ECOTOURISM RESOURCES AND MANAGEMENT IN THAILAND 1

By

Surachet Chettamart
Department of Conservation
Faculty of Forestry, Kasetsart University
Bangkok 10900, Thailand
E-mail: fforscc@ku.ac.th

INTRODUCTION
The Kingdom of Thailand is endowed with abundant tourism
resources, both natural and man-made. There have been nearly 320
units of natural parks and protected areas, 1060 historical and cultural
sites, and a countless number of urban and rural tourist destinations
across the country. The management institution of these resources is
relatively complex as it involves several pieces of legislation,
organizations, and different levels of co-ordination and participation
by various stakeholders. However, the resources and management
regime have together served well to the countrys tourism industry for
more than four decades.
As many practitioners and academics concurred that ecotourism is
nature-based (i.e. Ceballos-Lascurain, 1991; Boo,1990; The
Ecotourism Society, 1991; Buckley, 1995; Dowling, 1995; Forestry
Research Center, 1995), therefore, the context of ecotourism resources
for the discussion in this paper is intended to focus only on national
parks and other categories of protected areas in Thailand. In fact,
national parks and protected areas in any country are regarded as the
major component of ecotourism resources worldwide. Likewise, the
tourism resources management institution in Thailand will be
discussed accordingly.
The purpose of this paper is aimed to provide a brief overview of the
protected area system and its capability to support ecotourism
development in Thailand. A brief discussion on ecotourism
development and management in the protected areas will also be
treated.

A paper presented at Malaysia-Thailand Technology and Business Partnership

Dialogue, 27-28 July 2003, Langkawi, Malaysia

PROTECTED AREA SYSTEM AND ITS CATEGORIES

Thailands protected area system (PAS) was established in 1962 when
Khao Yai was designated as the countrys first national park
(Chettamart, 1985). Since then, the system has expanded continuously
to include 319 protected areas of various descriptions, covering
108,064 sq. km or over 21 per cent of the country land surface. It
comprises 145 national parks, both terrestrial and marine, 69 forest
parks, 53 wildlife sanctuaries, and 52 non-hunting areas (Table 1 and
Figure 1) (Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant, 2003).
These do not include the vast areas of watershed protection forest as
they often overlap with aforementioned protected areas and are not
possible to be differentiated as the individual units. The current PAS
also excludes a number of small protected areas such as wildlife
breeding centers, botanical gardens and arboreta, which also have
significant values for ecotourism development.
Table 1 Thailands protected area category, number of units and size of
coverage
Protected area
category
National Parks
(IUCN Category II)
- Terrestrial
- Marine

Number of
units

Size of coverage
(sq. km)

% of country
land area

145

68,928

13.46
12.05
1.41

119
26

Wildlife Sanctuaries
(IUCN Category Ia)

53

34,848

6.81

Non-hunting Areas
(IUCN Category VI)

52

3,408

0.67

Forest parks
(IUCN Category III)

69

880

0.17

Total

319

108,064

21.11

Note: The Table does not include Class I watershed Protection Forest (IUCN
Category Ib), Mangrove Forest Reserves (IUCN Category VI), and other
small protected areas.
Source: Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant, 2003.

Figure 1 Map of Thailands protected area system and its distribution

Source: Royal Forestry Department, undated.

DEFINITIONS AND VALUES OF PROTECTED AREAS

The different protected area categories in Thailand serve various
functions pending their enabling legislation, management objectives,
and ecosystem capability. The areas also vary in size, habitat type and
condition. They are not independent, but rather reinforcing to each
other in terms of conservation, utilization and management. The
followings are definition and objectives of each protected area
category.
National Parks
The National Park Act of 1961 states that a national park is Land to
include the surface of land in general, mountains, creeks and
waterways, marshes and swamps, lakes, basins, islands and
seashores When it is deemed appropriate to declare a land which
has natural features of high value but not owned or legally possessed
by any party other than public body, the government shall have the
power to prescribe a national park by a Royal Decree to preserve its
natural state for the benefit of public education and enjoyment
(Section 4 and 6, National Park Act, 1961)
The spirit of the National Park Act, in turn, enabled the responsible
agency to establish the principles and objectives for administering and
managing national parks since Khao Yai came into being. These are
as follows (Khomkris, 1965; Faculty of Forestry, 1987):
-

To preserve and maintain the ecosystem integrity,

biodiversity, and scenic beauty for use by the present and
future generations without compromising them;
To provide the general public as a ground for education and
research;
To provide the general public the opportunities for nature
tourism and recreation, which are compatible with the park
ecosystem and its carrying capacity.

