THAILAND - 'Harmful' tourism plans face scrutiny

Bangkokpost.com, October 26, 2006

Tourism development projects under the Designated Area for Sustainable Development (Dasta) would be revised as they tend to cause immense ecological impact in national parks across the country, the Natural Resources and Environment Minister Kasem Snidvongs said yesterday.

''The idea to turn protected forest into tourism sites is seriously wrong,'' Mr Kasem said, referring to Dasta's tourism development projects, most of which are located in national parks. Speaking at a meeting with around 20 environmental experts and green groups, the minister said revision of Dasta's projects was one of the priority tasks he planned to work on during his tenure. The Dasta, a public organisation established by the Thaksin Shinawatra administration in 2004, has pushed several controversial schemes, such as Koh Chang tourism development projects in Trat province and the Chiang Mai Night Safari. Mr Kasem also accepted for consideration the activists' proposal to transfer supervision of the 1.5-billion-baht Chiang Mai Night Safari to the government's Zoological Park Organisation (ZPO) for better management.

Surapon Duangkhae, secretary-general of the Wildlife Fund Thailand, urged the minister to look into the night safari project, which is plagued with corruption allegations and reports of poor animal welfare. Mr Surapon said transferring the zoo park to the ZPO would improve the project's transparency. In a petition to the minister, the environmentalists called on the minister to scrap projects initiated by the deposed Thai Rak Thai government that in their view would cause a severe environmental and social impact, including the water grid project, the seafood bank, elephant exports, and selling of high-grade timber grown in the Forestry Industry Organisation's forest plantation.

They also urged the minister to consider the impact of controversial bills, such as those concerning water resources and community forests, before sending them to cabinet and the National Legislative Assembly for consideration.

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