new frontiers

Briefing on Tourism, Development and Environment Issues

in the Mekong Subregion

PROSPECT OF 'GLOBAL WAR' SPOOKS ASIAN TOURISM

[Various press reports; WTTC-Press Release: 2.10.01] - MASS cancellations by travellers over the 11 September attacks in the United States and the prospect of a global war may have the international tourism industry headed for its worst crisis ever. Tourism experts around the world are already describing the situation as "catastrophic", according to an Associated Press report. They fear the crisis could surpass their worst previous blow, the Gulf War 10 years ago, when growth in global tourism revenues plummeted from 21.5 per cent in 1990 to just 3.2 per cent in 1991. Other industry voices say the future of the tourism industry will be determined by the Unites States' "all-fronts campaign" that may last for several years.

   In a recent statement, the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) has denied reports, which forecast a 30 per cent decrease in global travel and the loss of 26.4 million tourism-related jobs, and claimed travel demand will slowly brighten as consumer confidence about safety and security recovers. Based on a standardized hypothetical case scenario of only 10 per cent decrease in travel and tourism demand, the WTTC reported the following possible impact on gross domestic product (GDP) and employment:

·          European Union - decrease of 1.9 per cent of GDP and loss of 1.2 million jobs;

·          United States - decrease of 1.8 per cent of GDP and loss of 1.1 million jobs;

·          World - decrease of 1.7 per cent and loss of 8.8 million jobs.

   Following the plunges from the 1991 Gulf crisis, the 1997 Asian financial crash and the recent global economic downturn, Asia's tourism and travel industry many now face even tougher times. Airlines, tour operator, car rental, cruise ship, convention centre and hotel bookings have dropped dramatically since 11 September, putting the future of businesses and workers at stake.

   Malaysia's tourism minister, Abdul Kadir Sheikh Fadzir, who chaired the 2^nd Islamic Conference of Tourism Ministers held in Kuala Lumpur in October, pointed out that the September events had created an "unnecessary environment of tension and crisis" and hit tourism. Francesco Frangialli, the World Tourism Organization (WTO) secretary general, who attended the meeting, said the Islamic world was most affected: Tourism to some Muslim nations had dropped 60 to 70 per cent, compared to cancellations of bookings around the world between 20 and 30 per cent.

   Malaysian hotels are experiencing great losses as business people and tourists are putting off their travel plans. "We were supposed to get a large number of Japanese and German business people during [September] but they have cancelled their trips," said the general manager of a five-star hotel in Kuala Lumpur. "We have not fully recovered from the Asian financial crisis. This is another unexpected blow."

   In Indonesia, one of the largest Muslim nations in the world, the tourism sector has collapsed due to the increase of violence since the September attacks and US military actions in Afghanistan. In the last week of September, militant groups checked hotels and the airport in Solo for US citizens and distributed leaflets warning: "If Afghanistan is attacked, people from America and its allies should leave Solo." In the following days, police in Jakarta disclosed an evacuation plan for foreigners in Indonesia in case the security situation should worsen amidst growing anti-American mass protests all over the country.

   Philippine Tourism Secretary Richard Gordon also confirmed a tourism decrease in his country, which just adds to the woes of an industry struggling to recover from tourist kidnappings by Abu Sayyaf, a Muslim rebel group operating in the South of the Philippines.

   In Thailand, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) announced two days after the US attacks that the total tourism revenue may drop from a projected US$7 to just US$6 billion this year, because of decreased arrivals. In a worst case scenario, said TAT governor Pradech Phayakvichien, tourist arrivals could fall to 8.3 million, compared with 9.5 million last year. The TAT had previously suggested that total tourist arrivals would reach 10.3 million.  Thailand's popular destinations such as Phuket have seen tourist cancellations of 30 per cent in recent weeks.

   Cambodia, where tourist numbers in the first nine months of 2001 were up more than 30 per cent compared to last year, reported that arrivals fell 18 per cent in September. Visitors from the US and European Union, Cambodia's primary tourism markets, have been replaced by Chinese and Japanese visitors, said a tourism ministry official.

   Singapore's tourism sector has also experienced a sharp contraction, as the number of visitors from the Americas tumbled 18.1 per cent in September, and there were 21.9 per cent fewer arrivals from Japan, 23.2 per cent fewer from Taiwan and a 5.6 per cent decline in arrivals from India.

