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Shining Mai Khao Promoting Ecotourism in Mai Khao, Phuket, Thailand via Youth Capacity Building “Tourists come, Turtles stay”

Motto Hikaru Sonida - Cambodia/ Anggun-Indonesia/ Yus-Malaysia/ Daniel-Myanmar/ Som-Thailand/ Chi-Vietnam

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TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3 TEAM INTRODUCTION 3

TEAM NAME AND LOGO 4

GROUP DISCUSSION PROCESS 5

MAI KHAO BACKGROUND INFORMATION 10 Basic Information of Mai Khao 10 The Current Socio-economic Challenges in Mai Khao 14 Turtle Conservation and Environment Programmes in Mai Khao 199 Existing Programmes and The Current Gap 21

PROJECT DESCRIPTION 22 Learning Method 23 Project Implementation Planning 23 Project Preparation Timeline 24 Activity Description 25 Outcomes and Outputs 31

COST ESTIMATION AND FUNDING SOURCES 34

CONCLUSION 37

REFERENCES 39

APPENDIXES 41

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1.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Phuket is a world-renowned experiencing tourist destination in Thailand. This island

had went through rapid infrastructural development to cater to progressively

increasing number of foreign tourists over the last decade. Phuket had experienced

development of hotels, resorts and other facilities to cater increasing number of

visitors and provided numerous economic opportunities to the majority of Phuket’s

local inhabitants. However, these developments came at a cost especially on the

island’s environmental and cultural heritage as well as the society’s other attributes.

Unlike the rest of Phuket, Mai Khao is an area which is located far from the Phuket

City Centre and is regarded to be the last natural beach in Phuket due to its proximity

to the Sirinath National Park and relatively low number of tourists. Mai Khao is also

facing its own challenges especially on the environment degradation and youth

social mobility. The Shining Mai Khao project proposed in this report aims to

investment in Mai Khao’s social capital by providing the necessary foundation of

knowledge and skills for youth in Mai Khao effectively allowing them to act as agents

of change in the society. This four-day capacity building programme to promote

ecotourism in Mai Khao envisaged the creation of a sustainable society that can

harness Mai Khao’s sense of identity, unique cultural heritage and natural

environment for ecotourism as well as development of other tourism products

including handicrafts, as part of a long journey towards a sustainable future

2.0 TEAM INTRODUCTION

Figure 1. Motto Hikaru Team Members

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Motto Hikaru team is comprised of six members and they are from different countries and

backgrounds. Ms. Sokchea Sonida (Nida) is from Cambodia and she is a recruitment

manager of “Recruiting & Learning Delivery Department”, Manulife Cambodia PLC. Ms.

Anggun Pesona Intan Puspita (Anggun) is from Indonesia and she is a lecturer and

community service program coordinator from PPM School of Management. Mr. Yusrizam

Sharifuddin (Yus) from Malaysia is an academic in UM. Mr. Zaw Tu Hkawng (Daniel) is

from Myanmar and he is a managing director of the “Rehabilitation Center for Youth”

which is running under the “Harvest Evangelical Ministry”. Ms. Katinasamit Kamonchaok

(Som) is from Thailand and she is a Judge of the Phuket Provincial Court. Ms Nguyen

Minh Thinh (Chi) is from Vietnam and she is a founder and director of Cuong Thinh BLV

Social Co., Ltd.

3.0 TEAM NAME AND LOGO

The team name is “Motto Hikaru” made of two Japanese words. “Motto” means “More”

and “Hikaru” means “Shining”. Therefore, it can literally be translated as “More Shining”.

In other words, “Keep Shining and Shining”. Figure 2 is a logo of team “Motto Hikaru” and

the six stars represents the six team members and the turtle represents the Mai Khao

Beach as it is well-known for turtles’ nesting areas. Team members aspire to make Mai

Khao beach to keep on shining.

Figure 2. Motto Hikaru Logo

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4.0 GROUP DISCUSSION PROCESS

The goal of this proposed projects is to promote ecotourism in Mai Khao, Phuket via youth

capacity building. There are three main objectives of this project which can be

represented as three important keywords namely, awareness, skills and inclusivity.

Firstly, the project aims to raise awareness among younger generation in Mai Khao on

ecotourism and sustainable community. “Skills” represented the project’s objective of

building the capacity for younger generation on ecotourism through experiential learning

and the final objective is to promote inclusivity among local tourism stakeholders such as

hotels, local authorities, turtle conservation and non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

Figure 3. Supply and Demand Compound Annual Growth in Phuket

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Table 1. Project Link to Sustainable Development Goals

The project’s objectives can be linked to three closely related Sustainable Development

Goals (SDGs) namely Goal 8 on Decent Work and Economic Growth, Goal 11 on

Sustainable Cities and Communities, and also Goal 14 on Life Below Water as shown in

Figure 3. Table 1 shows cross-linking between the project’s objectives and the

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The objectives on raising awareness and

promoting inclusivity can be linked to all SDGs 8, 11 and 14 goals whereas the second

objective addresses SDGs 8 and 14 goals’ respectively. Further elaboration on the link

between the project’s objectives and SDGs reveal the importance of achieving the

intended overall goal of this project. The Shining Mai Khao project intended to create

employment opportunities via ecotourism by focusing on unique natural and cultural

heritage of Mai Khao in a sustainable manner. Such employment opportunities should be

of equal pay for work of equal value and are accessible to men and women, as well as

youth and persons with disabilities.

