 Historical
Background of Ecotourism in Thailand. |
The
world trend of a Green Global Environment indicates that everyone
must be concerned about how to conserve the world's environment.
The event is of great importance as the international community
has paid greater attention to the course of environmental and
cultural protection. The United Nations Conference on Environment
and Development in 1992 has resulted in the signing by 182 countries
of the “Agenda 21” which is programmed to achieve sustainable
development in various social, economic and environmental fields.
The approach of this Agenda is to keep the sustainable balance
among the pattern of consumption, demographics and the world's
capability to support lives, the development of technologies
to respond to human needs, and the careful management of natural
resources. This includes tourism sector.
It
is a blessing that Thailand is located in the prime location
for tourism, in terms of natural attractions, culture and historical
sites, which reflect the glory of the Thai civilization, Therefore,
there are a great number of foreign tourists visiting Thailand
each year and the number of tourists continuously rises. In
1999, 8.5 million foreign tourists visited Thailand, with a
10.5% increase from 1998. When compared to other sources of
income from the export sector, such as computer parts, textile
products and electrical appliances, tourism is ranked the second
most income earning sector or worth 253,018 million baht. At
present, tourism is now the most income earning sector worthing
more than 300,000 million baht.
Tourism
also generates both direct and indirect employment, accounting
for 11% of the total employment or around 3.42 million people.
Moreover, tourism also earns the Government's revenue from various
taxes and customs amounting to 79 billion baht. |
"Ecotourism Activity" |
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