  As elsewhere in the world, the impact on Asian airlines, their customers and employees has been immediate and extremely harsh: sharply reduced demand for services, unprecedented delays and inconveniences at airport security checkpoints; and rapidly escalating costs. Cambodia's national carrier Royal Air Cambodge (RAC) - a government joint venture with Malaysia's Helicopter Services Bhd - suspended all operations on 16 October. The September events gave RAC the final blow, after the company had reportedly run up losses of US$30 million since 1994. Malaysia Airlines and Myanmar Airways (Burma) have significantly trimmed back their flight schedules on international routes. Singapore Airlines has announced hefty pay cuts for their staff. Despite higher fuel and insurance costs, Thai Airways plans to cut ticket prices and offer discounts on Thai hotels in a bid to attract more customers. Several airlines in the region are considering job cuts, but concrete figures have yet to be released.  

OFFICIALS SCRAMBLE TO TURN MEKONG NATIONS INTO ONE DESTINATION

[The Nation: 23.8.01; Bangkok Post: 25.10.01] - AT a meeting in Bangkok last August, national tourism organizations (NTO) of Burma, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam agreed in principle to promote tourist attractions along the so-called "East-West Economic Corridor". The zone will cover the area between Mawlamyine and Myawaddy in Burma; Mae Sot, Tak, Phitsanulok, Khon Kaen, Kalasin and Mukdawan in Thailand; Savannakhet in Laos; and Quang Tri, Thua Thien Hue and Da Nang in Vietnam. Cambodia's Angkor Wat will also be included in the promotional programme, though it is not located on the route.

   The corridor programme is strongly supported by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), which provides major funding for infrastructure works in the area and wants to boost tourism as part of its regional economic growth strategy. The East-West economic corridor is rich in natural, cultural and historical resources and has enormous potential for tourist development, an ADB report said.

   The dream of "seamless tourism" in the Mekong region took a step closer to reality when NTO representatives and key private sectors from Laos, Thailand and Vietnam met in Danang, Vietnam, in October to discuss and share ideas to shape development policies on overland tourism.

     The delegations from the three countries agreed to jointly carry out tourism promotion through a campaign called "Three countries - a single destination". The aim was to focus on promotion and marketing for overland package tours. Advertising materials would be designed and distributed.

    Such marketing plans follow the campaign launched earlier between Thailand and Cambodia to promote two countries as one destination. Familiarization trips and study tours for journalists, travel agents and investors from potential tourism markets would be organized on a co-sponsoring basis between the three countries. The meeting also agreed the three countries would solve existing problems, simplify entry and exit formalities and customs procedures at land border checkpoints of the three countries.

   Motor rallies and caravans are high on the agenda to promote overland tourism in the Mekong region, and an increasing number of travel agents are offering caravan tour packages. Since 1999, over 1,300 caravan tourists travelled through Vietnam with 409 vehicles.

   "This [three-countries overland tourism] co-operation would play a big role in developing the tourism industry. As infrastructure development goes on, tourist arrivals will also increase. We expect mass tourism in this region,'' said Duang Xuan Hoi, deputy director of the tourism branch of the Vietnam National Administration.

   Officials said many roads link the three countries and all are in acceptable condition except Highway 9 in Laos. Both Thailand and Vietnam were pushing Laos to complete the reparation work as soon as possible to enable overland tours. Highway 9, which starts from Sawannakhet and leads to the Vietnam border at Lao Bao checkpoint, is included in the East-West Economic Corridor Project that will improve links between Burma, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam. Khom Duangchantha, deputy director of international relations division of the NTO of Laos, said the ADB-financed road improvement project would be finished by 2003, and Laos was considering the promotion of tourist attractions along the route.    

PREPARATIONS FOR 2003 ASEAN TRAVEL FORUM

[Phnom Penh Daily: 10.9.01] - CAMBODIA's tourism minister Veng Sereyvuth envisages the Phnom Penh riverfront along the Mekong to become the number one tourist attraction here in the years ahead. The ministry, in cooperation with City Hall, is planning a convention centre on the Chroy Changwa peninsular on the confluence of the Mekong and Tonle Sap.

   The centre is to be ready in time for the ASEAN Travel Forum being hosted by Cambodia in 2003. At least two other international class resort hotels are being planned on the Mekong bank. Sereyvuth made these comments while launching a refurbished part of Hotel Cambodiana, the city’s first international class luxury hotel. He called on the private sector to speed up the development of the riverfront.

   Cambodiana’s Resident Manager, Supachai Pooleiam said the hotel was gradually upgrading its facilities and services to meet the increased number of business and tourist guests. At the same time, it was also promoting the hotel to locals for entertainment and recreation.  

FRENCH INVESTMENTS IN INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS

[Phnom Penh Daily: 13.9.01] - A FRENCH company has clinched a deal with the Cambodian government to develop the international airport at Siem Reap. Prime Minister Hun Sen recently named Groupe Vinci as the developer while opening the much delayed and scaled down first phase of Pochentong International Aiport in Phnom Penh. The new terminal, to accommodate 160 passengers at a time, is connected to three air-bridges and has improved runway facilities. Total cost is US$38 million, including a French government grant of US$20 million. A consortium led by Societe Concessionnaire de l’Aeroport, a Vinci subsidiary, is behind the Pochentong project.

