Misleading News Reports Cost Jobs Near Thailand's National Parks
Local resorts, dive operators shocked to read false reports of park closures - costing jobs and affecting a local economy that is only just starting to recover from the Boxing Day tsunami and the recent global downturn.
Online, January 23, 2011 (Newswire.com) - Some National Marine Parks of Thailand have been affected by the recent El Nina weather pattern but nowhere near as badly as Australia, Brazil or Sri Lanka. However - false media reports about the parks being closed has had a much more severe impact on local businesses. Misleading articles stating that several Marine Parks are closed in Thailand are based upon false information. The truth being that small areas within 7 of Thailand's 21 Marine Parks have been closed to recreational activities - these dive sites make up only a fraction of each parks total area (similar to closing a camp site within a park, rather than the whole park). The already precarious tourism industry in the region is fearing that these articles will cause a rash of cancellations, triggering closures and job loss in a region only just recovered from the devastating tsunami of 2004.
Often referred to as the Crown Jewel's of Thailand's National Park system - the uninhabited Similan Islands are home to the most famous diving and snorkeling in the country with many tours departing from nearby Khao Lak and Phuket. With many thousands of jobs dependent on tourism, employers and staff alike are very sensitive to rumors - like the recent prediction from a popular fortune teller of a second tsunami over Christmas which caused a 10% drop in bookings, but nor tsunami.
Many potential and current visitors have expressed concern over the rumor of park closures and are considering changing their vacation plans, reports co-owner of one local dive center - Koen De Wit. "With the tour operators cheering such decisive actions by the National Park Service such as closing these dive sites, we are very frustrated by the misinformation that is being passed along as factual. The Marine Parks of Thailand are vast - the Similan Islands Marine Park is more then 140 square kilometers and home to dozens of dive sites. To say an entire marine park is closed when it's only a single dive site is like saying the Grand Canyon is closed when, in fact, only a single campground is."
One local association - Khao Lak Dive Operators Forum - has offered support for strict policies of sustainable tourism and are offering assistance to the National Park with enforcing these standards. The Similan and Surin National Parks close every year from May 1st until October 31st and it is hoped that this year the no-fishing policy will be vigorously enforced to encourage further development of healthy reefs.