Call for flexibility over park visitors

"Having 100 well-behaved visitors is much better than allowing only 50 who aren't aware of their behaviour and don't care about nature," said Thon Thamrongnawasawad, a marine biologist from Kasetsart University.

The Department of National Park, Wildlife and Plant Varieties should come up with other measures to manage tourists and also control the businesses operating in the parks, he said.

Issued late last year, the regulation to limit visitors according to the carrying capacity of each park became effective on Tuesday.

The 10 national parks, all with reputations of being crowded during the high season, included Doi Inthanon, Doi Suthep-Pui and Phu Kradueng national parks, and Mu Koh Similan and Mu Koh Surin marine national parks.

Chalermsak Wanichsombat, director-general of the department, said the rule was aimed at letting natural resources recover, but it would cut the number of people passing the gates by half during holidays and by 20 to 30 per cent during regular days.

That would erode the parks' incomes, which used to be some Bt400 million per year.

Supachart Wannawong, chief of Phu Kradueng National Park, said all visitors to his park were required to make reservations online.

"I wish we would no longer see a picture of overcrowded tents in our park during the peak season anymore," he said.

Thon said each national park should evaluate its environmental condition after imposing the ceiling. He said the cap should not be completely fixed at the same number every year.

"It should be flexible depending on the condition of the natural resources of a park in each year," he said.