   "This new airport will become a symbol of friendship and long-term cooperation between the Kingdom of Cambodia and France," said Hun Sen during the joint opening with the French Transport and Housing Minister, Jean-Claude Gayssot. The prime minister said that with tourism expected to increase annually by 30 per cent, there was a need for a review of policies and programmes to cater for the new needs. He urged the Secretariat for Civil Aviation to prepare a draft on the provision of aviation infrastructure and the development of human resources to manage these.

   Hun Sen said that tourism would play a major role in the government’s socio-economic development programme as it would eradicate poverty through the injection of funds into the kingdom. But he said the government, because of its limitations, was depending on the private sector to implement policies and programme.

   Gayssot also visited the headquarters of the Royal Cambodian Railway (RCR), which is seeking between US$23 and US$30 million from France for modernization. Briefing the minister, Pheak Kovoeunmony said that the railway, originally built by France in 1829, had not improved due to years of conflict.

   The line from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville and Poipet still managed to keep afloat, last year carrying 338,000 tonnes of cargo and earning half a million dollars in revenue. Kovoeunmony said upgrading the system would attract more leisure travellers, in addition to budget locals, and provide a good service to meet the needs of a developing agriculture sector.

   The French government had provided technical assistance to the railway following the Paris peace agreements. The RCR is also looking towards better times with the inclusion of Cambodia in the plan for a Pan-ASEAN line between Singapore and the southern Chinese province of Yunnan.  

MONKS BARRED AS 'TOURISM WORKERS'

[The Nation: 12.9.01] - BUDDHIST Monks were banned from guiding tourists around Cambodia's famed Angkor temples following complaints by local tourist companies and foreign tourists accusing the holy men of harassment, police said.

   The chief of monks in Siem Reap province banned 20 to 30 monks from acting as guides at the temples after police relayed the complaints. "The monk disturbs [foreign tourists] by following them, explaining things to them, and asking them for money," said Tan Chay, chief of police in charge of protecting the Angkor temples and artefacts. "Some foreign tourists are not happy with this."

   The police reported the complaints to the tourism minister after the monks became angry when officers confronted them. The tourism minister then issued a recommendation to the APSARA authority that manages the temples, requesting that the chief of monks takes action. Matters concerning monks are complicated by the fact that police and other villagers are forbidden to issue bans or disciplinary action. Issues concerning monks  must be dealt with solely by the chief monk.

   Buddhist monks are still allowed to visit the temples if they do not act as guides, take photographs with women, or pose with tourists who do not want the monks to be in the photographs, said police.  

BACKPACKERS DISCOVER OPIUM CHIC

The following are excerpts from an article by Karl Taro Greenfeld entitled 'Pipe Dreams' [Time magazine: 30.7.01].

LAOS' linguistic legacy to the rest of the world comprises just one word: bong. Commonly used in the West to describe a water pipe for marijuana smoking, the word means bamboo in Lao and is indicative of what the country has come to represent to many of the youthful, Western travellers who have made this Indo-Chinese nation of five million a haven for narco-tourists seeking the Asian high life. At any given moment in Vang Viang, a town of about 20,000, at least 50 foreigners are here mainly to partake of the opium scene, and another 100 stick around because potent, green, budded marijuana sells for US$1 an ounce. Both drugs are illegal in Laos, though the laws are loosely enforced.

   The majority of the more than 300,000 tourists to Laos per year come to cruise the scenic Mekong River, visit World Heritage Site Luang Prabang or explore the mysterious Plain of Jars. But increasingly, they are drawn because they have heard, from other kids in the Asian travel circuit, that drugs in Laos are plentiful and cheap, and as long as you don't do anything stupid, the cops leave you alone to get loaded in peace.

   Towns such as Vang Viang and Muang Sing, in the north, have developed expat communities of late teens and twenty-somethings who come intending to stay a day or two but then find they are unable to leave. What kids are finding so hard to abandon is the lifestyle of limitless freedom and cheap, plentiful drugs. "You can do anything you want here," says David Constantine, 22, an Italian from a Milanese suburb. "Go hiking in the hills, explore a cave, have a few pipes, smoke dope in your room all day. Whatever."

   For Vang Viang, that has meant a leap in the number of guesthouses from three in 1999 to more than 35 today. No one tracks the exact number of tourists coming through town each season, but the village chief, Phet Hinthapatha, estimates the increase is something like 100 per cent a year. He believes the foreigners are having a positive impact in a town that as late as 1998 was getting no tourists. "Look at all the stuff we can sell them," says the chief. "Food, skirts, backpacks, toilet paper, even strange things." He cites the example of travellers purchasing monkeys made from coconut shells.