As Phuket is rapidly developing and construction of hotels and resorts are constantly

ongoing, it is very important to protect and safeguard Mai Khao’s natural and cultural

heritage. Development of Mai Khao should be pursued sustainably. Positive

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environmental and socio-economic links between Mai Khao and other sub-districts or

nearby areas should also be promoted by involving multiple stakeholders. Mai Khao is a

beach which is regarded as one of the last natural beach in Phuket, located within the

Sirinath National Park and one of the landing sites for turtle nesting area. However, due

to environmental degradation and littering, the landing sites in Mai Khao witnessed

decreased number of turtles. Therefore, as part of the project’s objectives and SDG Goal

14 in conserving and sustainably use marine coastline and marine resources. As marine

turtle is unique to Mai Khao and can be effectively use as unique icon or attraction as well

as promotional mascot, this necessitates the need to manage and protect marine and

coastal ecosystems in a sustainable manner to avoid significant adverse impacts and

take action for their restoration in order to achieve healthy and productive oceans.

Furthermore, littering must be stopped and it is important to prevent and significantly

reduce all marine pollution especially from land-based human activities.

Throughout the IATSS Forum Programme, the team had obtained numerous learning

points which are useful for implementation in crafting this project. The takeaway and

learning points drawn from the seminars and field trips to Kobe, Kyoto, Toba and

Sugashima Island were taken into consideration. The Shining Mai Khao project team had

discussed and listing the takeaway points that can be applied to the Mai Khao local

community includes:

● Increasing the awareness on sustainable development and sustainable

community;

● Importance of preserving local cultural and natural heritage for future generations;

● Preservation of local cultural and natural heritage via sustainable ecotourism;

● Identification and cultivation of unique local features and attractions as

differentiating factors for sustainable development via tourism;

● Increasing the awareness, sense of values and sense of belonging among local

population towards the city and local area;

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● Highlighting the importance of environmental assets in sustainable development.

Figure 4. Learning Points from IATSS Forum

As represented in Figure 5, from various field trips especially to Toba city field trip on the

preservation of Ama culture and natural resources, as well as Yokkaichi’s air-pollution

cases; the project team paid high attention on how craft a possible solution to balance

between economic growth and environmental preservation. In order to pursue socio-

economic development, there is always a risk of compromising of environmental

preservation in those particular areas, including in the tourism industry. With this reason,

the project team is trying to put more focus to promote ecotourism initiative contributing

to economic growth at the same time protected the natural resources.

Figure 5. Group Study Discussion Leading to Ecotourism Topic

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Figure 6. Supply and Demand Compound Annual Growth in Phuket

Figure 7. Supply and Demand Compound Annual Growth in Phuket

Figure 8. Supply and Demand Compound Annual Growth in Phuket

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During the course of discussion and background reading, it was discovered that Phuket

had experienced more than three times increase in the arrival of tourists since 2006 and

there was an 11% growth of total tourist arrival in Phuket in 2016 with 9% increase in

hotel room numbers across Phuket. There has always been steady increase of tourist

and hotel room supply and as Figure 6 shows, for the year 2015 to 2016, there were more

than 30,000 additional hotel rooms made available in hotels across Phuket within a one-

year period. In Mai Khao, there is currently only 28 hotels offering around 2,165 rooms

for tourists and during the high tourist season especially during the first half of the year,

room occupancy rate can be high. For example, during the first half of 2015, 78% of the

hotel rooms in Mai Khao were occupied as highlighted in Figure 8. Therefore, to ensure

development is being pursued responsibly in Mai Khao to cater for future influx of tourists,

sustainable development involving various stakeholders in Mai Khao should be pursued

to avoid repeating the same uncontrolled development which can be potentially damaging

to the environment in Mai Khao especially the marine turtle nesting areas.

5.0 MAI KHAO BACKGROUND INFORMATION

5.1 Basic Information of Mai Khao, Phuket, Thailand

Mai Khao is a sub-district (Tambon) of Thalang District (Amphoe) in Phuket Province, an

island in the southern part of Thailand. Mai Khao is located in the northernmost part of

Phuket. As of April 2017, Mai Khao comprises of 7 villages with 13,079 inhabitants.

