Thailand VolunTOUR

Hello guys, was just wondering if anyone was going on the STA Thailand Voluntour in July? Or going to Thailand in general around July?

Reply 1

Boss_Rhythm

21

Original post by darisnada

Hello guys, was just wondering if anyone was going on the STA Thailand Voluntour in July? Or going to Thailand in general around July?

Thailand invokes sex tourism, so no! :biggrin:

I made an essay on Thailand!
It starts here:

Can Tourismin Thailand be Sustainable?

Thailand isa country, which locates itself in Southeast Asia, above the equator, but belowthe tropic of cancer. Thailand is also full of tourists visiting them,specifically their islands near the Isthmus of Kra. During 2014 alone, 25million tourists visited and was able to see the natural beauty of the floraand beaches. Tourism is an activity that requires travel away from home for atleast one night, it can be for a holiday, for business, or to visit friends andrelatives. Tourism can often harm local people, stop the development of thenational economy, or harm the environment, making it impractical for futuregenerations. Tourism which invokes such things is unsustainable tourism, whenthe locals, the economy and the environment, is benefitted or conserved, thenwe see Sustainable Tourism. Sustainable Tourism is important because it can makesure that the country containing these tourists gain something out of it fortheir hospitality, this will also allow the country to develop, and in thefuture be able to have more tourists, who will be able to still see the floraand beaches, unharmed and conserved safely.Firstly,sustainable tourism ideas, such as using the knowledge of local people as tourguides, this creates an economic impact as the tour guide gets money out of it,also this saves Thailand from having to hire people to be tour guides fromabroad. This is useful in the long term and locally, this is because a tourguide can work for years, and will not need to be given anything except moneyto work and only local’s benefit from it directly. This will benefit thegovernment, due to taxes from the tourist guides, and the tourist guidesthemselves. Unsustainable tourism are ideas such as letting tourists only visitone island, this will have a social impact on the natives of that island, asall of the tourist will only be visiting there. It will also have anenvironmental impact as the environment in that one place will be overwhelmedby the many tourists visiting a year. This will then again harm the economy asthe government will have to pay to fix the problems that one island is facing.Instead a solution for this would be to spread out the tourists, to reduce itto a fraction which the locals can all handle. The alternative solution is moresustainable as, even though the size of the impact has increased to nationalimpact, there is less to be done and most of it can be dealt with by the localsand their expertise. This will benefit the locals economically, touristssocially and farmers will not be harmed at all.The Thaigovernment has already thought of different ways to make tourism moresustainable, however, some parts of the organisation are letting down the wholeidea. The Thai economy has been losing out, out of every £100 a tourist from anMEDC spends, only £5 goes back to them. This shows that there is clearlysomething wrong with their management of the money, this creates an economicimpact nationally, firstly Thailand will lose out, as the government will notbe able to spend money to conserve the environment, nor to improve educationfor the locals, creating a social impact. Moreover, as the Thai economy losesout, less imports can be made by them, thus creating a global impact and affectingthe trade market, as countries such as China (whose import value to Thailand is$37.3billion), will lose out as Thailand will be able to afford less.Another hugeproblem in Thailand are beaches being eroded and sea water being polluted.Thailand is a NIC with huge masses of tourists travelling there, beaches arewidely renowned to be a fun place for relaxing and for enjoyment, this meansthat most of the tourists go to beaches during their visit to Thailand. Thus,beaches have been eroded by the people, and also have been littered on by themany people who travel there, the seas have been polluted and the beachesdestroyed. This creates a negative environmental impact as sea life is harmedby the polluted seas and the creatures on the beaches, lose their habitats.This affects the local area, but