   "The more guesthouses we open," he says, "the more money we make, and the more of our people learn English, and that's good for our village." When it is suggested that tourists are coming here in part because they can get very stoned very easily, he shakes his head, sternly intoning: "There is no opium in this village."

   Across the street from the village chief's house, however, in a little bar where two Vietnamese men sit drinking bottled Bia Lao beer, there is plenty of opium. Several foreigners are already in the backroom den, crashed out on dank mattresses having puffed their way through half a dozen pipes each.

   For the thousands of tourists who come to Laos and indulge in a bit of Oriental opium, there is little risk. But opium is a brutally addictive substance, and withdrawal from the drug is chemically identical with heroin withdrawal. The process has been described as "bone-crushingly painful". Harmless as a few pipe loads in exotic Laos may seem, too many visits to the O-man, coupled with genetic disposition to substance abuse, can leave travellers with a nascent addiction that can cause problems once they return to Toronto or Tokyo - where opium is scarce but heroin is readily available.

   Guidebooks stress that narco-tourists are directly supporting local addicts and contributing to social and cultural problems. But that won't discourage a curious American or Canadian or Japanese.  

RUSH FOR ECOTOURISM CONTINUES

[Bangkok Post: 24.9.01; The Nation: 7.10.01; 23.10.01] - THE Forestry Department has recently renewed its proposal for the development of new hotels in national parks. Its director-general, Plodprasop Suraswadee, said, "We want to invest Bt200-300 million [US$4.4-6.6 million] in each of the selected national parks to provide quality accommodation for visitors."

   The establishment of more hotel-quality lodging facilities at Khao Yai and other parks popular with tourists - such as Phi Phi Island, Tarutao Island, Samet Island and those in Kanchanaburi province - is under consideration. And once these are completed, the department will lease them to private operators on an annual basis. The department would seek to amend the laws and regulations to highlight tourism as an important activity, said Plodprasop.

   Over the last three years, entrance fees for parks were hiked several times, and recently the forestry department announced another hefty fee increase for foreign tourists, effective from middle of October. Plodprasop said: "We have to adjust the fee because of the additional work entailed in managing the growing numbers of tourists."

   In an interview with Bangkok Post's 'Wild Society' columnist, Plodprasop gave details on where the collected fee money goes. He admitted that only five per cent of a park's revenue is allocated for local communities around the parks through their sub-district administrations, while 10 per cent is set aside for the park chief to use during emergencies, "such as in cases of flat tyres and clogged toilets". The bulk of the money, namely 50 per cent, is to be used for tourism-related development projects. However, the money is kept at the department's headquarters in Bangkok, and park chiefs must have their projects approved by a committee, which is chaired by the director-general. The rest of revenue, 35 per cent, is also collected by the headquarters and set aside for use by parks, which are not able to attract enough paying tourists, and need money to initiate development projects.

   So those who pay entrance fees should not believe that their money is spent on the protection and conservation of the parks they visit. Plodprasop confirmed, "this [revenue] is used only for tourism."

   Meanwhile, the Agricultural Extension Department also promotes more ecotourism activities in the country by developing key farming areas as part of its income-generating programme. According to the plan, some 54 locations in 49 provinces are targeted for agro-tourism development in the 2002 fiscal year alone.

   "The project will directly create more income for farmers in the areas, both from selling local products and services," claimed Thongchart, deputy diretor-general of the department. It is expected that some 480,000 tourists would participate in the new agro-tourism programme, which would generate income of at least US$2.9 million per year. "This is part of the sustainable tourism development plan for farmers," Thongchart added.  

MEGA-PLANS FOR TOURISM BRING WORRIES

The following is edited from an article by Chayanit Poonyarat of the

International Press Service (IPS: 3.9.01]

   Tourism has been the latest in a string of areas that the government has been studying to introduce ways to boost flagging exports and bring more funds into the country, which is still recovering from the 1997 economic crisis.

   In recent months, it has looked at reversing a logging ban imposed in the late eighties after parts of Thailand suffered devastating floods and mudslides. The government is also considering lifting a 1998 ban on inland prawn farming, a ban put in place after the practice destroyed 800,000 hectares of mangroves.

   In the search for foreign earnings, it is turning what appears to be a similar eye to tourism. ''Indeed, all developments - tourism, shrimp farming and logging - have something in common. You can call them 'slash-and-burn' industries,'' said Anita Pleumarom of the Tourism Investigation & Monitoring Team.

   New plans for tourism involve talk to transform Koh Samui, an island in southern Thailand that is a popular tourist destination, into a ''truly world-class destination''. A late July meeting by the Cabinet of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra marked the first such high-level ministerial workshop to plan the future development of the island's primary economic source of income.

