Title: What happened on ''The Beach''? Social movements and governance of tourism in Thailand

Authors: Tim Forsyth

Addresses: Department of Geography and Environment, London School of Economics, Houghton Street, London WC2A 2AE, UK ' ' '

Abstract: Debates about ecotourism are futile without an understanding of how concepts of ecologically acceptable and unacceptable forms of tourism are developed. This paper assesses the case of public opposition to the filming of the Hollywood film, The Beach, in Thailand on grounds that it caused environmental degradation. Evidence suggests that campaigners overstated the film|s environmental impact in order to empower criticisms of the state. Yet the impact of the overstatement may strengthen other campaigns elsewhere in Thailand to exclude economic activities in national parks. The paper consequently argues that debates about environment and tourism need to assess the underlying implications of the environmental discourse used, and the extent to which this has been democratically constructed.

Keywords: ecotourism; environmental discourse; epiphenomenal; social movements; Thailand.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSD.2002.003756

International Journal of Sustainable Development, 2002 Vol.5 No.3, pp.326 - 337

Published online: 23 Dec 2003 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article