Phuket News Analysis
ANY attempt to have Phuket declared a UN World Heritage Site because of the beauty of its beaches would be laughable.
If World Heritage nomination is being seriously considered in Bangkok, then it's plain that the people involved must have read one too many tourist brochure.
The truth is that Phuket's beaches are being destroyed. Make no mistake: Greed is overwhelming green. Numbers are trampling nature.
One by one, existing popular spots have been overrun and the remaining relatively unspoiled beaches of Phuket are being plundered by local authorities and others who seek only to make a profit.
Phuket remains a destination where tourists can still enjoy a beach holiday. But those who want to holiday at a real beach are rapidly moving on to more remote parts of Thailand, or to other countries.
Phuket's beaches are not being protected. They are being privatised.
The fact that politicians in Bangkok do not know what's happening on Phuket is alarming. One of those who does know is Tunyaratt Achariyachai, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Tourism of the Senate, and wife of the owner of the Kata Group.
In a long interview with Phuketwan this week, she expressed her frustration at the lack of action to protect Phuket's beaches. The whole tourism industry, she says, is now hostage to so-called ''zero baht'' tourists.
It's happened before with Chinese and Korean tourists, and now it's happening all over again.
''Russian tourists have increased by 40 percent, but the money all goes to Russia,'' she says. ''The money is paid in Russia and the tourists go to gift shops owned by Russians and spas owned by Russians, and soon the resort accommodation will be owned by Russians.
''Don't be fooled by the number of tourists that are coming.''
The numbers, though, are trampling nature.
''These 'zero baht' visitors go diving, use Phuket's roads, produce plenty of garbage. And Phuket gets nothing in return,'' she said. ''When the Asean free trade agreement comes into being in 2015, there will be nothing to stop many countries from bringing their own guides.''
A Vietnamese group visited Phuket this week, with an eye for future investment. There will be many more visiting groups, looking for any advantage.
''If we don't prepare, we will lose everything,'' Khun Tunyaratt said. Yet the only sign of activity on Phuket is a short-sighted and destructive rush to grab as much of the beaches as possible, and all for private profit.''
Brand-name resorts are as anxious to get their slice of the action as local administrations.
''On Phuket, we don't have a central authority to sort these problems out,'' Khun Tunyaratt said. ''Local people are taking what they can. Who do we complain to? The police? The local authorities? The tourist police?''
As Khun Tunyaratt says: ''There is nobody to resolve this issue.''
Phuketwan believes that all of Phuket's beaches need to be placed under the control of a single authority, a new authority, before it's too late.
As every month passes, the ''beach grab'' grows worse. Within 18 months, it may be too late.
''The real problem for the future of tourism is not the strength of the Thai baht or the tsunami rumors,'' Khun Tunyaratt says. ''It's the greed of the local people.
''More and more characters are now engaged in a scramble for the beaches. They do it without thinking. They do it without a care for Phuket's overall future.
''People don't care about protecting the long-term value of the natural attributes of Phuket.
''People use it, they abuse it. They take, take, take. That's all they know, and all they care about.''
Khun Tunyaratt notes that the Swedes and the Germans who first discovered Phuket's natural beauty decades ago have all moved on.
The clock is ticking loudly now for Phuket.
Let the corrupt local authorities and their friends continue to control the beaches, and Phuket's future is as blank as a stretch of sand. A stretch of sand overcrowded with restaurants, loungers, vendors and beach clubs.
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So sad but true - there are even some small beaches next to the controlled ones, that are filled with broken glass bottles, to prevent people from staying there.
How can this madness be stopped?
Some responsible grown-ups should take care before the whole society of Phukets west coast is ruined, but who?
Posted by Hotel owner in Patong on January 16, 2011 14:23