The idyllic palm and the broad-leafed banana trees that carpet the hills of Phuket stretch out to serene blue waters along the Andaman Sea and Phang Nga Bay. Even despite a tourism and resort development boom during recent decades, many scenes of unspoiled jungle drama and oceanside beauty remain around Phuket.
But the clash between natural wonders and the urbanizing pressure of tourism development presents great challenges. As in the jungle, sneaky predators can earn a living off of unknowing tourists, however well-intentioned. Ultimately the price is often paid by the unique flora and fauna of Phuket -- the very natural attractions that have drawn tourists in such vast numbers.
Ecotourism, or environmentally sensitive tourism, seeks to minimize the impact of tourism on the local ecosystem. The aim is to make a profit, for sure, but to do it in a way that doesn't threaten the natural resources it exploits.
Ecotourism is often cited as the fastest-growing niche market in Phuket's tourism industry, but the only evidence is anecdotal. Statistics are hard to come by. Neither the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) nor the Phuket Ecotourism Association (PETA) calculate the total number of participants in ecotours or the amount of money they bring to Phuket each year.
"PETA can't tell the amount of money that tourists spend on ecotourism because we don't have the budget to do it," explains PETA Manager Kanchana Kwanrod. "PETA was established by the companies that offer ecotours. They joined together to help national parks to promote places to travel. As for income from ecotourism, we can't say exactly what income we get from it. Money from ecotourism goes through each national park. At first, PETA staff used to check the income of each national park and other places ecotours take the tourists every six months. But recently we don't have the budget to do that."
PETA does have one current measure of the growth of ecotourism. Khun Kanchana notes that 5 years ago the group had only 10 members. Now it boasts 40, and that doesn't include non-business ecotourism projects like those in Ao Por, Koh Yao Noi and Koh Lon, homestay projects that invite tourists to experience life in traditional villages. (See story on Koh Lon, p. 9) The list of members on PETA's website, however, shows a car rental concern, a biker bar and animal show theatrics -- not exactly Earth-considerate endeavours.
Suwalai Pinpradub of the TAT said that the agency's figures on Phuket tourism do not separate ecotourism from all other tourism income. Similarly, the TAT's budget doesn't specifically earmark monies for ecotourism projects.
Opinions differ on the definition, but The International Ecotourism Society (TIES) identifies ecotourism as "responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the welfare of local people."
Dave Williams of Paddle Asia organizes tours oriented around exploring southern Thailand's natural wonders in traditional canoes. In addition, he coordinates ecotours to Koh Yao Noi, an island in Phang Nga Bay populated by a traditional Muslim fishing community. For the homestay programme, the villagers on Koh Yao Noi offer tours that take in tourists to experience first-hand one of the traditional ways of life of southern Thailand. For Williams, ecotours should stick to strict environmentalist principles.
"Ecotours -- now that's about as vague a term as anything these days," he says. Everything from ATV tours to 4X4 rallies are labelled ecotours. The TAT certainly doesn't have a firm grasp on the concept nor do they punish companies that claim one thing but actually do another.
"Ecotourism is tourism with the maximum emphasis on limiting one's impact on the ecosystems visited," Williams says. "Burning carbohydrates instead of hydrocarbons should certainly be in the equation. Adding an educational aspect certainly can't hurt. Educating people to the plight of the natural world and the realities of important concepts such as global warming should be at least part of the focus for caring tour operators.
"The idea of sustainable development goes hand-in-hand with ecotourism as far as I'm concerned," he continues. "You can't have one without the other. Growth assumes the consumption of resources. Sustainable growth assumes you'll re-use resources or limit use to a level which will allow regeneration."
Many local operators do offer ecotours that fit even strict definitions of the term. Tourists looking into sea kayaking or exploring any portion of Phang Nga Bay often quickly come across John Grey's Sea Canoe. Grey's company has been setting the standard for ecotourism on Phuket for over 20 years.
Grey has won six major awards for his services. Yet, as he explains, "In most cases, the awards were merely a self-promotion exercise for the delivering committees who didn't even understand the ecotourism concept. Most award programmes invite companies to submit their own applications, a concept I find ethically derelict. Few, if any, judges ever actually experience the product."
Another great ecotourism project is located just north of Phuket in Khao Lak -- the Thai tourist destination hit hardest by the 2004 tsunami. Emerging from the crushing devastation is the Ecotourism Training Center (ETC). The centre's mission, "to provide quality training for Thai nationals who wish to be tour guides," is a great example of satisfying another component of ecotourism: empowering the local community.
Unlike most community based projects that rely on the support of donations, the ETC's non-profit operation has created a commercial side to the project. Sustainable Marine Adventures and Responsible Tourism (SMART) "is basically the financial self-sustaining arm for the ETC and will be started completely from scratch and from separate investment," says Reid Ridgeway, the centre's director. "Although they will be separate entities, they will be sister organizations both benefiting the other."
Ridgeway believes that the centre's efforts "will allow the local Thai people the chance to see their own undersea national parks for the first time and even to participate in the diving industry as stewards and protectors of their own national heritage."
If supported by tourists, an operation like that might be able to walk the fine line between being responsible and being profitable at the same time. Ridgeway added, "Many ETC graduates will find employment and career building paths in SMART, and dive consumers will get a chance to really help people and the environment by funding the training of local people in marine conservation."
