The Effects of Tourism on Thailand

The Effects of Tourism on Thailand

I have studied Thailand, which is situated in the South-East of Asia,

adjacent to Malaysia, Burma, China and Cambodia. Tourism is Thailand's

number one industry, and figures prove to us that there is a great

need for the tourism industry in Thailand, as Tourists bring money and

supply jobs, creating a multiplier effect, which helps the country to

improve its economy and to accomplish development. For example,

Thailand has a GNP per capita of US$ 2, 740, whereas a more

economically developed country such as the USA has a GNP per capita of

US$ 26, 980, which proves how much Thailand needs to improve.

I am going to discuss the effects of Tourism on the Island resorts of

Koh Tao, Pattaya and also Koh Samui, which is an island off the East

coast of Thailand.

What are the attractions of the area?

These resorts all have many attractions which are both human and

physical. Firstly, Tourists visit Thailand to experience a climate

which is different from their own. Temperatures can range from

anywhere between 23ËšC - 33ËšC in the resorts, with only around 30-150mm

of rainfall falling between the months of February to September. It

also has a daily sunshine of 8-9 hours in winter months, which makes

December - February popular times to visit. Another physical

attraction is examples of most of Thailand's natural surroundings such

as its sandy white beaches, the emerald sea which has high water

temperatures making it ideal for water sports, coral gardens, coconut

palms and secluded bays, which differs to that of the natural

surroundings of Thailands Tourists, 33% of which are from the USA or

the West...

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...or Thais actually suffer more from Tourism, whilst

richer Thais prosper. The Tourism Industry has also led to corruption

in the government, and the lack of long term thinking in ways to help

the country.

Therefore the tourism industry in the coastal areas of Thailand that I

have covered is generally positive, as it has created jobs using the

multiplier effect, made more money for the economy, aided development,

and made itself a place well known on the World map. However, there

appears to be more negative effects socially, economically and

environmentally than positive, concerning the lack of long term

thinking in the government. So to conclude, I think that to an extent

the tourism industry has a more negative effect on the coastal areas,

but there are also positive effects, some of which out weigh the

negative.