   ''Samui will be a centre for tourism in this area,'' said Pongpol Adireksarn, deputy prime minister and chairman of the National Tourism Promotion and Development Committee. Koh Samui is a 47 sq km island in the Gulf of Thailand. It is a major attraction of Surat Thani, a southern province located 644 km from Bangkok. The island has 38,000 local people - and gets 860,000 visitors each year. This brings in tourism revenues of US$200 million

   After decades of booming tourism, Thailand remains at the forefront of the industry in South-east Asia. More than 10 million tourists visit Thailand annually, and this is estimated to increase by 10.8 million this year and 11.13 million in 2002.

 Though Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) says the number of tourists visiting Koh Samui will be limited to 950,000 a year so it does not exceed the island's carrying capacity, it says anyway that it would look into expanding port facilities to have a heavier trip schedule.

   ''We will enlist the support of private stakeholders to gradually build a new brand, 'Luxury Beach Resort', for Samui, which will be used to promote it in major markets,'' said TAT governor Pradech Phayakvichien. Special loans will be given to ferry operators to upgrade the standard of piers and ferries, roads will be increased to help de-congest traffic around beaches. A marina and local cultural centre is being planned and ways to link tourism packages with nearby Malaysia and Singapore are also being studied. The development plan would be later extended to other islands like Koh Tao, Koh Nangyuan, Koh Phangan and port facilities at Surat Thani, collectively named Greater Samui.

   But activists are urging the government to make haste slowly, not least because many Thai communities know all too well the price of over-development of tourism and its social and environmental toll. ''The plan inevitably means more development with the effect that a certain type of tourist will move to other 'unspoilt' destinations, showing that the self-destructive tourism cycle that has started in Thailand some three decades ago just does not come to an end,'' Pleumarom said in an interview.

   As it is, Koh Samui is grappling with major problems like transportation, traffic around the island, city planning, pollution and the development of local souvenir products. Many case studies show that the economic benefits from tourism have been highly overrated, and there is simply not enough money for the conservation of natural and cultural heritage and the improvement of public services.

   ''Ironically, to set up such tourism projects and to establish the necessary infrastructure to service tourists, more and more foreign loans are needed, which just add to the already overwhelming financial burden of countries,'' Pleumarom added. Today, Thailand's public debt stands at US$60 billion U.S. dollars, equivalent to 57 per cent of its Gross Domestic Product.

   There are plenty of lessons about the social and environmental problems of tourism: Pattaya just a bit south of Bangkok is the best example, while Patong beach in Phuket in the south, and Hua Hin beach in Prachuab Kiri Khan province three hours' drive from the capital, are fast joining the list as well. There are no more beaches in Thailand today that have escaped the tourism onslaught, experts say. Often, similar destructive patterns take place - coastlines full of garbage and pollution with an excessive number of commercial buildings, hotels, restaurants and shops. Land and goods prices shoot up to unrealistic levels.

   The TAT southern office recently received letters from tourists complaining about the Phi Phi islands [which are part of a national park], saying the area is overcrowded and very dirty. They suggested that the government control the number of tourists who go there. Local press reports say that if tourism authorities surveyed tourists, they are likely to find that many today are disappointed with domestic attractions compared to the past because authenticity has often been undermined for quick profits.

   ''To mitigate the many serious social and environmental tourism problems, the government should concentrate on improving the situation in deteriorating tourist centres in the first place, rather than opening up more and more new areas for the industry," explained Pleumarom. ''The logging ban, the ban on inland shrimp farming and national park laws to protect nature from a tourism onslaught are nowadays meaningless as the prevalent argument is that tourism, shrimps and timber are lucrative export products.''  The thinking appears to be that ''everything must be done to bring in necessary foreign exchange for economic recovery," Pleumarom added.

   Some say it is time for a review of development aims and thrusts. ''We all know that bringing in huge dollars at the moment is compulsory for Thailand, but should we take short-term economic gain at the expense of long-term ecological and social stability always?'' asked 24-year-old private employee Yaowalak Potpanlert.

   The government under Thaksin and his Thai Rak Thai party majority seems trying to keep its promise of 'think new, act new' in its eight months in office, but many are saying that perhaps newer does not always mean better. 

ENVIRONMENTALISTS STOP MOTOR RALLY IN WILDLIFE SANCTUARY

[Bangkok Post: 24.8.01; 26.8.01; 23.10.01; Thai Rath (in Thai): 26.8.01] - THE Western Forest Complex, where Huay Kha Khaeng is located, is the largest contiguous forest left in the country with great biological diversity. That's why Huay Kha Khaeng and Thung Yai Naresuan wildlife sanctuaries were chosen as a World Heritage site. However, its world-class status has turned it into a forbidden fruit that everyone desires to taste. Poachers want its wildlife; loggers want its trees; agro-businesses and tourism investors want its land; and irrigation engineers see a good site for dams.

