Beware of big business in national parks, govt told

They called for transparency of concessions and greater concern for longterm development than for business returns.

The calls emerged at a roundtable discussion on "Opening National Parks for Sustainable Tourism" held by Krungthep Turakij daily last week.

Hannarong Yaowalers, a member of the National Economic and Social Advisory Council, said the government should not scramble to open national parks to the private sector as this could damage resources and disturb the communities they sustained.

He doubted that the government was as well prepared as in some countries to control such operations.

"If the government wants the private sector to invest in and manage parks, that should be a second phase, after the completion of pilot project studies," Hannarong said.

This, he said, would tell whether the parks should go private, which would demand cooperation and understanding between local people and investors.

"Some countries take 10 years of studies before privatising national parks, but here, as we see, the crite¬rion is always capitalist demand," he said.

One loophole, he said, was authorising park bosses to allow in private business instead of demanding approval by the National Parks Committee.

Sompoad Srikosamatara of the Ecology and Conservation Group at Mahidol University said nationalpark development was more typical of Africa with its rich resources and game than of Thailand and its neighbours, where feasibility studies were needed.

Duangkamol Chansuriyawong, president of the Thai EcoTourism and Adventure Travel Association, said the pilot project was important to development as most national parks in Thailand were poorly managed with substandard services, hygiene and security.

"Tourists visiting them are highend customers and expect to see a good product and get the best services," she said.

She urged the government to entrust manage¬ment only to professional operators in order to protect resources, and to grant yearly licences that could be withdrawn.

"One important thing is to select transparent firms to avoid future problems," she said.

Thon Thamrongnawasawat, head of the Faculty of Fisheries at Kasetsart University and a member of the National Parks Committee, said he disagreed with just throwing open national parks to the private sector as the risks were too many.

"There will be so much money under the table," he warned.

Thailand has many beautiful national parks and water resources that should be protected for posterity, he said, noting that many coun¬tries, like Malaysia, Australia, South Africa and Kenya, did this by allowing only presti¬gious chains to manage their parks.

Good operators would make parks into quality attractions, he said, but must have government supervision to ensure international standards of services and security.

Jakkrit Visitpanit, director of the National Parks Division, said it had not announced any opening of parks to investment despite recent interest in the issue, though he said it was indeed preparing a draft bill on nationalpark development for Cabinet approval covering big proj¬ects like hotels and resorts.

At the moment the division allows only small vendors to run food and souvenir shops in parks.