In short, national parks are promulgated and managed for nature-based

tourism with the opportunities for learning by the public. However,
these activities must not jeopardize the park integrity or cause adverse
impact to the park ecosystem and its components. These management
principles are obviously in line with the concepts of ecotourism
development and management. From this view, national parks in
Thailand thus have tremendous potential to be developed and
managed for ecotourism.

As showed in Figure 1, national parks and other protected areas are

located spreading in all regions of the Kingdom. They, therefore,
cover all types of habitat found in the country, from hill evergreen
forest (upper and lower montane rain forests or cloud forest Santisuk,
1993) in the north and parts of the northeast to dry dipterocarp forests
in the same regions, from mixed deciduous forest in central Thailand
to dry and moist evergreen forests in the east and the south, and from
seashore and mangrove to islands or archipelago in the Gulf of
Thailand and Andaman Sea (Faculty of Forestry, 1987). Many types
and sizes of important wetlands are also found in several national
parks and protected areas (Office of Environmental Policy and
Planning, 1997).
Each of most parks contains one or more major types of
representative ecosystem found in the region. Each harbors
significant numbers of known fauna and flora of high values. It
also possesses unique or attractive natural features. Khao Yai
National Park, an ASEAN heritage site for example, is dominant
in its different ecosystem types and home to many species of
wildlife and plant to be considered under endangered, rare or
endemic status. More than 70 species of mammal are found in the
park with elephants (Elephas maximus), gaurs (Bos gaurus), and
sambar deers (Cervus unicolor) being so common. The park also
is home to over 300 species of native birds, of which all four
hornbill species are frequently sighted. In addition, there has been
over 100 km of walking trail system crisscrossing into the dense
evergreen forest and grassland for those who prefer pristine
nature and its solitude (Chettamart et al., 1986).
Doi Inthanon National Park is another example. The park is
spectacular in its scenic resource and the cloud forest with the
highest mountain peak in the Kingdom (approx. 2,560 MSL). The
park is regarded as the best in-land birding site in the country as
more than 370 species reside within the park throughout the year
(Chettamart et al., 1990). The park also is home to the hill-tribe
minorities whose culture and ways of life have become a part of
the parks ecosystem (Emphandhu, 1992; Dearden et al., 1996).
Besides, the year-round low average temperature has attracted
over a million visitors to the park (Department of National Parks,
Wildlife and Plant, 2003).
In the South, most coastal and marine protected areas are
strategically important to both conservation and development.

Such parks as Mu Ko Tarutao, Phi Phi, Ao Phang-Nga, Similan,

and Surin to name a few have many things in common, but the
most important one is the vast areas of marine component
(Chettamart and Emphandhu, 2002). Though each park has its
own administrative boundaries, their marine component are free
flow and function as one ecosystem. Each park contains many
important marine resources such as beaches, mangroves, coral
reefs, scenery, and hundreds of known marine species. Among
those, a number of species of high interest such as dugongs
(Dugong dugon), dolphins (Tursiops aduncus), whale sharks, sea
turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata, Chelonia mydas, Lepidochelys
divacea), and various tropical fishes is found in the parks.
Coupled with one of the best coral reefs found in the region,
particularly at Similan and Surin, the parks are so attractive to the
tourists, both domestic and foreign (Chettamart and Emphandhu,
2002).
In sum, the system of national parks in Thailand contains all
representative ecosystems appeared in the country with diverse
species of fauna and flora. They possess distinct natural features
of various interests. Therefore, Thailand national parks have very
high potential and capacity to be developed and managed for ecoand sustainable tourism. Taking into account of the mandate and
management objectives of national parks mentioned previously,
the Kingdom is in an excellent position to push ahead its effort to
develop ecotourism industry basing on the rich resources found
in its national parks.
Forest Parks
Khomkris (1965) defines a forest park as An area that contains
unique natural features or attractive scenery and is to provide the
public the opportunities to appreciate and enjoy in the various
forms of recreation activityIt is smaller in size and lesser
attractive as compared to a national park.
The responsible agency, based on its guiding legislationthe
National Reserved Forest Act of 1964, has thus established its
objectives to manage forest parks primarily for recreation
(Faculty of Forestry, 1987). The protection of natural features
and environment is a secondary objective, although most forest
parks are still containing valuable habitats and biodiversity,
especially wild plant species. Nevertheless, all 69 units of forest

