Abstract

Ecotourism has been identified as one of the tourism’s subsector that is fastest growing globally. Ecotourism offers opportunity to the local people in learning and using the area as attractions for the tourists. It’s not only sustain the conservation of the environment, but also improve the welfare of local people, especially people staying within the area. The direct involvement of local community in management of resources area will encourage them to appreciate the value of the resources and fight against any form of misuse or encroachment, as they have the sense of the belonging and responsibility to the area. Thailand is one of rich flora, fauna and cultural diversity country and becoming one of the popular ecotourism destination. According to the definition by the National Parks Act, Thailand has 154 national parks covering an area of 6.24 million hectares, includes both terrestrial and marine parks such as the highest land of Thailand “Doi Inthanon National Park”. This paper highlights the involvement of local community in Doi Inthanon National Park, where there are 9,792 residents living within the national park. Currently, there are four villages has been involved directly in the ecotourism activities of the Doi Inthanon National Park. However, there are no coordination among the groups that involved in the ecotourism activities, which may lead to unsustainable and confuse among the tourist. Realizing that problem, this paper recommends that relevant authorities to coordinate and help local community by providing guidance and capacity building.

Highlights

  • Ecotourism is one of the important and fastest growing sectors in the tourism industry recently

  • Ecotourism should have the criteria, among others be the lowest impact on natural resources in protected areas; participation of various stakeholders included government agencies, communities, tourist, tour operators etc. in planning, development, implementation and monitoring; respecting local culture and traditions; sustainable and fair income for local communities and other stakeholders, including private tourism operators; educate all stakeholders to make their contribution to soil and water conservation (Sheryl and Geoffrey,1999)

  • The term ecology is often used to refer to small-scale enterprises and operations, the principle of sustainable tourism applies to all types and all forms of tourism, from mass tourism to niche markets (IUCN and Kuoni, 2012)

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Summary

1.Introduction

Ecotourism is one of the important and fastest growing sectors in the tourism industry recently. In order to solve this problem and maintain the conservation status in Doi Inthanon National Park, the National Park Office promote local communities to be involved in ecotourism activities. Pha Mon Village and Nong Lom Village have the same management system from Thailand Research Fund to support village’s leaders to do research under the project of ―Sustainable Ecotourism and Cultural by Pha Mon Village, Doi Inthanon National Park, Chom Thong District, Chiangmai Province, Thailand‖ They learn about community-based ecotourism, the potential, knowledge, strength and how to develop and manage it. The committee is responsible for the management and planning of ecotourism activities, discussions with the group members, cooperation and coordination with the third parties including National Park Office, local government, NGOs, travel agency and tourists.

Conclusion
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