treatment.

   Nevertheless, Chen's investments in Cambodia have been a massive gamble that has yet to pay off, other than the dividends from his floating casino. Six years on, little progress has been made on the Sihanoukville project. Chen blamed the lack of progress on a failure by the government to remove residents from the bulk of the land designated under the 1994 deal and hand it over to Ariston. He also blamed political instability before the 1998 elections won by Hun Sen and his Cambodian People's Party.   v

KARAOKE ROCKS ANGKOR WAT

[The Nation: 10.10.00] - GENERAL Chea Morn, commander of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces' Region Four, has built an illegal karaoke entertainment bar in the world heritage Angkor temple complex, which dates back a thousand years and is the country's most sacred and most important cultural monument.

   According to a Cambodia Daily report, the bar has been built on a concrete platform and consists of several wooden structures. It is located at the Western Baray, a huge ancient human-made lake, in the temple area.

   Under an agreement with UNESCO, the government has agreed to limit development there to protect the ancient monuments. A 1994 decree, signed by King Sihanouk, also set up strict zoning rules for Angkor.

   "(The bar) does not affect the environment or the Baray," claimed Chea Morn. "If the government needs it, I will give it back," the general said of the land on which the entertainment place is built.   v

  

THAI ASSISTANCE TO BOOST FOR TOURISM

[Phnom Penh Daily: 23.8.00] - THE Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has prepared a master plan for developing ecotourism in Cambodia's northeastern provinces Ratanakiri and Mondulkiri. The plan is expected to be modeled on the Thai experience of implanting luxury facilities on the natural attributes of the two most pristine and isolated provinces of the country. Officials say that TAT's master plan will open opportunities for the private sector to build and operate infrastructure like roads, airstrips, air services, hotels, restaurants and to operate eco-tourism businesses.

   The Thai technical assistance programme is also being extended to Sihanoukville and Koh Kong and will be undertaken in the last quarter of next year. Thailand has already agreed to provide three-month scholarships to three Cambodians on hotel and resort management, food and beverage, and training the trainer for travel guides. Bangkok has also offered to train a tourist police unit to be operational from the end of the year. These developments come ahead of next year's launch of a joint promotion, "Two Kingdoms, One Destination", to put more life into an already saturated Thai tourism market and to boost visitor arrivals in Cambodia.   v

THAILAND

UNEP APPLAUDS THAILAND'S 'GREEN TOURISM INITIATIVE'

[UNEP-Press Release: 2.10.00; Bangkok Post: 3.10.00; 12.10.00; The Nation: 3.10.00] - THE tourism industry has a crucial part to play in creating sustainable communities, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) said in a press release issued on 2 October. It welcomed the certification of 25 Thailand hotels as part of the "Green Leaf" Programme, which was established by the Board of Environmental Promotion of Tourism Activities (BEPTA), whose members include the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), the Thai Hotels Association, UNEP, the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT), the Association for the Development of Environmental Quality and the Metropolitan Waterworks Authority. 

   UNEP regional director Nirmal Andrews said such collaborations between industry, government and NGOs were essential if tourism was to avoid spoiling the environment on which it depends. He told 200 guests at the UN Conference Centre in Bangkok that the diffusion of ecofriendly innovation and best practice was a key to transforming industry. "The objective of the Green Leaf Programme is to equip hoteliers with the knowledge, standards and technologies that provide customers with a quality experience that is in tune with the environment."

   "We are not talking here about a shallow marketing ploy, which is sometimes associated with the eco-tourism label, but measurable environmental performance that gives hotel customers choice and confidence," said Andrews, adding that UNEP hoped to encourage this model of multi-sector involvement and self-regulation in tourism development to other countries in the region.

   In contrast to UNEP's enthusiasm for the Green Leaf programme, what it calls Thailand's "green tourism initiative", many observers agree that this initiative has not been as successful as expected and may have a short life. Most hoteliers in Thailand remain ignorant about environmental conservation, warned speakers at its certificate presentation in Bangkok. Among more than 2,000 hotels nationwide, just 59 have entered the programme, which is primarily designed to help hotels save energy and operating costs by improving environmental standards.