parks have the potential to serve as the destination for ecotourism,

if they are developed and managed with having the sensitivity
and creativity. With such development and management, the
countrys forest parks not only can serve well for the tourists, but
help minimizing the stresses on national parks and their resources
as a result of high concentration of the tourists.
Wildlife Sanctuaries
The Wild Animals Reservation and Protection Act of 1960 or
WARPA (amended in 1992) states that a wildlife sanctuary is A
land to be set aside as the area for the protection and maintenance
of wildlife and their habitat by a Royal Decreethe land to be
designated as a wildlife sanctuary shall not be owned or legally
possessed according to the Land Code by any person other than a
public body. (Section 33, WARPA, 1960)
The responsible agency has established guiding principles and
specific objectives for administering and managing wildlife
sanctuaries as the followings (Office of Wildlife Conservation,
2003):
-

To safeguard and maintain the habitats for the wellbeing of wild animals, including shelters, foods,
breeding grounds, and other necessities in order for
those species to flourish in the pristine environment;
To protect the habitats from any development and
human activities that could disturb or cause ill-effects
to wild animals and their habitat;
To provide opportunities for the public to learn and
enjoy the areas with strict regulation and supervision.

In sum, wildlife sanctuaries are managed primarily for

safeguarding wild animals and their habitat. Any human activities
are normally prohibited, but the conservation education is
allowed in some certain sites with close oversight. In other words,
a small-scale ecotourism can be developed at the specific sites on
the perimeter of the sanctuaries, provided that a thorough study
and planning is done before hand.
In addition to their rich biological resources, several, if not all,
wildlife sanctuaries possess exceptional natural features just the
same level as found in national parks. Thus those can attract
some hard-core eco-tourists who wish to visit and enjoy the areas,

at the same time they might be willing to contribute to the cause

of conservation in any ways they can. The list of these
sanctuaries is long, but chiefly are Huay Kha Khaeng-Thung Yai
complex (the World Heritage site), Phu Khieo, Um Phang, Khao
Ang Rue Nai, Mae Tuen, and Tone Nga Chang.
Non-hunting Areas
The Office of Wildlife Conservation (2003) defines a nonhunting area is A public land to be set aside as the area for
preserving specific wild animals, native and migratory, as listed
in accordance with facts and prescribed by WARPA. Hunting of
the prescribed species is prohibited, but other human activities
are allowed.
The responsible agency has set its management objectives for
non-hunting areas as (Office of Wildlife Conservation, 2003):
-

To protect wild animal species as found in the areas

and prescribed by law to be free from hunting and
other means;
To safeguard the habitats as they are while other
human activities can continue as long as they are not in
conflict with species and habitat protection;
To provide opportunities for public education and
recreation.

It is obvious that the protection of certain wildlife species is the

primary objective for non-hunting areas. However, recreation or
nature tourism has also received attention from the management.
As a matter of facts, a majority of non-hunting areas in Thailand
is proclaimed over marshes, swamps, lakes and seashore, in turn,
they are serving as one of the best habitats for many wildlife
species. Both resident and migratory bird species are commonly
found in abundance over non-hunting areas. Thailand has as
many as 6 RAMSAR sites and all are non-hunting areas (Office
of Wildlife Conservation, 2002).
Although most non-hunting areas are relatively small in size, they
have high potential to attract certain ecotourism markets,
particularly bird watchers in Thailand and from Europe and
North America. And since wetlands have received more and
more attentions from the international public in their ecosystem
complexity and relationship to surrounding land uses and