could in fact harm the nation for the longterm if not dealt with as the government would have to intervene, and thedamage at one point would be irreversible. Sex tourism is another huge concernnow in Thailand. Thailand is known for its nightlife, this has now createdanother branch of tourism, and this has created a negative social impact on theThai community. Child prostitution (which is estimated to make up 40% of theprostitutes) and STD’s have spread in Thailand because of it, this creates animpact on a national scale. Although it is illegal, it is often seen aspermissible by the locals, to gain money out of the tourists coming to Thailand.This could be stopped by creating more jobs, stopping the trafficking ofchildren, as well as having societies frown upon those who do it, rather thanencourage them.Anothercountry, next to Thailand, is Cambodia. Cambodia has many wildlife reserves(which are the main hotspots) this is helpful and benefits the environment asthe animals are given a place to live. It is a positive economic impact aswell, this is because a lot of money is collected from wildlife reserves and noharm is done, meaning that it is beneficial for the long term. Also, a lot ofthese reserves have now turned to bio-diesel for their tour vehicles, this is apositive environmental impact locally and globally as the locals don’t havepolluted air and the tourists (who come from abroad) will be able to return tothat country in the future. This is highly different to Thailand, this isbecause Thailand still hasn’t been able to give wealth equality to theirlocals, and even though Cambodia has a much lower GDP, and it seems to be doingwell. This is a huge advance for Cambodia’s tourism as they are only gainingfrom it, no losses are made. However both Thailand and Cambodia still face theproblem of erosion, although the air is not polluted, driving over land createsmore erosion than just walking on beaches. Thus Thailand could be seen as havinga more sustainable form of tourism. In addition, Thailand have nearly 4 timesmore tourists than Cambodia, this means that they are under a higher pressureto give the tourists a good experience, as more people like to go there. Thissignifies that Cambodia is greener and healthier for the environment, but theydo not have as many tourists as Thailand, and so have an easier job. Also,Cambodia gains far less from tourism than Thailand, thus meaning that Thailandis ahead in the economic factor.Sustainable Tourism is a way that all countriesshould follow in my opinion. If sustainable tourism is not reached in allcountries, then locals and their government themselves are the ones to sufferthe most. The tourists mostly benefit from the trip, this is because thepleasure of going to a different country gives them a social short term impact,which is potentially global as after they return from holidays, they are morelikely to do well in their job, helping the economy of the other country as a shortterm impact. Also, farmers can suffer, as some all-inclusive hotels will onlyallow them to eat inside their own restaurant with imported food from MEDC’s,disallowing multiculturalism as well as the farmers from the country profitingfrom tourism. To answer the question, yes, Thailand can be sustainable in termsof tourism, a lot of work is yet to be done as they still have not reachedcomplete sustainability. On the other hand, some people think that sustainabletourism should not be their main goal now, improving education and the locallifestyles should be their priority. Enforcing sustainable tourism is adifficult and costly job, it will take a long time to make all parts of tourismsustainable, however it will, in the future, help their economy, environment,and their society positively in the long term. Sustainable tourism, in myopinion, should be dealt with step by step, this means that after correctingone sector of tourism, the next sector should be dealt with, rather than tryingit all at once, this means that it could spend a lot of time, but it wouldcertainly be worth it. We can see from countries such as Thailand and Cambodia,that it should not just be the government who tries to help, but also thelocals, as after all tourism is one of their main sources of income. Locals canmake sure that the areas stay clean, and their children or society do notengage in sex tourism, and they will definitely be able to contribute withlittle parts, whilst the government can focus on the bigger problems withintheir country.

