Natural Resources and Environment Minister Dapong Rattanasuwan said yesterday (March 11) he had given officials at the National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department (DNP) two weeks to issue the measures.
"It is high time that measures to regulate tourism management at marine national parks in the Andaman Sea are introduced," Gen Dapong said.
The minister announced the plan at a press conference yesterday after receiving a worrying report.
Department officials informed the minister that Koh Tachai, part of Mu Ko Similan National Park in Phang Nga province, is at risk of environmental degradation, in the form of spoiled coral and mounting rubbish, resulting from a surge in the number of tourists. (See story here)
According to a source at the department, Koh Tachai can only accommodate 70 tourists per day but several hundred tourists have been visiting the island on a daily basis.
Other small islands in Mu Ko Similan National Park are also facing problems arising from too many tourists, the source added.
Gen Dapong told his staff the government relies on tourist revenue to develop the country, so any measures that are introduced and implemented should be sensitive to the matter.
Gen Dapong said he would assign the Marine and Coastal Resources Department to provide training on the protection of marine ecological systems for national park employees so they would have a better understanding of how to take care of the environment.
DNP chief Nipon Chotiban said the department would look at how to manage tourism in the Andaman Sea.
Marine experts, a representative from the Royal Thai Navy, governors from six Andaman-coastal provinces, representatives from the tourism industry, and NGOs would be invited to help authorities come up with measures, he said.
Chonlatid Surasawadi, chief of the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources, said a team would be sent to Koh Tachai to see whether environmental issues there were a result of too many tourists visiting the island.