communities, they eventually could become the viable sites for

ecotourism.
ECOTOURISM RESOURCES MANAGEMENT
Protected Area Agency and Management Structure
The Kingdoms protected area system is currently being
administered and managed by the Ministry of Natural Resources
and Environments Department of National Parks, Wildlife and
Plant (formerly Royal Forestry Dept. under the Ministry of
Agriculture and Cooperatives). The Department of National
Parks, Wildlife and Plant (DNP) comprises 3 major offices,
namely Offices of National Parks, Wildlife Conservation and
Watershed Conservation. Each office is assigned to manage
resources as its name implies and in accordance with existing
legislation. All the three offices are located at the Department
headquarters in Bangkok and report directly to the Director
General. It should be noted that under the Office of National
Parks there are administrative divisions dealing with recreation
and nature interpretation, visitor facility development, and natural
resources management, all of which are fundamental to nature
tourism/ecotourism development.
In addition to the offices mentioned above, there are 21 regional
offices to be officially named as Office of Protected Areas
Management located in various provincial towns. Each office is
mandated to coordinate with those offices in Bangkok, and to
assist in supervising management activities at the protected area
units under its responsibility (Royal Decree of 2003). However,
the regional offices are new to the protected area tasks and most
personnel have limited experience and skills for undertaking this
critical assignment. It definitely is a big challenge for them in
pursuing their responsibility and fulfilling the protected area
management objectives.
Protected Area Legislation and Regulation
Protected areas management in Thailand chiefly rests on three
existing laws, namely the National Park Act of 1961, Wild
Animals Preservation and Protection Act of 1992, and National
Reserved Forest Act of 1964. All this legislation can be said to

have been used to enforce and support management activities for

all protected area categories (Faculty of Forestry, 1987). They are
reinforced by several prescriptive regulation issued by the
Ministry. Thus, they are strong and effective in many respects,
particularly in resource protection. Since all the three laws were
enacted long before and often are not being able to keep up with
the changing situation, the agency can turn to the Enhancement
and Conservation of National Environmental Quality Act of 1992
and others for support its activities, if needed.
Since ecotourism is a relatively new phenomenon to Thailand,
therefore, there have not been official statements related to
ecotourism per se in any piece of legislation to date. However,
the National Park Act has provided guidance for managing all
parklands for recreation and nature education for over 40 years,
national parks thus can become a front-runner of all protected
area categories as the true ecotourism destinations. In addition,
Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), during the past ten years
or so, had labored its effort to promote and do several activities
related to ecotourism in the country, some of which will be
discussed in the following topics.
Ecotourism Policy in Protected Areas
Not much can be said about nature tourism/ecotourism policy in
the system of protected areas in Thailand as, in fact, there is none
exists in written form. Most tourism development in protected
areas to date has primarily revolved around the administrative
decisions. Guidelines and recommendations appeared in the
units Management Plan or Master Plan is only a part of such
decisions. However, the Office of National Parks has recently
completed a draft on policy framework for ecotourism
development in the parks. If the draft policy gets approval by the
responsible authorities, it can be assured that ecotourism
development will proceed in the right direction.
In the big picture, it is essential to say that the current
government is quite keen on tourism development. H.E. Prime
Minister Thaksin Shinnawat, in his official declaration of the
government policies to the National Assembly in early 2001,
stressed that the tourism industry could very well be the countrys
substantial income earner and, in turn, could solve its on-going
economic illness. He then pledged to increase the diverse forms
of tourism and to upgrade the quality standards of all tourism

10

products and services to ensure the long-term competitiveness

with other countries. One of his policy statements, published and
quoted widely, is that Increase the diversity of different forms
and purposes of tourists, targeting ecotourism, health tourism,
and nature tourism. New tourist sites must be developed and
promoted. Communities must be able to play a greater role in
tourism management (Emphandhu, 2003)
As the ecotourism policy is concerned it should be noted here
that TAT, a government arm for tourism marketing and
promotion, has developed the Ecotourism Policy since 1997. The
policy has provided guidance to all stakeholders involved for
every aspect for ecotourism development and operations. They
include a) tourism resources and environmental management, b)
ecotourism education, training, and awareness building, c) local
community involvement, d) marketing, promotion, and tour
guides, e) development of ecotourism facilities and services, and
f) financing and investment (TAT, 1997).
Subsequently, TAT assumed a key role in developing a National
Ecotourism Action Plan to reinforce the policy. The action plan
was completed in 2001 and approved by the Government cabinet
the same year (TAT, 2001). Nevertheless, the action plan,
comprising 14 sub-plans and 37 implementation projects, has
never got off the ground as the package as there has been
changed in the budgetary policy and procedures. Most of the
stakeholders thus have difficult access to financial support to
undertake their task as clearly laid out in the action plan.
TAT has also sponsored a variety of activities connected to
ecotourism such as organizing seminars and training workshops
for different groups of stakeholders, studies on ecotourism
resources potential of various destinations, producing handbooks
for ecotourism operation, and developing ecotourism database
center. The most recent one, TAT, in collaboration with Kasetsart
University Faculty of Forestry, organized the workshop on
ecotourism codes of conduct. Its main objective was to develop
the guidelines of best practices for all stakeholders. This
workshop, in fact, is regarded by many participants as an
important step to upgrade the ecotourism products and services in
the country. To make that possible, as recommended by some,
concerned agency or agencies must develop certification
program to audit and certify those practices (Chettamart, 2003).