   The latest row between conservationists and forestry officials had to do with the Forestry Department's attempt to raise the profile of its "wildlife conservation" programme. The programme breeds and raises endangered species in captivity with the aim of returning them to the wild.

   To celebrate its success, the department planned a series of off-road car rallies to take near-extinct wild ducks for release at Huay Kha Khaeng in Uthai Thani and Phu Khiew wildlife sanctuary in Chaiyaphum. Last August, the Intermedia Consultant company, an off-road instruction school, organized the first trip in cooperation with the forestry department to help raise funds for the ducks project. Other donors of the motor rally for "conservation" included BMW, Ford, Mazda, and the Petroleum Authority of Thailand.

   Environmental groups, including the Sueb Nakhasathien Foundation, Kanchanaburi Conservation Group, and Wildlife Fund Thailand, demanded the department revise its plans. The rallies would damage the fragile ecosystem of the sanctuary and also set a bad precedent. Rataya Junthian, a Seub Foundation adviser, said it was inevitable that such a large caravan would disrupt the sanctuary.

   On 25 August, local residents and environmental activists stopped the caravan, comprising 20 luxury 4X4 off-road vehicles, at the fringe of the wildlife sanctuary and forced the group to continue their mission in vehicles provided by the forestry department. Plodprasop Suraswadee, the chief of the forestry department, and about 100 other forestry officials were among the travellers in the caravan.

Protesters, who gathered at the entrance of the sanctuary, said they could not let the caravan pass because it would affect nature and wildlife. "If a large number of vehicles are allowed to go into a sensitive area, they will inevitably disturb wild animals,'' said Prakob Inchuphong, a member of an environmental preservation group from Nakhon Sawan.

   In view of the protest, Grand Prix International, another company promoting off-road driving, scrapped the second car rally to Huay Kha Khaeng wildlife sanctuary, scheduled for 14 October, to re-introduce more of the ducks to the wild. A company official said Grand Prix did not want to risk its reputation with the programme, which was strongly opposed by environmentalists.

   "In next re-introduction activities, the [forestry] department would consult more with environmentalists and local people who were concerned about the western forest,'' said Chawan Thanhikorn, head of the department's natural resources conservation office.

   Prakob, a spokesperson for the protesting environmentalists, said he was relieved Grand Prix withdrew and the remaining planned activities were cancelled. He added the company was infamous for having frequently organized off-road activities in protected forests. "In 1997, Grand Prix's off-road members planned to drive through Mae Wong national park in Nakhon Sawan. Local activists and the off-road participants had a small fight, but, finally they agreed to stop at the edge of the national park."

   Sukanda Praphatphong, of Intermedia Consultant, who organized the previous rally, insisted off-road activities did not disturb the ecology. But, if no compromise could be reached with the environmentalists, the firm was ready to give up its plans completely, she said.  

GOLF COURSE OPERATORS WANT STATE HELP   

[Bangkok Post: 8.10.01; The Nation: 17.10.01] - THAILAND was once considered a haven for golfers from around the world lured by attractive courses, low fees, good accommodation and excellent services. But now, at least a quarter of the country's 200 or so courses are struggling to survive. Like many other businesses, they have been hit by the recession, with revenue from service charges falling as well as membership subscriptions.

   Golf club memberships used to be seen as an investment, like shares, with the rights bought and sold amid keen competition for those at prestigious courses. During the economic boom, memberships were traded by speculators who had little interest in the game.

   To revive the business, the Thai Golf Course Association (TGCA) has asked the government for help. Association president Varin Pulsirivong urged the Tourism Authority of Thailand to organize tours for foreign golfers.    The TAT recorded only 350,000 foreign golf tourists, four per cent of all foreign tourist arrivals in 1999. No figure for last year is available.

   Mr Varin said the TAT should promote the ailing golf courses, mostly situated in the Northeast, rather than promote courses on Phuket Island or coastal provinces that already attracted large numbers of golf tourists. The TGCA asked the TAT to help organize a roadshow abroad. The TAT agreed to set up a joint working group and planned the first trip to the United Kingdom in November. However, the trip is likely to be postponed because of the September attacks on the United States.

   Mr Varin further suggested the government help struggling courses meet maintenance costs of about US$22,200 a month until business recovered.

   Developers of many courses could not finish their projects as their creditors refused to provide more loans. Some converted their projects to housing estates while others sold part of their land.

