As Thai islands draw more visitors, they face growing strain on basic infrastructure
Tan Hui Yee, Thailand Correspondent, In Koh Tao, Thailand
Straits Times 30 Jun 13;
It's nearly midnight but the air buzzes with music from bars and boisterous conversation. An endless stream of freshly tanned Europeans fills a narrow street lined with guesthouses, cafes and souvenir shops. Some of them stride barefoot, having just emerged from the beach nearby.
This is the liveliest stretch of Koh Tao, a small island in the Gulf of Thailand, but it is also typical of scenes in many of the country's famed island destinations.
Thailand, which hosted 22.35 million visitors last year, is expecting an even better showing this year. And its islands are a key draw.
Islanders and environmentalists alike are bracing themselves for this surge in numbers, given the potential strain visitors place on these little Edens.
Many rely on wells and rainfall for water, undersea cables and generators for electricity, and process their own sewage. Space for trash is limited and roads are prone to jams if not developed in line with the growth of tourist vehicles.
"These island paradises have a hard time coping with water shortages and the disposal of solid waste," says environmental management expert Chirapol Sintunawa from Mahidol University.
Koh Tao, a 21 sq km diving hot spot that was last week ranked by the popular travel review website TripAdvisor as one of the world's top 10 islands, pulled in 124,000 visitors in 2011 and an estimated 10 per cent more last year. Its sister island Koh Phangan, famed for its Full Moon beach parties, saw an estimated 530,000 visitors last year - a whopping 60 per cent more than in the previous year.
In December last year, Koh Phangan and Koh Samui - another island in the same province - were hit by a three-day blackout. That triggered soul-searching about how the development of basic infrastructure has lagged behind population and tourism growth.
Groups of locals and activists have teamed up to try to reverse the damage. Two weeks ago, Koh Tao held its annual eco-themed festival, where tourists and tourism businesses were cajoled to recycle, pedal around the island and avoid using plastic bags and styrofoam packages.
Businesses gave out free food, while popular bands drew in the crowds.
But the message was clear - it was time to protect the island from further pollution.
"We have to educate the people," Koh Tao's mayor Chaiyan Thurasakul told The Sunday Times.
The 43-year-old Koh Tao native has seen the island grow from a fishing and coconut-farming outcrop to a bustling attraction teeming with diving schools.
He worries about the unbridled growth of hotels and wants to subject new developments to a more rigorous approval process.
The limited sources of water are a top concern. The 85-room Ko Tao Resort on the southern end of the island has to ship water from the mainland to make up part of the 60 cubic metres it needs for its daily operations.
The high-end Jamahkiri Resort and Spa depends on its own desalination plant. It is costly, admits general manager William DeBaeck, but it is better than facing a shortage if rough seas disrupt water deliveries.
Some local businesses are trying to make a difference.
The 180-room Ban's Diving Resort turns its waste cooking oil into soap and biodiesel, which it uses to run its trash compactors.
At the festival ground two weeks ago, it set up booths to share this expertise.
Environmental advocates urge travellers to do their part by choosing less resource-intensive accommodation.
Thailand's Green Leaf Foundation, which is supported by the Tourism Authority of Thailand, promotes this practice by running a voluntary accreditation programme for environmentally friendly hotels.
Ultimately though, it is the hotel operators that can play the biggest part in protecting these island destinations, says Dr Chirapol. "If we give tourists good rooms, there is no way they can pollute the environment.
"You can't really tell the guest to only sing one song in the shower," he jests. But you can give them a water-efficient shower head, as well as shampoo without chemicals that damage waterways, he adds.