11

On-the-ground Management Activity

As mentioned earlier, protected areas in Thailand have intrinsic
values for recreation and ecotourism, therefore they are viable for
ecotourism development, particularly national parks. But how
they can be developed and managed without deteriorating an
areas ecosystems and biodiversity is a critical question, which
requires a lengthy answer. This paper is not intended to do so, but
only to provide some substantive points of what actually being
taken place on the ground.
1) Most national parks have adopted the ecotourism
concepts and principles as a framework for tourism
development and management. They have strictly
followed the general DNP direction and administrative
oversight. Tourism development and management in
most parks seems to be in line with the TATs
Ecotourism Policy and reflecting the current
Government policy.
2) Most key national parks (about 40 out of 145) have
management plan in place. The park management plan
usually contains management zones to guide overall
activities for resource and environmental protection,
recreation, and facility development for visitor use.
DNP is now contemplating to expand its effort to draw
up management plan for all remaining national parks.
3) The park management plan has one major chapter or
section devoted to recreation and tourism. It contains
lengthy details concerning specific actions related to
recreation activities, tourist services, facility
development, and education or interpretive program.
Such questions as what, where, how and by whom for
recreation and tourism programs are normally
described in the plan. Some of management plans even
determine the number of visitors the park can absorb
during certain time period (carrying capacity) without
affecting its ecosystem and component parts. Some
have visitor impact management schemes (VIM) for
enforcement and implementation.
4) Visitor facilities in all parks are designed and
developed by DNP through the contractors. Various
visitor services are catered by park personnel,
including accommodation, foods, recreational

12

equipments, souvenirs, nature interpretation and safety.

However, the group tour organized by tour operators
normally has its own guide to cater some particular
services while in the parks.
5) The use fee is normally charged to the visitors for most
services including the entrance fee. The park revenue
can then be allocated back to the park to maintain those
facilities and to support other management activities
pending approval of the central office in Bangkok.
6) Local communities can also offer their services the
same as park personnel on the perimeters of the park.
And since community-based ecotourism has been
promoted for some time, a number of communities
along the parks boundaries have become viable
options for both Thais and foreigners who seek
different experience in visiting national parks. It should
be noted here that there are at least 50 communities
known to date to use 47 national parks as the key
destinations for taking their client to. Some of these
communities are even allowed to voice their opinion
and suggestion toward the parks tourism plan and
operation (Emphandhu, 2003).
7) Most key national parks, with support of central office
in Bangkok, have their own information brochure and
variety of booklets available as the tool for ecotourism
marketing. However, several TAT campaigns on
different occasions and means help national parks
becoming the popular tourist destinations. Such
campaigns include, for example, the monthly Tourism
Magazine, the Unseen Thailand, and other associated
websites. Other promotion and marketing are done
through all types of media like newspapers, TVs,
radios and most Thai air carriers on flight magazines,
which carry periodic stories and pictures about
different national parks.
CONCLUSION
It is suffice to say that Thailand has abundant and quality tourism
resources spreading over all regions of the Kingdom. The
protected area system, national parks in particular, has provided
as the essential pillar for ecotourism development as it contains

13

rich and valuable assets for such endeavors. The current

Government Policy towards the tourism industry is clear and has
meaningful implications on ecotourism development. The
Ministry of Natural resources and Environments Department of
National Parks, Wildlife and Plant can use this opportunity to
fully develop and manage ecotourism resources based upon the
Ecotourism Policy and its own policy framework. Any relevant
policy implications should be descended into parks management
plan to guide their implementation projects and day-to-day
operations. And to make ecotourism as a viable tool for
biodiversity and cultural conservation, channels for partnerships
or stakeholders participation must be kept open at all time. To
achieve these ends, the complexity of management institution
needs to be refined and simplified.
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