   Laws classifying golf courses as "entertainment'' venues have also upset the TGCA and the Thai Golf Association, which together recently filed a suit against Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and Finance Minister Somkid Jatusripitak in the Administration Court, accusing them of breaching the 1984 Excise Tax Law and Constitution Act. The associations said that golf courses were included in the list of ``entertainment places'' under an annex to the law. Therefore course operators have to pay 10% excise tax based on green-fee income, lifting their total tax rate to 23.64 per cent. The two associations had petitioned the government for a review, claiming that golf courses were sports venues.

   One of the most stunning news in October was that Thailand's policemen would be banned from playing golf and ordered to try and solve crimes instead. The command came down from new National Police Chief General Sant Sarutanond, who warned that anyone caught swinging a club on the fairway would face disciplinary action. However, the prohibition does not cover senior police officials ranked deputy commissioner on up.

   Sant's action has come as another big blow to golf clubs, and may be one-third of the police force is affected by the ban. Golf's popularity has spread fast from upper police echelons down to sub-lieutenant level. It is no secret that many officers even trade their firearms for golf clubs to spend office hours teeing up, driving and putting.  

ADB LOANS FOR TOURISM INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS  

[Saigon Times Daily: 18.7.01; 26.9.01] - VIETNAM'S tourism infrastructure projects could not get access to preferential loans from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) because they are inconsistent and unclear, said an official of Vietnam National Administration for Tourism (VNAT). He was speaking at a recent seminar on ADB loans for tourism infrastructure projects in Bangkok, which was jointly organized by the Agency for Coordinating Mekong Tourism Activities (AMTA) and the ADB with the participation of Cambodia, Laos, China and Vietnam.

   Duong Xuan Hoi, deputy head of the tourism department under VNAT, said the bank refused to lend because most of the projects proposed were small and did not focus on tourism infrastructure development. The Vietnam mission recently briefed a seminar in Bangkok on some tourism infrastructure projects in the Mekong Delta provinces capitalized at US$40 million. However, the bank plans to provide preferential loans of only US$10-15 million for each country.

   The bank experts suggested Vietnam to focus on big-scale projects for provinces in the Mekong Delta. Hoi said the bank experts would visit Vietnam and instruct local project owners to prepare procedures to get preferential loans, which was scheduled for completion by end-2002 or early 2003.

   Vietnam plans to propose five projects for preferential loans by that time and ADB will choose three. These projects will be invested in Tien and Hau rivers provinces of Long Xuyen, Can Tho, Tien Giang and Vinh Long, Hoi said.

   In July, the Saigon Times Daily  quoted Vo Thi Thang, the head of the Vietnam National Administration as saying that the ADB had agreed to lend US$126.5 million to finance tourism-related infrastructure projects in Can Tho, which include the widening of the nearly 200-km Ca Mau-Can Tho section of National Highway 1A (US$20 million) and the widening and resurfacing of the 280-km highway linking Can Tho and Ha Tien (US$28 million). Other major works related to this project are the upgrade of facilities at Can Tho Airport (US$52 million), construction of Cai Ciu Port (US$10 million), urban and landscape renewal (US$500,000) and seaport facilities (US$5.6 million). 

'NATIONAL PARK' HIGHWAY ON TRACK

[The Nation: 30.10.01] - A PLAN to build a major road, the Ho Chi Minh Highway, through a national park in northern Vietnam has recently been given a preliminary go ahead. The National Evaluation Board voted 12 to 6 in favour of the plan, which has been debated for more than a year, said Nguyen Ba Thu, director of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (see also new frontiers 6[3])

   The plan still needs final approval by the government, but Thu said the chance that the government will reverse the decision is very small. "If the plan goes through, it would destroy the environment and biology of the Cuc Phuong National Park," said Thu.

   Vietnam started construction of the Highway last year using part of the war-era Ho Chi Minh Trail as a foundation. The first phase of the two-lane, 1,241-kilometer highway project is scheduled to be completed by 2003. It may take another 10 years to complete the second and third phases, which will widen the road to four lanes and extend it from the Chinese border in the north to the southernmost province of Ca Mau.

   The highway is expected to drastically change the lives of 28 million people along the route, most of them poor. 

PLANS TO SET UP ASEAN 'CULTURAL VILLAGE'

[The Star: 20.10.01] - Vietnam plans to set up an ASEAN Cultural Village incorporating its 54 minorities. Deputy Culture, Arts and Tourism Minister Datuk Dr Ng Yen Yen said Vietnam planned to start a national cultural village to showcase its culture and arts scene to its neighbours. She added that her Vietnamese counterpart, Deputy Culture and Information Minister Vo Hong Quang, was on a three-day working trip to organize discussions and share information on how to involve other ASEAN countries in the project.

