At present, tourism developers see more importance in increased collaboration in the tourism development process by decentralizing development power to involved stakeholders. Although some tourism developers attempt to present a defi nitive argument about the developing impact on the local community, the most basic argument relies on the need to involve more actively all persons affected by the tourism development project. The concept of a stakeholder was fi rst proposed by Ansoff (1965), but in a limited sense referring to those whose confl icting demands must be balanced by a fi rm and later employed by the tourism-related organizations. To implement a stakeholder approach, the tour-ism developers need to have a full appreciation of all persons or groups who have an interest in the tourism development planning processes. However, man-aging tourism stakeholders effectively is considered challenging for tourism developers. Stakeholders in tourism development can be varied according to the specifi c characteristics of the potential tourist site (Choibamroong, 2002). In the case of CBRT in Thailand, there are many tourism stakeholders involved, who have different roles and actions in developing and promoting CBRT, as can be seen in the following case studies.
Koh Yao Noi, Phang Nga
Koh Yao Noi is a small fi shing community located on an island of the same name in Phang Nga. It achieved an international standard of tourism manage-ment while conserving its natural and cultural heritage when Conservation International and National Geographic bestowed the Traveller’s Destination Stewardship Award to the Responsible Ecological Social Tours Projects (REST), a non-profi t organization that helped the community form and manage home-stay and community-based tourism programmes.
Sustainable Community-based Rural Tourism Development in Thailand 177
The community-based approach was initiated in 1994 after the community was hard hit by the depletion of marine resources caused by commercial fi shing trawlers. The community used hard lobbying to persuade the state to ban com-mercial fi shing boats from within 3 km of the coastline, and then deployed tour-ism as a tool to promote their marine resources. The community has set clear objectives, which are to promote the conservation work of the villagers, to enlist the help of people who want to protect nature and to generate additional income for the villagers. With these objectives in mind, the community set up regulations to prevent any adverse impacts. Tourists are expected to abide by the rules and to show an interest in learning about their fi shing tradition and culture as a Muslim community.
Koh Yao Noi is an island that has strong community ties. About 10% of income generated from tourism goes to a village development fund, which is disbursed to benefi t the villagers in the community who are not involved in tour-ism (Hongthong, 2003). In 2007, to promote the tourtour-ism activity on the island, the TAT gave the islanders a ‘Best Community for Tourism’ award.
Mae Kam Pong, Chiang Mai
Mae Kam Pong is a small village located in the northern mountains, about 50 km from the city of Chiang Mai. Its renowned homestay programme won an award from the TAT in 2004. The community began its community-based tourism with the help of the TRF Regional Offi ce, which encouraged the community to con-duct a research project. The fi rst 6 months was spent on educating the local people about the concept of ecotourism through group discussions and individ-ual talks, which was followed by a survey of tourist attractions to assess their potential and carrying capacity. The next stage was to develop the capacity of the local people in tourism management and the fi nal stage was to organize a pilot tourism programme to assess the tourism plan.
The process, albeit painstaking, assisted the local people to know their munity better and to decide which tourism programmes were best for the com-munity. After 2 years of research, trial and errors, the community has found that it has tourism potential in many areas as it has rich natural resources and a local way of life in genuine rural settings. The community also has a clear goal that the homestay tourism programme is a way of supplementing the villagers’ income and is not a substitute for their way of making a living (Taemsamran, 2004).
Ban Huay Hee, Mae Hong Son
Ban Huay Hee is an ethnic Karen village in the northern province of Mae Hong Son and is a successful model of community tourism for other communities. The community is engaged in community-based tourism with the involvement of a non-governmental organization, the Project for Recovery of Life and Culture (PRLC). Tourism is used as a tool to improve people’s quality of life, to preserve
178 T. Choibamroong
and reinforce the importance of the Karen culture, to empower the villagers to make their own decisions and to contribute to the conservation of the natural resources and environment. The community has developed a land classifi cation system for a nearby national park to prevent deforestation and degradation of watersheds (ESCAPE, 2001).
Plai Pong Pang, Samut Songkram
The homestay tourism programme in the Plai Pong Pang community in Samut Songkram Amphawa district is a different story. The homestay programme was initiated by a former local leader (Kamnan-Tambon Chief) and took shape in 1999. The programme offers tourists an experience of community life by staying in traditional Thai-style houses, some of which are over 100 years old. The tour-ists are offered a night boat tour along the Amphawa Klong (a canal), the com-munity’s main transportation channel, to view fi refl ies and a fl oating market in the morning. The programme has been a success with tourists, who are drawn to the community, mostly for a change of atmosphere (Wattanasukchai, 2000).
As a former local leader, the operator received the cooperation of several people from his community. However, not all community members were included in the process, and several of those who cooperated did so because they bowed to his political infl uence. The participants of the homestay programme were encouraged to modify their houses to suit tourists. Some renovated their conven-tional toilets to accommodate tourists, most of whom came from the city. This is against the concept of homestay tourism, in which visitors are expected to respect the traditions and way of life of their hosts.
After running CBRT activities for some years, it turned out that the night boat tour disrupted the orchard farmers of the village, who go to bed early and wake up early for their farm work. The loud noises from the boat’s engine and its spotlights broke their sleep. As the programme went on, there was dissidence from the participants of the homestay programmes, who felt they did not get a fair share of the economic benefi ts of tourism. Distribution of the visitors was arranged by the local leader, who also requested that they dine at his house instead of allowing them to dine with their hosts. The Kamnan’s failure to main-tain a balance of economic benefi ts forced the participants to pull away from the programme and return to their fruit orchards. The exploitation of public resources by the homestay operators forced the villagers who were affected to cut down lampoo trees (Rhizophora Caseolaris L.) to eliminate the fi refl ies and the tourists.
Ban Busai Homestay, Nakhorn Ratchasima
Ban Busai is one of the villages in the Wang Numkheo District, Nakhorn Ratchasima, in the north-eastern part of Thailand. Ban Busai Homestay was developed by a group of local people in the Wang Numkheo District with the initial purpose of conserving the Moon River. Later, when agrotourism was booming in Nakhorn Ratchasima, the group changed its role of tourism
Sustainable Community-based Rural Tourism Development in Thailand 179
activity. Urged and supported by a research project of the government-run Suranaree University of Technology (SUT), Ban Busai Homestay has offered many study tours for young agrotourism lovers. The tourism products include mushroom farms, fl ower farming, camping and trekking. At present, there are 17 houses that have joined the club. The club is supported technically by the Wang Num Kheo Subdistrict Administration Organization and the Offi ce of Provincial Tourism and Sports. After having been in operation for 2 years, the club members were awarded the ‘Homestay Standard’ from the Ministry of Tourism and Sports for their management of the tourism product.
To clarify, a meeting for homestay improvement is set up every month by the club committee. Projecting an image as the Switzerland of north-eastern Thailand, Ban Busai promotes itself through the Internet (www.wangnumkheo.
com), assisted by the SUT. In addition, the local student group, called ‘Mod Dang’ (Red Ant), is assigned full responsibility for managing the recreational tourism activities and the cleanliness of the village. For meals, on the fi rst day of guest arrival, the homestay members join forces to prepare dinner and tradi-tional performances together to welcome the guests. On the day of the guests’
departure, the locals bring agricultural products to sell. After more than 2 years, Ban Busai Homestay has increased pride in their local way of life, local wisdom and local products, leading to a better community quality of life and economic benefi ts (Sriwongtrakul, 2008). Although Thailand has succeeded in moving closer to sustainable CBRT, there are still many barriers that could affect its sustainability.