   The Green Leaf certificate does not appear to carry much weight in the hotel industry even though it should, said Banpoj Saengkheaw, an executive of EGAT, one of the sponsors of the scheme.

    "Indeed, many more hotels should enter the programme. Hotels should work not just for cleaner beaches and a better environment, but also to achieve other cost-saving programmes," opined THA president Chanin Donavanik, a senior executive of the Dusit hotel group. "But many hoteliers and their guests remain ignorant about the importance of these measures."

   The claim that Thailand is taking serious steps towards making its tourism industry environmentally sound is also highly misleading, considering the fact that unsustainable and outright destructive tourism-related developments continue unabated, and the problems of inadequate planning, monitoring and regulation of the tourism sector are far from resolved.

   One glaring example of misguided policy is to open up vast areas for all sorts of rural and nature tourism. Increasing eco-tourism demand has already resulted in a construction mania in remote communities and nature reserves to provide accommodation and infrastructure for visitors. A recently published survey by the The Nation alerted the public that for the sake of eco-tourism promotion, massive development projects - some involving logging operations - are underway in national parks countrywide (see also new frontiers 6[2] and 6[3]). Contrary to the high-flown goals of biodiversity conservation and sustainable use of natural resources, the Royal Forestry Department in charge of these tourism projects - primarily funded by loans from the World Bank and the Japanese Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund (OECF) - is set to turn the country's last remaining natural areas into concrete jungles.

    Instead of focussing on industry-led voluntary initiatives, UNEP and other concerned agencies would be well advised to take a hard look at the overall situation of tourism and the environment.  Possibly, they would find that awarding micro-projects with "green" certificates and prizes is an insufficient strategy to stop mal-development and misconduct in the tourism sector.   v

SPECIAL CONCERN

INDIGENOUS PEOPLES NEED SUPPORT!

[Bangkok Post: 20.8.00; 24.8.00; 19.9.00; 21.9.00; The Nation: 4.9.00; 19.9.00] - WHILE the hill tribe peoples of Thailand are exploited for commercial purposes - for ethno- and eco-tourism, for example - their traditional indigenous cultures are increasingly abused, and the forceful displacement of indigenous communities is expanding.

   In August, Thai lowland farmers staged a violent raid against Hmong villagers in Chiang Klang district of Nan Province in northern Thailand, destroying orchards and farms of some 180 families. Like dominoes, 50,000 lychee trees - many over 15 years old - collapsed one by one against a backdrop of smoke and fire rising above the homes put to the torch. All farm equipment was destroyed. Chickens and pigs were killed. Cooked rice and other food were thrown about. Witnesses said policemen and forestry officials were present during the blitz, but nothing was done to stop the terror. Instead, the Hmongs were barred from entering their property on grounds that this would be forest encroachment. Lowland villagers and forestry officials, claiming the Hmongs' orchards cause droughts in low-lying areas and contaminate waterways, demanded the relocation of the community.

   This outbreak of racial violence has come as a shock to both the highlanders and outsiders. The authorities have promoted sustainable farming in the highlands, and the Hmongs have just followed that state line. So why destroy their properties? Lowland villagers also have lychee plantations in the same area. So why just target the Hmongs?

   "They see us no better than animals…they feel it's okay to destroy us," said Hmong community leader Samrit Sae Tao bitterly. "Mountainous Nan province is home to several tribes who have always co-existed peacefully. Why the outburst of racial hatred now? The Hmong leaders and environmentalists are blaming the Forestry Department for fanning ethnic acrimony as part of its scheme to evict hill peoples from forests without getting its own hands dirty."

   Ruengdej Chommuang, an environmentalist of the Hak Muang Nan Group, explained thousands of hill tribe villagers in Nan province are under threat of eviction from their land in Doi Phu Kha National Park. "Since the national park was declared, at least 170,000 villagers face eviction because the forestry law does not allow people to live in the park, now matter how long they have been there," he said. Also annexed to the park are the villagers' farmlands and their community forests. The Hmong would be the first to go under the relocation plan, said Ruengdej, adding, "I was informed that these people will be removed either to Phitsanulok or Phetchabun (provinces)."

