The Negative Impact of Tourism Industry in Thailand

As tourism is often viewed as one of the biggest industries, many developing countries used it as
a main driver in their economic development. Besides the well-known potential to create beneficial
impact to the country's income, the rapid growth of tourism industry also bring some negative impacts
to the host country. Due to its unique culture, The data from world bank shows that Thailand has
become a huge tourist destination with 39 million tourist in 2019 (World Bank, 2019). Therefore, looking
at the mass tourism in Thailand for destination vacation, the negative impact in terms of environmental,
socio cultural, and economic has emerged.

The most significant impact in terms of environmental is the pollution, solid waste and littering.
Air pollution from visitor traffic has global impacts, in particular CO2 emissions from transport energy
use. For instance, as billions of people migrate abroad, putting strain on local environments and
ecosystems and also contributing to global pollution. This can be seen in Pattaya as one of the tourism
destination in Thailand. Pattaya is considered as unhealthy area in Thailand (Agarwal et al., 2019, p.
137). In this beautiful little town too many tourist buses, vehicles, and heavy roads have contaminated
the air which is bad for the local. Noise pollution also occurring since all parts of Pattaya are constantly
trafficking, the town is too noisy from people, cars, bars, and night clubs. As the visitors increasing in
Thailand, it is no doubt that the waste is also increasing. Due to this, Thailand’s infrastructure was
unable to keep up with it. For example is the waste from the full moon beach party in Koh Phangan. The
waste is expected to leave around twelve tons of debris each day that are mostly deposited or deposited
in the ocean (Komen, 2019). Every year, Thailand generates over 27 million tons of solid waste. Just 58
percent of this total was recycled or properly disposed of in regulated systems. During the tourist season
in Krabi, solid waste produced directly at hotels, tourist attractions, and transportation hubs was
estimated to be 49 tons per day, and during the low season is 28 tons per day (Manomaivibool &
Noithammaraj, 2018, p. 2). Therefore, pollution, solid waste, and littering from the tourism industry can
threaten the environment and the local people by degrading the appearance of the water and shoreline,
as well as causing the death of sea creatures.

In terms the socio-cultural impact, tourism-heavy areas tend to have a higher population
density, which can lead to a rise in crime. Tourists can commit crimes against residents, yet the majority
of tourism related crimes are commited against tourists. Cheating and overcharging have always been
the most widely used form of crime in Thailand (Maria Iitola, 2010). In the areas with the most tourist,
the common crime mostly happened are cheating in taxis, market, and hotels. Typically, this occurs in
the Bangkok region, where tourists are charged a price that is normally twice higher than locals, as well
as taxi drivers who try to scam extra money from tourists by refusing to use a taximeter or driving a
farther route to a destination. Moreover, most tourists who visit the Chao Praya River were
overcharged, and the driver did not take them to as many places as was expected. Also the driver was
arrogant and dishonest, and on the way back, he stopped the boat in the middle of the river to ask for a
tip (Maria Iitola, 2010). As a result, this may have occurred since some people were tempted by the easy
money offered by tourists, leading locals to commit criminal activities such as cheating and
overcharging.

In terms of economy impact, Tourist demand for essential services and products also results in
price increases that are passed on to local residents whose income does not rise in line with the changes
(Stainton, 2020). Tourism development, as well as the resulting increase in real estate demand, could
drive up construction costs and land prices dramatically. Locals in Phuket, Thailand, have been directly
affected by the increasing cost of land and housing, as well as the local residents' costs of living,
including food, water, and electricity bills (Marzuki, 2012). As tourism grows, increased visitor demand
will have a direct impact on the prices and fees of tourism products and services provided in tourist
destinations. When a country becomes dependent on a single industry for economic stability and so
industry fails, the economic impacts can be catastrophic. Southeast Asia's tourism-based economies
would be especially vulnerable during the pandemic. Although tourism industry in Thailand is at the
second after agriculture as the contributor to the country’s income, Thailand remain dependent on
tourism for 11% of its GDP (Chandran, 2020). Areas that heavily depend on tourism are now in the midst
of a serious crisis. Khao San Road usually crowded with its nightlife and filled with bunch of people in the
weekend and street vendors, yet during the pandemic it is now empty which led the vendors to shut
their business (Campbell, 2020). The negative economic impact is seen as the increase of land and
housing, cost of living also the local resident economy who rely on the tourism industry made them shut
down the business and has to think the other way to survived.

In conclusion, the impact of tourism industry is not just the benefits to the local residents such
as high employment and contribution to the country’s income. Other impact also appeared as the
tourism industry developing and created negative impact to the environment, socio cultural, and
economy to the locals. The most significant impact is the pollution, and waste from the mass tourism in
Thailand’s popular destination. Moreover, the easy money provided by tourists enticed the locals,
causing them to engage in illegal activities such as cheating and overcharging. Especially during the
pandemic, the tourism industry's reliance on Thailand as the host country is awfully vulnerable to
economic of the locals where it could led them to shut their business.

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