You’ve read the book, you’ve seen the film, now buy the airline ticket and experience it for yourself. The Beach has finally hit the big screen and the Tourism Authority of Thailand is hoping that the sight of beautiful people cavorting on beautiful Thai beaches will inspire tourists to follow in the footsteps of Leonardo DiCaprio in search of their own personal paradise.
The much-hyped film has certainly put the spotlight on Thailand, but the publicity has not all been favourable. Thai environmentalists and local businesses are taking the makers of the film, Twentieth Century Fox, to court over damage which they claim was done to Phi Phi island national park during the making of the film.
The environmentalists claim that the planting and subsequent removal of palm trees for the film has caused severe erosion on the idyllic beach.
The issue of environmental damage is a sensitive one for Thailand – not least because of its position as one of the fastest-growing long-haul destinations of the last decade.
The trigger for the phenomenal growth was the economic recession in Southeast Asia in 1997 which brought prices plummeting. In just two years, visitor figures increased by 60% and Thailand went from being an exotic stop on the backpackers’ trail to a mainstream package holiday destination featured by over 70 UK tour operators and attracting 440,000 Britons a year.
Pattaya is often held up as an example of what can go wrong when a resort is allowed to get too big too quickly. Starting off as an rest and relaxationstop for the USnavy during the Vietnam War, Pattaya mushroomed into the biggest beach resort in Southeast Asia. Beaches became polluted, a thriving sex tourism industry grew up and operators ditched their programmes.
Since then a concerted clean-up campaign has taken place in the resort. TATUKand Ireland marketing mananger Chris Lee said lessons had been learned from Pattaya and the same mistakes would not be made elsewhere.
Lee said Thailand is economically dependent on tourism so the answer is not to limit tourist arrivals but to spread the load more evenly.
“Thailand is the size of France and attracts 8m visitors a year compared to France’s 50m. The difference is that tourism is focused on a few, very limited areas in Thailand,” said Lee.
Key to this strategy is the backpacker market as they tended to venture beyond the mass-market resorts, stay longer than typical tourists, and spread tourism spend throughout the local economy. “If it wasn’t for backpackers, Thailand wouldn’t be on the map. They bring in very local income and reach the parts that other tourists don’t reach,” said Lee.
They also turn into young professionals which Lee described as “a prime revenue market”.
And what of the perfect beach depicted in the film? Well, it does exist. It’s on a tiny island called Phi Phi Ley just off the mainland but you can’t stay there as it’s a protected area and there is no accommodation. “It’s the most gorgeous beach you’ve ever seen,”said Lee.
Let’s hope it stays that way.
Sue Wheat talked to Alex Garland, author of thebest-selling novel The Beach, about its impact on tourism to Thailand.
What do you think will be the effect of the film on tourism to Thailand?
I am wary of the idea of viewing Thailand assomething delicate that will get stamped on by the West, because it removes the idea of Thailand being complicit in what happens to it.
Has writing The Beach changed your perspective on tourism?
Tourism is incrediblypowerful. It’s like a gun and it’s easy to be irresponsible with it. The speed of the impact of tourism can be quite breathtaking. It doesn’t take years it takes months. And it can be quite a bleak thing to witness. But if Thailand can get some kind of relationship with tourism where it keeps people employed, brings in a lot of money, is part of the profile of the country – then it seems absolutely fine.
What do you think of the environmental criticisms about The Beach?
It was 95% rubbish. I was worried about it and went to have a look at the film set, but when I got there it was a DiCaprio story, it wasn’t an environmental story. It raised the profile of environmental issues in Thailand so overall that’s a good thing.