Thon offers solutions for Thailand's marine national parks

[webfact]

Thon offers solutions for parks
PRATCH RUJIVANAROM
THE NATION


Phi Phi Le Island

Expert: Tourism is running marine life

BANGKOK: -- A National Reform Council (NRC) member has offered five proposals to improve marine national parks, including the establishment of a Marine National Park Bureau and the setting up of a committee on marine national park strategies.

Evidence has shown that uncontrolled tourism has ruined the underwater ecology of the Andaman Sea, an academic forum on the maritime tourism crisis at Kasetsart University was told yesterday. The suggestions and other information brought up at the forum would be presented today to the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry and the National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department.

Thon Thamrongnawasawat, an NRC memeber and leading marine biologist, siad mismanagement of marine national parks was the main cause of the coastal ecology's destruction. He added that urgent reforms were needed.

He proposed the five suggestions, starting with the establishment of a Marine National Park Bureau under the National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department.

"A transparent and justified process of selecting marine park top officials should also be in place because such positions were fought over by people who might resort to using bribes and connections with powerful supporters," he said.

Due to the lack of participation by tourism agencies, experts and locals in conservation and management, he presented the second suggestion - of setting up of a committee on marine national park strategies, comprising representatives from all stakeholders. He said the committee could help take care of nature conservation, tourism management, and examining, tracking and studying urgent matters. To better track work progress in parks, he said there should also be inspections by outside experts twice a year.

Under the committee on marine national park strategies, there would be three working committees. As tourism management of marine national parks was unclear in regard to the entry tariff issue and the inspection on travel agencies, Thon proposed the establishment of a working committee on marine national park tourism management to ensure sustainable tourism.

The lack of experts in marine science, marine ecology and eco-tourism among the national park employees led to the fourth suggestion - the establishment of a working committee on human resource management.

"The fifth suggestion is to launch a working committee on community participation to take care of the cooperation between local communities, tourism agencies and the national park," he said.

Thon also presented evidence including aerial pictures of Pi Le Bay on Krabi's Phi Phi Le Island that showed corals reef there in 2002 had totally vanished by 2015. "This is total failure of natural conservation and sustainable tourism," he said.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Thon-offers-solutions-for-parks-30256757.html


-- The Nation 2015-03-26

[jaidam]

quote "Evidence has shown that uncontrolled tourism has ruined the underwater ecology of the Andaman Sea, an academic forum on the maritime tourism crisis at Kasetsart University was told yesterday."

Utter, unbridled nonsense. The underwater ecology of the Andaman Sea (and the G.O.T.) has been ruined through destructive fishing practices over the past 7 decades - primarily push nets that trashed the sea grass beds and reefs, trawlers using undersize meshing at the cod-end, destruction of breeding and nursery sites such as mangrove forests and other practices that have nothing to do with foreign tourists. It might come as a surprise, but the owners of the largest fishing companies, and the ones doing the most environmental damage are owned by politicians and other "connected" peoples, which probably accounts for the official line of blame the tourists.

Tourism is mainly responsible for one of the worst kinds of pollution - noise pollution. But it's effects are not long lasted, nor particularly severe(unless you are a light sleeper).

[bangkokfrog]

This is the typical solution to most problems here:

Set up a committee and (another) govt department.

How about some action against the connected people behind the problem.

[tbthailand]

quote "Evidence has shown that uncontrolled tourism has ruined the underwater ecology of the Andaman Sea, an academic forum on the maritime tourism crisis at Kasetsart University was told yesterday."

Utter, unbridled nonsense. The underwater ecology of the Andaman Sea (and the G.O.T.) has been ruined through destructive fishing practices over the past 7 decades - primarily push nets that trashed the sea grass beds and reefs, trawlers using undersize meshing at the cod-end, destruction of breeding and nursery sites such as mangrove forests and other practices that have nothing to do with foreign tourists. It might come as a surprise, but the owners of the largest fishing companies, and the ones doing the most environmental damage are owned by politicians and other "connected" peoples, which probably accounts for the official line of blame the tourists.

Tourism is mainly responsible for one of the worst kinds of pollution - noise pollution. But it's effects are not long lasted, nor particularly severe(unless you are a light sleeper).