   In a separate development, environmental and human rights groups have charged the army, the forestry and provincial authorities of repeatedly intimidating Karen villagers in an attempt to evict them from Thung Yai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary Yai, a World Natural Heritage Site located in western Thailand. In September, they submitted a letter to the House Committee on military affairs, urging it to investigate the military's violent resettlement of six Karen communities with about 2,000 people from the pristine forest.

   Kritsada Boonchai from the Project for Ecological Recovery (PER) said the army division acted in conjunction with the Forestry Department, which has accused the Karen of destroying the forest and long tried to evict communities.

   Chomkid Wathongdee, a village representative from one of the affected communities told reporters military officers stormed into his village in the early morning and forced people to show their identity cards. Apart from arresting 13 villagers for not having ID cards, soldiers confiscated assets, including people's hill tribe registration cards, he said.

   Karen peasant Tao Paopo from another village insisted Thung Yai has been the Karens' ancestral home for ages and he could not understand why subsistence Karens are subject to eviction when mining companies and the local mafia can freely destroy the forest with state approval. "The local godfathers are turning our ricefields into tamarind and parkia plantations. We're evicted to make way for money barons," he said.

   Bangkok Post assistant editor Sanitsuda Ekachai defended indigenous communties in a strong commentary.

   "The racist nationalism of the modern Thai state has brainwashed post-war generations into viewing ethnic groups as foreign elements. Or worse yet, as a national security threat due to the drug trafficking and forest encroachment," she wrote. "Such stereotypes, reinforced by the education system and the media, have numbed the public to state persecution of indigenous peoples."

   "The prejudice is so strong that the voice of reason emerging from research showing the positive role of the Karen forest dwellers in Thung Yai's ecology and biodiversity is simply ignored… (It is also) why the Hmongs in Nan are left in despair after their lychee orchards were torched. And why the military's scheme to resettle the hill people along the border with Burma is not questioned, despite the violence used… Reason will prevail only when Thai society frees itself of ethnic prejudice. Sadly, a change is not insight."

   The Chiang Rai-based Akha Heritage Foundation appealed to the international community to help campaign against the maltreatment of indigenous peoples, by sending protest notes to Thai embassies, for example.   v

  

BOI SUPPORTS GOLF TOURISM

[Bangkok Post: 4.9.00] - PROMOTING golf holidays would not only help increase foreign tourist arrivals and spending, but would ease the oversupply of courses created during the boom era in the first years of the 1990s, according to Thailand's Board of Investment (BOI).

   "If we can develop our golf courses, say by attracting world-class players such as Tiger Woods to play in local tournaments, we can not only revive the sector but also boost tourism," said Staporn Kavitanon, the BOI secretary-general. He added more aggressive marketing was needed for Thailand's 150 golf courses, many of which have run into serious financial problems over recent years.

   "Why did numerous golf courses around the country, whose business has been so lacklustre, not use the 'Amazing Thailand' campaign to help themselves?" Staporn asked. The BOI, he said, would do its part by promoting investment incentives. "We are now discussing what further investment privileges foreign investors, who are interested in golf businesses in the country, should be offered."

   Preecha Treesuwan, public-relations officer of the Thailand Golf Association, said, "Overseas promotion of golf holidays would help extend the length of visitor stays." His association was ready to support state agencies and other parties in promoting golf, he added.

   As a reminder, in response to the increasing outcry of many local communities and environmental organizations against the golf boom in Asia and worldwide, a Global Anti-Golf Movement was formed in Penang, Malaysia, in 1993, in order to fight golf course developments that cause severe social and ecological problems. Golf course and resort projects have often involved land grabs and created skewed land use, displacing local communities or depriving them of water and other resources. Environmental impacts include water depletion, toxic contamination of soil, water and the air. This in turn has led to serious health risks for local residents, golf course workers and even golf players. The building of golf course at scenic natural sites, such as forest, mountain and coastal areas, has also resulted in a massive destruction of biodiversity.

   So probably one of the last things Thailand needs is a revival of the golf industry and golf tourism promotion, subsidized by taxpayers!   v

VIETNAM

A TRICKLE, NOT A RUSH, OF AMERICAN TOURISTS TO VIETNAM

[The New York Times: 27.8.00] - TWENTY-FIVE years after the end of the war and a month after the United States completed an historic trade agreement with Vietnam, tour organizers in both countries hope that American travellers will finally start to make their way to Vietnam in large numbers.