Reply 2

darisnada

OP

Wow, that's a lot to read, give me a sec aha

Original post by Boss_Rhythm

Thailand invokes sex tourism, so no! :biggrin:

I made an essay on Thailand!
It starts here:

Can Tourismin Thailand be Sustainable?

Thailand isa country, which locates itself in Southeast Asia, above the equator, but belowthe tropic of cancer. Thailand is also full of tourists visiting them,specifically their islands near the Isthmus of Kra. During 2014 alone, 25million tourists visited and was able to see the natural beauty of the floraand beaches. Tourism is an activity that requires travel away from home for atleast one night, it can be for a holiday, for business, or to visit friends andrelatives. Tourism can often harm local people, stop the development of thenational economy, or harm the environment, making it impractical for futuregenerations. Tourism which invokes such things is unsustainable tourism, whenthe locals, the economy and the environment, is benefitted or conserved, thenwe see Sustainable Tourism. Sustainable Tourism is important because it can makesure that the country containing these tourists gain something out of it fortheir hospitality, this will also allow the country to develop, and in thefuture be able to have more tourists, who will be able to still see the floraand beaches, unharmed and conserved safely.Firstly,sustainable tourism ideas, such as using the knowledge of local people as tourguides, this creates an economic impact as the tour guide gets money out of it,also this saves Thailand from having to hire people to be tour guides fromabroad. This is useful in the long term and locally, this is because a tourguide can work for years, and will not need to be given anything except moneyto work and only local’s benefit from it directly. This will benefit thegovernment, due to taxes from the tourist guides, and the tourist guidesthemselves. Unsustainable tourism are ideas such as letting tourists only visitone island, this will have a social impact on the natives of that island, asall of the tourist will only be visiting there. It will also have anenvironmental impact as the environment in that one place will be overwhelmedby the many tourists visiting a year. This will then again harm the economy asthe government will have to pay to fix the problems that one island is facing.Instead a solution for this would be to spread out the tourists, to reduce itto a fraction which the locals can all handle. The alternative solution is moresustainable as, even though the size of the impact has increased to nationalimpact, there is less to be done and most of it can be dealt with by the localsand their expertise. This will benefit the locals economically, touristssocially and farmers will not be harmed at all.The Thaigovernment has already thought of different ways to make tourism moresustainable, however, some parts of the organisation are letting down the wholeidea. The Thai economy has been losing out, out of every £100 a tourist from anMEDC spends, only £5 goes back to them. This shows that there is clearlysomething wrong with their management of the money, this creates an economicimpact nationally, firstly Thailand will lose out, as the government will notbe able to spend money to conserve the environment, nor to improve educationfor the locals, creating a social impact. Moreover, as the Thai economy losesout, less imports can be made by them, thus creating a global impact and affectingthe trade market, as countries such as China (whose import value to Thailand is$37.3billion), will lose out as Thailand will be able to afford less.Another hugeproblem in Thailand are beaches being eroded and sea water being polluted.Thailand is a NIC with huge masses of tourists travelling there, beaches arewidely renowned to be a fun place for relaxing and for enjoyment, this meansthat most of the tourists go to beaches during their visit to Thailand. Thus,beaches have been eroded by the people, and also have been littered on by themany people who travel there, the seas have been polluted and the beachesdestroyed. This creates a negative environmental impact as sea life is harmedby the polluted seas and the creatures on the beaches, lose their habitats.This affects the local area, but could in fact harm the nation for the longterm if not dealt with as the government would have to intervene, and thedamage at one point would be irreversible. Sex tourism is another huge concernnow in Thailand. Thailand is known for its nightlife, this has now createdanother branch of tourism, and this has created a negative social impact on theThai community. Child prostitution (which is estimated to make up 40% of theprostitutes) and STD’s have spread in Thailand because of it, this creates animpact on a national scale. Although it is illegal, it is often seen aspermissible by the locals, to gain money out of the tourists coming to Thailand.This could be stopped by creating more jobs, stopping the trafficking ofchildren, as well as having societies frown upon those who do it, rather thanencourage them.Anothercountry, next to Thailand, is Cambodia. Cambodia has many wildlife reserves(which are the main hotspots) this is helpful and benefits the environment asthe animals are given a place to live. It is a positive economic impact aswell, this is because a lot of money is collected from wildlife reserves and noharm is done, meaning that it is beneficial for the long term. Also, a lot ofthese reserves have now turned to bio-diesel for their tour vehicles, this is apositive environmental impact locally and globally as the locals don’t havepolluted air and the tourists (who come from abroad) will be able to return tothat country in the future. This is highly different to Thailand, this isbecause Thailand still hasn’t been able to give wealth equality to theirlocals, and even though Cambodia has a much lower GDP, and it seems to be doingwell. This is a huge advance for Cambodia’s tourism as they are only gainingfrom it, no losses are made. However both Thailand and Cambodia still face theproblem of erosion, although the air is not polluted, driving over land createsmore erosion than just walking on beaches. Thus Thailand could be seen as havinga more sustainable form of tourism. In addition, Thailand have nearly 4 timesmore tourists than Cambodia, this means that they are under a higher pressureto give the tourists a good experience, as more people like to go there. Thissignifies that Cambodia is greener and healthier for the environment, but theydo not have as many tourists as Thailand, and so have an easier job. Also,Cambodia gains far less from tourism than Thailand, thus meaning that Thailandis ahead in the economic factor.Sustainable Tourism is a way that all countriesshould follow in my opinion. If sustainable tourism is not reached in allcountries, then locals and their government themselves are the ones to sufferthe most. The tourists mostly benefit from the trip, this is because thepleasure of going to a different country gives them a social short term impact,which is potentially global as after they return from holidays, they are morelikely to do well in their job, helping the economy of the other country as a shortterm impact. Also, farmers can suffer, as some all-inclusive hotels will onlyallow them to eat inside their own restaurant with imported food from MEDC’s,disallowing multiculturalism as well as the farmers from the country profitingfrom tourism. To answer the question, yes, Thailand can be sustainable in termsof tourism, a lot of work is yet to be done as they still have not reachedcomplete sustainability. On the other hand, some people think that sustainabletourism should not be their main goal now, improving education and the locallifestyles should be their priority. Enforcing sustainable tourism is adifficult and costly job, it will take a long time to make all parts of tourismsustainable, however it will, in the future, help their economy, environment,and their society positively in the long term. Sustainable tourism, in myopinion, should be dealt with step by step, this means that after correctingone sector of tourism, the next sector should be dealt with, rather than tryingit all at once, this means that it could spend a lot of time, but it wouldcertainly be worth it. We can see from countries such as Thailand and Cambodia,that it should not just be the government who tries to help, but also thelocals, as after all tourism is one of their main sources of income. Locals canmake sure that the areas stay clean, and their children or society do notengage in sex tourism, and they will definitely be able to contribute withlittle parts, whilst the government can focus on the bigger problems withintheir country.