I agree completely that fishing is a big problem, but so is tourism.

Take this, for example:

Thon also presented evidence including aerial pictures of Pi Le Bay on Krabi's Phi Phi Le Island that showed corals reef there in 2002 had totally vanished by 2015. "This is total failure of natural conservation and sustainable tourism," he said.

The man is dead-on right. The same thing is happening across all the islands in Thailand.

And it is not only in Thailand, ...

[Bullie]

As long as the "nutrition-rich outpour" (read: faeces), straight from the hotels into the sea (200 meter pipe , max) continues, the reef will suffer. Having said that, the solution is simple, and does not need long deliberation: use the entrancefees, and tourist taxes to build proper sewageplants, rather then to let the money flow into the pockets of the undeserving.

[Suffinator]

A National Reform Council (NRC) member has offered five proposals to improve marine national parks, including the establishment of a Marine National Park Bureau and the setting up of a committee on marine national park strategies.

Unlikely to achieve anything more than installing more crooks.

So they have 'evidence' that uncontrolled tourism has caused massive damage to the ecology ... well that's been known for at least a decade and yet those people responsible for protecting it have taken bribes and ignored it.

The solution would be to investigate all those responsible for looking after the marine parks and anyone found with 'unusual wealth' should be thoroughly investigated and if found guilty of corruption have their assets stripped and sentenced to a minimum of 25 years in prison ... the solution is to find a solid deterrent not merely set up committees with people who can stick their snouts in the trough.

The last time I went diving in Thailand was over 8 years ago and it was all but dead then. Their own greed is killing the very thing they make money from but that's ok for in a Thais mind tomorrow never comes, it's all about today and now.

[rametindallas]

The first thing they need to reform, and all other reforms are useless without this reform, is to stop putting political appointees in any job that they really want done correctly. It's time to go to a meritocracy where only qualified people are put in charge of governance and enforcement. Stop hiring the wife's cousin's worthless son-in-law who can't take care of the wife's cousin's daughter except through a government appointment. They are worse than useless as they prevent someone who IS qualified from the post. Hire some young, eager, uncontaminated university graduates to monitor and enforce environmental laws without interference from above. It the powers-that-be don't begin with this reform, all other efforts are worthless and a waste of time and breath.

[h90]

quote "Evidence has shown that uncontrolled tourism has ruined the underwater ecology of the Andaman Sea, an academic forum on the maritime tourism crisis at Kasetsart University was told yesterday."

Utter, unbridled nonsense. The underwater ecology of the Andaman Sea (and the G.O.T.) has been ruined through destructive fishing practices over the past 7 decades - primarily push nets that trashed the sea grass beds and reefs, trawlers using undersize meshing at the cod-end, destruction of breeding and nursery sites such as mangrove forests and other practices that have nothing to do with foreign tourists. It might come as a surprise, but the owners of the largest fishing companies, and the ones doing the most environmental damage are owned by politicians and other "connected" peoples, which probably accounts for the official line of blame the tourists.

Tourism is mainly responsible for one of the worst kinds of pollution - noise pollution. But it's effects are not long lasted, nor particularly severe(unless you are a light sleeper).

Anchor in the corals and dragging the anchor is also destroying corals and it happens (Seen in Pattaya, which is of course not Andaman and it really isn't easy to find any remaining corrals to destroy).

Also it is said that suncream harms the corals.

Divers who trash corals is indeed a minor problem. Some parts of a coral broken off isn't a big harm.

Edit: Add: boats with the toilet direct flushing on top of the corals isn't good for them as well. As well putting all the left over food on top of them might be a problem if xxx boats do it every day.

Edited March 26, 2015 by h90

[seajae]

first thing they need to do is police the current laws, boats simply ignore the anchoring laws and run up onto the beach or as close as they can get, fisherman ignore the no fishing in marine parks laws and take what they want. Until they actually start to police the current laws what hope do they have, trying to blame it on tourists is a joke as it is the thais that are the ones organizing it all. Seems the thia way is to blame everyone else so they save face and of course the profits they are making from breaking the laws, time to actually cut the head off the snake and go after the ones at the top, once they are removed the rest will fall away.