   The trade pact, which was signed on 13 July, is not expected to have an immediate, direct impact on tourism. It is mainly intended to expand trade in goods between the two countries and to open Vietnam's economy to US investment. Although among Vietnamese tourism officials, there is optimism that the agreement will inspire more tourists to visit their country, many Americans apparently see Vietnam as a difficult, even hostile destination. "They think Vietnam is like North Korea," said Doug Reese, the Washington-based representative for VietnamTourism, a government agency. "People keep thinking about the war. They think Vietnam is dangerous, that they won't be welcome."

   In fact, Vietnam is very eager to attract foreign visitors, and during the recent nationwide celebration to mark the 25th anniversary of the country's reunification - and the defeat of the American-backed government of South Vietnam -, the government offered little of the anti-American propaganda that was once its daily fare.

   However, Vietnamese officials have been disappointed by the sluggish growth in tourism from the US. Of the 64,400 visas reportedly issued to Americans in 1999 by the Vietnamese embassy in Washington, almost 46,100 of them went to Vietnamese-Americans, many going to see their families, not to spend money in hotels or at tourist sites.

    Generally, foreign tourism to Vietnam fared well over the last year. The country's tourism authority recorded some 1,06 million visitors in the first six months of this year, a jump of 18 per cent from the same period in 1999; China, France, Taiwan, Britain and Japan sent the largest numbers of tourists. Nevertheless, tourism officials had hoped and planned for more dramatic growth. A construction boom in the early 1990s has resulted in a glut of hotel rooms in the major cities, but last year, the hotel occupancy rate was only 43 per cent.

   The lag in tourism from the US may also be due to a practical fact: So far, there have been no direct flights between the US and Vietnam. Tourism officials say an American tourist influx will begin in earnest only when the two countries establish direct air routes. Currently, Americans are usually required to connect elsewhere in Asia with flights that go to Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City.      

   "It's important for the US carriers to go," said Reese of VietnamTourism. "The arrival of the American carriers is like the US government seal of approval for travel to Vietnam." United Airlines, Northwest and other US carriers have shown interest in obtaining landing rights in Vietnam, but negotiations on an air-rights agreement have repeatedly bogged down. v

 

PROTEST OVER GOVERNMENT LAND GRAB FOR AMUSEMENT PARK

[Fides News: 18.9.00] - WITH two open letters sent to Vietnamese regional authorities and the Prime Minister, and circulated through the Viet Catholic News agency, a strong protest was launched in September by Benedictine monks in Thien An monastery, not far from Hue, against a government order of requisition of a large part of their land for the establishment of an amusement park.

   The monks first heard the news last April, when representatives of the Peoples Committee of Huong Thuy district came to the monastery to inform them about a decree signed by the Prime Minister on 24 December 1999. The monks were neither shown the document nor given a copy, they were simply informed that the state was requisitioning almost 500,000 sqm of the monastery's land to rent it to the Hue Tourism Office, which has been charged to build a large amusement park on the site.

   The decision came as a shock for the Benedictine community, particularly since the present government prides itself on its policy of restoring properties rather than confiscating them. Since 1940, when the monastery was opened, the land has been registered at the Thua-Hue land office. Now the government decision refers to the area as if it were uncultivated, unused land.

   The Benedictines pointed out in their letter that by taking this land, the government is depriving them of their subsistence, obliged as they are by their Rule to live of their labour. On the land, which the government intends to confiscate, the monks cultivate an orange grove, a vegetable garden and a number of fields, which serve for their herd of about 28 head of cattle. The requisition of this land, with no previous warning as is required by the present law regarding the use of land, robs authentic workers of a farm, which they have created with their own hands.

   A group of Catholic priests in Hue have supported the Benedictines, insisting that thanks to the work of these monks, the pine hills of Thien An have become not only a place of spiritual refreshment for Catholics but also a place, where anyone may go to relax, and free of charge. This will no longer be possible since many trees will be felled to build the amusement park, a commercial attraction certainly not open to the less fortunate members of society.   v

 


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