This paper takes as its starting point the assertion that community-based ecotourism is an activity in which not all members of a community are able to be involved (through barriers or factors of exclusion) and/or wish to be involved (through personal choice). This has implications for discussions about community-level stakeholders, governance and tourism development. Firstly, the paper explores the actors' interactions as they relate to the use of resources and environment. Within this theme are seen more specific sets of social relations and sustainability elements. These elements highlight key factors, beginning with the actors, the resource uses, and continuing with the influence of different resource management regimes, of power and authority, of networks of social relations, of patterns of governance, and of internal and external relations that occur with actors both inside and outside the local villages. The geographical context is three villages in the northern Thai province of Chiang Rai, a key international ecotourism area. The study is underpinned by use of a range of qualitative methods and considers the views of 70 key informants. Participation in tourism by Thai villagers is argued to reflect both ability to be involved (centred on land ownership and its restriction of livelihood opportunities) and active choice of involvement (the extent to which tourism is individually considered as a potential livelihood option). Involvement in community based ecotourism in a traditional hierarchical society like Thailand appears to be linked to an individual's social standing or general position in society and to be far from a matter of free choice. Governance-in the sense of social order, social coordination, social practices (Bramwell and Lane, 2013)-is identified as having a key influence upon the ways in which participation in tourism occurs at a local level. Social status, legitimacy and power are highlighted as issues for further research in relation to further understanding the dynamics of community-based tourism development.
This paper examines local responses to ecotourism within the broader context of societal values. It acknowledges a strong contextual dimension to understanding those responses, and supports that with in-depth research on three villages in Chiang Rai in northern Thailand. The paper finds that land ownership is a central issue: those without land are those who consider alternative livelihoods to agriculture. Tourism, rather than a development option denied to under-privileged or unconnected members of society, appears to be a key development option for those without land. An uncontested view was expressed that benefits from tourism should be individually received by those involved rather by the community. Involvement in tourism decision-making was low and only desired by those directly involved, as a means of potentially increasing their personal incomes. For those stakeholders, involvement is dependent on village leaders and the representation that local tourism entrepreneurs and workers have through those leaders (based on shared ethnicity). These findings question an understanding within the tourism development literature that situates host communities as empowered through tourism, and adds to increasing criticism of aspects of community--based tourism.
This research aims to examine the potential of hot spring sites in the Western Thailand for the purpose of sustainable tourism. The research applied qualitative methods and the participation of communities was included in the study's approach. The fieldwork consisted of the development of in-depth interviews, focus groups, field survey, and participation observation. Participants were stakeholders in tourism development. The data collected from interviews were analysed, interpreted, and reported with content and descriptive analysis. It was found that the hot spring destinations had their outstanding resources, based on their natural surrounded. The resources were used for tourism purpose in terms of health tourism. The potential of the various hot spring areas was divided into four groups. The first group included hot spring location where tourism data had not been gathered. The second group encompassed hot spring where tourism data had been gathered. The third group was hot springs where some tourism details had been gathered, but the hot spring sites were faced with some problems. The last group included well-developed hot spring locations where tourism data had been gathered before. All locations could be promoted for health tourism, and educational tourism could be added for tourist and the local community. Such development would need to be controlled by the community committees formed by representatives of all stakeholders directly and indirectly related to tourism development. Tourism development generated by community committees can result in sustainable development of hot spring destinations.
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