Hanuman

In an effort to stop coral bleaching and destruction the National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department has ordered the closure of most of the major diving sites in Thailand. The closure should last for over a year.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/loca...ve-coral-reefs

Smeagol

Thanks for the update Pook. Whilst I am sure this will be a blow to some travellers, we do owe it to our planet! I am glad to see that the Thai government are doing something about this. Good on them.

crellston

I have dived in Thailand many times and certainly I have witnessed some bad diving practices (divers touching the coral deliberately or just drifting into the reefs because of inexperience etc..) As always this is the responsibility of the dive masters and instructors to curb this practice (but they rarely do). The dive industry in Thailand is really no worse than anywhere else I have dived around the world. I really fail to see how closing some of the reefs will ease the coral bleaching which is caused by a rise in water temperature caused by global warming not divers, or am I missing something?

Hanuman

They were discussing that crellston on the news. The thinking is that by closing the parks they are trying to put the corals sort of in an ICU even if the main cause of the bleaching is global warming. They had inputs from marine biologist, some diving association etc.

As a diver and no matter what skill level you are at, I always see accidental touching of the corals by fins, hands etc. Also a growing popularity in underwater photography, especially the use of flashes have harm the corals as well - IMO.

SueHuml

Hi Pook
Read this today in the BKK Post. I wondered about all the tourists who have already booked dive vacations. Just read about one this week on this site who was spending a week on a dive boat.
Wondering, are the dive sites like the Phi Phi Islands, just crawling with tourists, so much so that the beauty is destroyed?

Last time we were here ( in Thailand) we took the speedboat trip to several well known islands. It was very sad for me as it was so jammed with tourists. Speedboats had to wait for a place to moor that it was so crowded. I hated the fact that I was adding to the spoiling of the original natural beauty.
Sue
Relishing the beauty and quiet of Phuket Island

Hanuman

Sue,

The whole marine national parks will not be closed but only the major dive sites around the parks. Several tour related businesses are already complaining but the closure areas are not that large.

As of right this moment the areas closed can be seen in this link(in Thai but you can get an idea of the location outlined in red): http://www.dnp.go.th/fp_public/file/455Dnpclosedive.pdf

Enforcement is another concern but at least they are trying.

MichaelBKK

Actually, it's not even the major dive sites. In the Similans, just East of Eden and one other site I've never dived are closed. It's been a while since I dived East of Eden. I don't think closing two dive sites is going to impact things much. If they had closed Richlieu Rock or one of the other popular sites, it would have a much bigger impact.

rhkkmk

we will all just have to come to your house and dive off your deck into the river??

khunwilko

Conservation of Thailand's natural resources is important. They are more valuable in themselves than any temporary loss of business.
However one worries that this is a knee-jerk reaction and is not part of a long term plane that looks at all aspects of managing thailand's corals as well as other natural resources.

lets hope that these bans are necessary, effective and enforced. it's no good keeping the divers out if the fishing boats and other interests can still get in.

khunwilko

As if to add insult to injury....

http://www.asianewsnet.net/home/news.php?id=17005

Hanuman

That report is full of errors and IMO is meant as an vengeful attack against the parks department for closing the dive sites.

Foreign visitors pay 400 Baht per person while Thais pay 200 Baht per person. Average park fees = 300 Baht or US$10 per person. To generate the US$32 in bribe, assuming every body pay bribes, total marine national park fees has to be at least $106 per year and that equals to 10.6 million visitors. Thai marine national parks only receive about 150,000 - 200,000 visitors, both local and foreign, per year.

Also, one way for the dive operators or tour guides to avoid the corrupt officials is to pay the full park fees. These guides probably charge the full amount to their customers in the first place. Corruption does exist but I do not believe this report to be accurate.

henrykipson

Thai diving sites provides me useful information about diving but i get closed for one year.Please recommend me best site from where i get useful information.

http://divelogin.com/

khunwilko

As for the alleged corruption...

"Officials pocket Bt1 billion (US$32 million) a year in admission fees

Operators of diving tours and tour guides have exposed corruption at marine national parks in the Andaman Sea.

Graft in the admission fee system is believed to have cost the government Bt1 billion in lost revenue each year.

"The problem has been going on for many years already," the owner of a famous diving-tour company in Phuket said on MOnday, on condition of anonymity.

He said Maya Bay on Phi Phi Island attracted between 50 and 100 boats a day from November 1 to May 30. This meant the number of tourists could be as many as 1,000 per site per day.

The admission fee was Bt400 per person but corrupt officials offered a 30-per-cent discount if operators did not ask for receipts."

Now a probe?

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2011...-30147553.html

"An internal investigation into corruption over admission fees at marine parks is underway, following allegations by tour guides and operators of dive tours that corrupt officials have been pocketing more than Bt1 billion of state revenue each year.
Director-general Sunant Arunnopparat of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) said yesterday that initial results of the inquiry could be detailed next week. He vowed to punish officials implicated by evidence.

The probe is headed by Ratchada Suriyakul Na Ayuthaya, director of the National Parks division.

"We will this week get all details about the graft. The officials who behaved in a scandalous manner will be punished," Sunant said.

The issue was discussed at yesterday's meeting of the House Committee on Natural Resources and Environment, with deputy panel chairman Naris Khamnurak saying he had heard about the graft two years ago. The only action taken was corrupt officials were transferred, but never penalised or prosecuted."

Hanuman

As I've said before - do the math and you will see that the reporting is faulty.