A deluge of tourists from Bangkok has put residents, including fireflies, along Klong Amphawa, one of the most popular tourist destinations in Samut Songkhram, in trouble due to poor management and a lack of proper policy.

Loud noise and spotlights in the middle of the night breaking their peaceful sleep have forced more and more residents along Amphawa Klong to cut down the lampoo trees in front of their houses.

"The tree naturally attracts fireflies, and the fireflies attract tourists. The problem is the firefly tours continue until late, sometimes up to midnight," one resident of Amphawa explained.

"How can you get proper sleep when loud engines or noisy tourist chatter disturbs you every 10 or 15 minutes? Often I wake up in the middle of the night due to the sudden spotlights," the resident said.

The disturbance from tourists has also driven the fireflies away from the shore area where they normally live, she added.

Firefly trips have been booming for two years now in Amphawa due to the efficient promotion of the area by local authorities and the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT). From less than a few hundred two years ago, thousands of boats now operate tourist trips in the area. This is partly due to the rising number of overnight tourists following the rapid growth of homestays.

There are now more than 270 resorts and homestays on the banks of Klong Amphawa, where there were only 30 homestays before, a local resident said.

"Fortunately, the tourist season hits only three days a week, beginning on Friday afternoon and finishing late Sunday night," another local resident said.

Apart from firefly trips, two magnets at Amphawa are the floating market every Friday, Saturday and Sunday evening and homestays with their related activities such as fishing and visiting fruit orchards.

"The tourism problems are growing significantly," local researcher Siriwat Khantharos said. Apart from the disturbance to local residents and the fireflies, the problems include an increasing amount of garbage, "especially those foam food and drink containers", he said.

"There is no policy to manage that waste, including toxic household waste. All the local authority does is simply hire some private trucks to carry it out of the area and dump it openly on private land in Thonburi's Pak Thor area," Siriwat explained. The tourism pie grows bigger for businesses in Amphawa as the number of visitors grows. The price of a room has jumped from Bt500 per month to Bt3000, he said. It puts pressure on the poor who live in the area.

Another social problem is new conflicts amongst residents in the community who have become rivals seeking a slice of the tourism pie by running boat trips, or selling food, drinks and souvenirs.

A shortage of parking space is another growing problem as well as the increased bank erosion due to more boat traffic along the attractive canal, he added.

"The problem is that tourists have flooded into the area at a rapid rate and we were not well prepared for it," Surajit Chirawate, president of Samut Songkhram's Chamber of Commerce, explained.

"We encouraged tourists without being prepared for the consequences," he said.

Amphawa ranks amongst the top five destinations for the TAT since it rose to popularity in 2005 with the strong support of its mayor.

With the power of the Internet and word-of-mouth communications, Amphawa has become a top choice for Bangkok residents who have short holidays. They look for economical trips to see country life, especially the mix of fruit-farming and fishing.

"Three main things bring Bangkok people to Amphawa. It's only 65 kilometres from the capital, it has rural charm, and it has fireflies," Thanes Maneesrikham, owner of Ban Klangsuan homestay said.

Personally, Thanes said he would prefer to see "real" community-based tourism in Amphawa, rather than the mass tourism that masquerades as "eco" or "agro" tourism that is offered now.

"I would like to see us villagers retain our daily life and provide some opportunities for tourists to witness and experience our normal activities, learning our traditions and culture, rather than just seeing us as a tourist product. If they come here they should be prepared to learn our way of life, not demand that we change to serve their desires. It is a new sort of tourism," Thanes explained.

"At my resort I clearly explain to visitors beforehand that we do not welcome those who expect to come here with loud music and think we will serve them everything they want. This is a homestay in an orchard, not a luxury resort in an artificial garden," he added.

Surajit agreed.

"Communities along the Maeklong should embrace tourism as a reason to keep their traditional way of life. The area has high potential in many ways to develop ecotourism and agrotourism," he said.

Maeklong communities are in the smallest province of Samut Songkhram, through which flows the big Maeklong River. For 23 kilometres it connects with 391 canals and over 2,000 other waterways. Their location at the mouth of the river basin creates many unique attractions in the area, including tasty fruit and fish, traditional professions and a productive ecosystem. "Water brings fertile land to us. The best river and sea fish gather here naturally, and the soil gives the fruit a delicious taste. The daily ebb and flow of water means our farms need no chemical fertilisers or pesticides," he explained.

"Our people traditionally include both farmers and fishermen. The mouth of the river has huge biological diversity. The sea here is the colour of clay, not beautiful like the waters in the South, but we have a different kind of beauty for those who are willing to appreciate it," Surajit said.

"This represents great capital to run ecotourism or agrotourism. Today the direction of tourism in Amphawa is right, but in practice its sustainability is in doubt," he said.

Surajit said that tourism for Amphawa and Maeklong residents must be only part of their normal way of life.

"Ideally, farmers would have five days working the fields and then allow two days to receive visitors who pay to experience country life at a reasonable rate. Villagers would provide a normal room and food to those visitors and earn money to invest back into their farms," he explained.

Surajit said today's Amphawa farmers were facing a shortage of labour while their traditional fruit-farming and fishing needed intensive labour. Younger family members are leaving the district for higher education or work in the city.

"So they need some extra income to keep their traditional way of life, which is largely self-sufficient," he said. Political will, especially from the local authority, is needed to make this dream come true, Surajit said.

"I still see little hope for it today. Local decision-makers, various authorities and even the TAT still show no sign of recognising the harm arising from the aggressive promotion of tourism in Amphawa, despite the obvious growth of the problem," he said.

Local homestay-owner Thanes expressed concern that the rural charm of Amphawa would be overtaken more and more by "unpleasant" activities due to the change in business ownership and heavy debt.

"The ownership of tourism businesses here is more and more moving into the hands of a younger generation who are indifferent to the real charm of Amphawa. They see the charm as a product rather than part of communities which require participation in development. The high pressure from their investment and the need to repay debt forces them to seek fast money. An policy is urgently needed to stop this worrying trend if we want tourism in Amphawa to be a long-term thing," Thanes said.

Kamol Sukin

The Nation

Samut Songkhram