Another well-known local ecotour operator also wins awards for environmental sensitivity. Kon-Tiki, a snorkeling and dive-tour operator with offices on Phuket and in Khao Lak, recently earned a "Project AWARE Environmental Award" from the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI). Project AWARE evolved from PADI to educate about and advocate for marine conservation issues.
Ecotours on and around Phuket include almost anything under the blistering sun. A responsible traveler can easily find ecotours listed outside tour-guide offices, on the Internet or in one of countless hotel brochures. From scuba diving to mountain biking, jungle trekking to sea kayaking, animal rehabilitation projects to authentic cultural entertainment shows, Phuket does not lack eco-activity. Even if tour operators advertise eco-friendly tours, however, they may still use practices that cause environmental problems.
Many snorkelling tours offer eco-friendly trips yet wrap hundreds of lunches in plastic and Styrofoam. Some encourage people to jump in the water before providing a little knowledge of how to care for the fragile coral that might sustain damage from swim fins. Many trekking operators advertise jungle safaris and wilderness treks, yet those who sign up for package tours are often transported to their destinations in rundown vehicles billowing black exhaust. Live-aboard diveboat operators imply protection of the Similan Islands because the national park there is closed for much of the year. One diveshop manager notes that the restriction is easy to work around.
"By bringing a bit of tea money for the park wardens, boats make trips to the islands outside the official season every year," he says. Authorities have promised to crack down on the practice at the end of the current season, he adds, but only time will tell whether the crackdown really happens.
The PETA's Kanchana says the group does track improper behaviour by ecotour operators. But it's up to the national parks to enforce regulations.
"We don't have any penalties for businesses that make false claims, but the companies that take the tourists to those places have to follow Thai law and national park regulations strictly," Kanchana says. "If the the company ignores the rules and doesn't follow them, the national park gives notice to the association. Examples of the rules are that they cannot feed animals in the national park and that they can not touch stalactites in caves, etc."
Paddle Asia's Williams laughs when asked about regulatory oversight of ecotours.
"I certainly don't see anyone patrolling the park to make sure that people aren't doing illegal activities in Phang Nga Bay National Park," he says. "In fact, in the 15-plus years that I've been going out in the bay I have never seen a patrol boat ever.
"I've reported slash-and-burn fires to the authorities a few times," he adds. "I've reported illegal constructions happening on park property. I hear chainsaws all the time around Koh Khlui and Koh Chong Lat. I've seen jetskis (a.k.a. aquatic chainsaws) in the bay several times -- that's illegal, by the way. The number of two-stroke engine speedboats in the bay has skyrocketed over this current year. They're taking lazy tourists to beaches that were previously available only to those who earned the visit by paddling. Unfortunately, the bay is on a crash course, and the government doesn't seem to be on top of the problem. The governor and the few Thais who actually understand the problem are not armed to battle the organized criminal activities."
Unethical operators claim to follow eco-friendly policies but don't follow through on their promises -- a practice in the industry known as "greenwashing". "These trends reflect the watering down of the true meaning of ecotourism -- a movement from real ecotourism toward ecotourism lite," writes Mike Merg of Untamed Path, a California-based ecotour operator.
Operators aren't the only power brokers in the ecotourism industry. As the Thai Ecotourism and Adventure Travel Association (TEATA) points out on its website, "Ecotourism or conservation tourism can be sustainable only when various agencies relating to tourism are involved." These agencies include government officials who watch over private operators. Local citizens and foreigners alike should be involved.
Tourists and non-Thai residents can't do much to lobby governmental officials such as the TAT and the Royal Forest Department. However, people concerned about the environment are not helpless to improve the local situation.
Paddle Asia's website urges people to "complain politely" when they witness or become aware of greenwashing practices committed for the benefit of supposed ecotour operators. A complaint in Thailand often causes a "loss of face" or what in Western terms might refer to as a heightened sense of embarrassment. If conducted in the same way as in Europe or North America, a complaint will likely fall on deaf ears, which can lead to counter-productive results.
But, Paddle Asia notes, if the authorities don't hear about environmental and cultural degradation, "officials won't do anything". The group's website also says that when making a complaint a person should "Put yourself in your audience's shoes. How would you like it if someone from another country came over to your country and ordered you to change this and clean up that? Would you do it? Most likely you'd be offended. Screaming and stomping your feet won't get you any respect in Southeast Asia, and it certainly won't get anything accomplished."
The website continues, "Helpful suggestions work. Instead of saying something like, ‘Hey, there's too much trash on this beach. Don't you have any pride?' Change it to something like, ‘There's a lot of trash on this beach. A lot of tourists don't like to see this sort of thing. They might not come back unless this is cleaned up a bit. I'll help you clean it up if you like.'"
Ecotourism can only be beneficial when the consumer is proactive. This doesn't involve much effort on a holiday-maker's behalf, and it will more than likely benefit the consumer upon a return to Phuket.
Those who are concerned about the well-being of Phuket's fragile ecosystems need only lead by example. By asking the right questions before paying for a tour, eco-friendly tourists not only become savvy participants but they also support those operators doing the right thing. This way the money is deposited into hands of greener industry rather than those who wish to wash their hands of responsibility.


Witchureerat Kunprom and Robert Pratt also contributed to this story.