Ecotourism development for coastal zone management :|ba case study of mangrove forest areas in Koh Chang Tai Sub-district, Trat Province, Thailand | |
| Author | Sansanee Wangvoralak |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no.AQ-03-13 |
| Subject(s) | Ecotourism -- Thailand -- Trat Coastal zone management -- Thailand|zTrat Mangrove forests|zThailand|zTrat |
| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science, School of Environment, Resources and Development |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Series Statement | Thesis ; no. AQ-03-13 |
| Abstract | Chang Island Marine National Park is one of the most popular places for Thai visitors and foreign visitors during last three years because of presence of many natural resources and scenery. With the rapid development and growth of tourism, environmental impacts have been felt arising, especially land encroachment in mangrove areas. However, tourism development also 'plays a very important role for the nation's economy. Therefore, it is impossible to pause the development, the ecotourism is one way that can facilitate to modify the coastal zone management practices. The overall objective of the present study was to explore and evaluate utilization in and around mangrove areas for developing ecotourism in the Koh Chang Tai Sub-district. To achieve the foregoing objective, this study used combination of research methods: remote sensed data, PRA (key informants with semi-structured interview, time lines, and seasonal calendars), and household survey. The results indicated that there is still strong relationship between the local people's activities and mangrove forest utilization pattern, especially of fishery community who depend heavily on the mangrove forest in both the direct and indirect ways. However, the overall utilization trend of mangrove forest has been decreasing, especially the utilization of mangrove flora. The main activities involved on land use change in and around mangrove forest areas are shrimp culture and infrastructure building within the area. The mangrove forest has decreased by 8.4 percent (20.9 ha.) from 1997 to 2003, especially at Kong Kang Bay the highest rate of depletion has occurred (34.1 percent) when compared with other areas. Nowadays, the mangrove forest areas in the Koh Chang Tai Sub-district are encountering the degradation from external entrepreneurs due to the rapid pace of land development. In conclusion, mangrove forest areas in the Koh Chang Tai Sub-district are moving toward the deterioration situation because of land encroachment and land development. For controlling the situation not to deteriorate the existing mangrove area, it is necessary to integrate and coordinate development and conservation activities especially at TAO level. However, the development of education, process of learning about culture, economic strength, establishment of information center, management system and participation process should be promoted to cope with ecotourism development in the future. |
| Year | 2003 |
| Corresponding Series Added Entry | Asian Institute of Technology. Thesis ; no. AQ-03-13 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD) |
| Department | Department of Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources (Former title: Department of Food Agriculture, and BioResources (DFAB)) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Aquaculture and Aquatic Resources Management (AQ) |
| Chairperson(s) | Shivakoti, Ganesh P.; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Rajendra Shrestha ;Ole Pedersen; |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Royal Thai Government Scholarships ;Danish International Development ;Assistance (DANIDA) ;Kasetsart University; |
| Degree | Thesis (M.Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2003 |