   'This is one of five issues to be discussed here,' she told reporters at a press conference during a recent tourism meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. She said other issues included discussions on organizing a Vietnamese and Malaysian Cultural Week, and cultural visits to the national museums and theatres here. 'We also plan to arrange for cultural group exchange visits and to assist Vietnam in the preservation work of its historical relics, along with training of personnel in that area,' she added.

   Dr Ng said the ministry had signed a cultural memorandum of understanding with Vietnam in 1995 to exchange ideas and experience on the development of the culture and arts scene in both countries.   

MONKEY TROUBLE AT HALONG BAY

A rush to cash in on the natural riches of Vietnam's stunning Halong Bay is leading to grave environmental losses, not  least for one of the most endangered monkey, writes James Thompson [The Nation: 6.10.01]. The following is an edited version of his report.

Found only on Cat Ba Island, the largest of 1,600 in northern Vietnam's dazzling Halong Bay, the golden-headed langur is an endearingly impish creature with, as its name suggests, a blazing golden mane that extends to a pointed tuft on its own.

   Since the animals have fled to the remotest corners of the island, the chances of sighting the primate are slim at best. Rosi Stenke of the German-based Zoological Society for the Conservation of Species and Populations, puts the population at no more than 57. "We seem to have a population decline of about 50 per cent within a period of about a year and a half," she says.

   Indeed, the golden-headed langur looks set to be the most conspicuous victim of all-out push to turn Halong Bay into a tourist dynamo with Cat Ba Island as its hub. As part of an extensive infrastructure scheme, a road that dissects the island is to be widened and eventually linked by a bridge to the mainland. Harbours are to be constructed in pristine fjords and mangrove swamps ripped out to make way for artificial beaches.

   Cat Ba National Park, which covers more than half of the 140 sq km-island and is home to the precious limestone forest, is to be placed in the hands of local authorities, thereby nullifying its national status. The park's coral-rich marine buffer zone is to be removed to allow for commercial fishing. "All these factors will be destructive rather than constructive for Cat Ba island," says Stenke.

   One of the planned artificial beaches threatens to disturb one of the three remaining langur troupes' seasonal homes and provide easy access for hunters. What's more, the removal of the national park's buffer zone could have a similar effect on a troop on the island's opposite coast.

   The monkey's last chance of survival, insists Stenke, is the swift establishment of a tightly guarded international sanctuary on the island. But local government officials pay lip service to the island's ecological plight.

   "In my opinion, we should define, which areas of the national park can be and can't be used for building tourist facilities," says Pham Tri Tue, chairman of Cat Ba District People's Committee. "We should tap our potential in order to improve people's living conditions. We can't leave it untouched and the potential untapped."

   Ill-conceived it may be, but the plan for Cat Ba is consistent with a scramble to cash in on Halong Bay over the last decade. Despite acquiring prestigeous UNESCO World Heritage Status in 1994, the site's dreary winters and a lack of world class beaches have discouraged luxury resort developers. Instead, locals have scrambled to cater for burgeoning domestic tourists and Western backpackers, who pay as little as US$20 for three-day all-inclusive tours.

   Unsurprisingly, the Bay of the Descending Dragon, as its name translates, is losing its celestial lustre. Its turquoise waters - home, by UNESCO's count, to at least 1,000 species of fish - are daily ploughed by 200 or more pleasure boats, each leaving bobbing trails of litter and less visible flushes of effluent.

   In Cat Ba town, once a small fishing village and now a tourist base from which to take in the myriad limestone pillars of the bay, 60 hastily constructed hotels and countless restaurants have sprouted. A lack of civil planning means the craggy bay around which the town clings is the direct recipient of its entire untreated sewage and, it would appear, a great deal of its garbage.

   The filth is added to by a sprawling floating village of fishing boats, complete with petrol stations, restaurants, beer vendors and taxiing basket boats. Tourists' appetite for seafood has enticed fishing families from as far a field as the central provinces of Vietnam, some 1,500 kilometers away to profit from what is traditionally one of the country's least lucrative professions. Thirty-year-old Hung admits to casting illegal fine mesh nets that sweep up everything in their path. The inevitable result is severe over-fishing with once-common species such as lobster and grouper all but extinct in local waters. "There are less fish than a few years ago, but we now get better prices selling to restaurants and hotels," says Hung.

   As economic interests trump environmental concerns, one might expect the bay's UNESCO World Heritage Site Status - an accolade bestowed on the area for its diverse ecology as well as its stunning geography - to help redress the balance. However, observers of the site, each government appointees, are reluctant to discuss environmental implications of development in the bay. An arbitrary provincial border excludes Cat Ba Island from the site and the marine buffer zone of Cat Ba National Park, despite also falling into the buffer zone of the World Heritage Site, is beyond their jurisdiction, they say.