The local government instituted the fee in conjunction with a biodiversity financing initiative called BIOFIN, under the United Nations Development Program. Visitors are met by a banner proclaiming the fee - 20 baht, or about 55 cents, the price of a can of soda - in Thai and English stating that it is for “port management, waste management and the conservation of the environment, nature and biodiversity on Koh Tao.” But under the spotlights of the warehouselike Green Mango nightclub, young Westerners filled more than half the dance floor and tables.Īmong the changes awaiting them is a new tourist user fee that Koh Tao imposed in April. Most of the back alley bars with young Thai women in revealing outfits calling out, “Hello, welcome,” were deserted in late August. On the commercial strip behind Chaweng Beach, where many of the businesses on the outskirts were vacant recently, the walking street known as Soi Green Mango was straining to get its mojo back. But regulations limit the height of buildings to 12 meters, or three stories, so the developments are agreeably low slung, and the island has retained elements of pristine isolation in some areas of the south and west, like in Talig Ngam and in the middle of the island, where the tropical forest is dotted with waterfalls. Once a haven for fishermen and coconut farmers, the island of 88 square miles, now with smooth roads winding over steep hills with sweeping views of the arcing shoreline, is densely developed on the east coast, including key beaches of Chaweng, Lamai and Bophut. And like many places in the region, before the pandemic it was becoming increasingly popular with Chinese tourists, with an influx of 300,000 in 2019, or about 13 percent of the 2.4 million total visitors to Koh Samui. It’s as much a magnet for the wealthy staying in mountainside condos or Six Senses as it is for budget travelers, who can spend from around $10 to $25 a night at hostels and cheap hotels, and just a few dollars on a local dish like chicken and rice or pad Thai. In a certain sense, Koh Samui is emblematic of the transformation of segments of Thailand and Southeast Asia from unspoiled and bountiful landscapes into jam-packed tourism playgrounds, complete with all the trappings of Western self-gratification, from sprawling luxury resorts to Hard Rock Cafes to Hooters. Turning unspoiled landscapes into tourist playgrounds
“I thought it would maybe be more crowded,” said Daniel Lundgrun, who was strolling with three other young Germans on a quiet terrace under the Big Buddha statue on the north side of Koh Samui. (On land, they’re also smelling the pungent smoke of marijuana, after Thailand legalized weed in June.)
In the meantime, tourists on the three-island circuit of Koh Samui, Koh Phangan and Koh Tao in the Gulf of Thailand were still getting to marvel at the clearer water and the fish, turtles and sharks that materialized around the islands during the pandemic lull. The industry is not going to come close to that peak until China, which contributed a quarter of foreign arrivals before Covid, drops its draconian zero-Covid policies and frees its citizens to travel again.
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Thailand dropped its remaining “Thai Pass” Covid-19 registration and restrictions in July, and the government is aiming for 10 million visitors this year - a substantial number, but just a quarter of the 2019 record. And behind the explosions of signs for diving schools, snorkeling tours and motorbike rentals, a number of business fronts were empty or shuttered. While travelers crowded the dock for the arrival of the afternoon ferry, only one catamaran company was running in August, instead of the usual three, with fewer boats. On Koh Tao, as throughout Thailand and much of Southeast Asia, tourism’s comeback has been slow. And when the mostly white, mostly European travelers, many of them families, filed into the searing sunshine one afternoon in late August and onto Koh Tao’s weathered wooden pier, it was crammed with travelers waiting under a long blue canopy to board.īut looks can be deceiving. The double-decker catamaran was nearly full, the bow and main cabin piled with backpacks and roller bags as the 300-plus-seat boat cut through the glittering azure sea. On the high-speed ferry from Koh Samui, one of Thailand’s biggest islands, to the smaller neighbor of Koh Tao, known for its budget scuba diving and snorkeling and idyllic beaches and bays, it seemed like old times.
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