People in Mai Khao are 60% Buddhist Thai, 35% Muslim Thai, 3% Christian Thai, and

2% Moken/Sea Gypsy. The main occupation is in agriculture (rubber field and pineapple

farm), taxi drivers, hotel employees and in fishery industry.1

The west coast of Mai Khao connects to Andaman Sea which is called Mai Khao Beach.2

It is the most popular tourist attraction in Mai Khao. This 11 kilometre-long straight beach

1https://th.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%B8%95%E0%B8%B3%E0%B8%9A%E0%B8%A5%E0%B9%84%E0%B8%A1%E0%B9%89%E0%B8%82%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%A7 2http://www.maikhaow.go.th/index.php?options=general2

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is still undeveloped as it is part of the Sirinat National Park.3 That is why Mai Khao Beach

was regarded as the only remaining natural beach in Phuket.4

5.2 The Current Socio-economic Situation in Phuket As shown in Figure 9, there were 13.41 million tourists visiting Phuket in 2016.5 71% were

foreign tourists. The number increased 1.57% from the previous year.6 As a consequence

of being a popular tourist destination, Phuket is encountering several challenges including

degradation of natural environment due to rapid development, economic issues such as

domination of foreign capital and foreign ownership via nominees as well as social issues

including the increasing risk of losing local cultural identity.

Figure 9. Number of Passengers Arriving in Phuket International Airport in 2016

3http://www.phuket.com/island/mai-khao-beach.htm#promo 4http://www.bangkokbiznews.com/news/detail/705991 5http://phuket.nso.go.th/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=373&Itemid=636 6 Ibis.

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5.2.1 Environmental Issues 5.2.1.1 Degradation of Natural Environment:

The beautiful scenery of Phuket has been attracting a large number of investors, both

national and foreign, to venture in tourism industry through the construction of hotels,

resorts, and restaurants. Since the beginning of the tourism development in Phuket, many

land titles had been issued illegally in the forest areas and have been transferred to many

beneficiaries that it is difficult to revoke.

5.2.1.2 Endangered Marine Species:

All of the local marine habitats, including coral reef, mangrove forest, and the pelagic

environment, are currently suffering impacts from various economic activities that

contribute to the economic prosperity of Phuket and the region, including commercial

over-fishing, shrimp-farming, sedimentation, pollution, marine litter and coastal erosion.

Five species of sea turtle nest on islands in Thai waters - leatherbacks, green turtles,

loggerheads, hawksbills and ridleys. All of these are endangered species and they are

less frequently sighted every year. Aside from more than 30 recorded species of sea

snakes, the only other marine reptile in the region is the brackish-water crocodile, virtually

extinct, a species which inhabits mangrove swamps and river estuaries along the

southern peninsula. Even the pelagic environment, perhaps the least vulnerable of these

habitats, has been so intensively fished since the introduction of trawl-net fishing in 1962

that commercial fisheries are threatened with being fished past their maximum

sustainable yield.7

5.2.2. Economic Issues 5.2.2.1 Dominance of Foreign Capital:

Many local businesses in Phuket is now taken over by foreign entrepreneurs. Currently,

when the foreign tourists come to Phuket, the tour will be led by foreign travel agency and

the restaurants, souvenir shop, and resorts they visit will be the local ones that the

nationals of their respective countries are de facto owners. Hence, local people do not

7 Phuket Sustainability Indicator Report 2013

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benefit or make profit from tourism industry anymore. Although Thai law prohibits

foreigners to operate certain types of business in Thailand, including travel agency,

foreign investors avoid that law by hiring Thai nominees. In the past, Rawai fish market

in Rawai Beach was really famous because tourists could buy fish freshly caught by Sea

Gypsy people and carry to the restaurants nearby to have them cooked. However, the

fish stalls are now owned by foreigners and the Sea Gypsy people become their

employees. The reason why this situation happened in Phuket might be because some

local people are still poor. Furthermore, without strong sense of belonging to Mai Khao

and economic strength, they are vulnerable to capitalism.

5.2.3 Social Issues 5.2.3.1 Losing Cultural Identity:

Economic dominance by foreign capital also subsequently results in the loss of cultural

identity. An interview with a local gives one insightful information regarding the recent

example for that. A local revealed that because of the popularity of the Erawan Shrine in

Bangkok, the similar Hindu shrine became popular among foreign tourists as well. Thus,

the tour agency built a Hindu Shrine in Buddhist Temples in exchange of a permission

from the temple to operate a souvenir shop inside in order to attract their customers. This

practice is gradually increased in Phuket which substantially destroys the cultural identity

Buddhist temples. Figures 10 and 11 below show the comparison.

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Figure 10. Erawan Hindu Shrine in Bangkok

Figure 11. Buddhist Temple in Phuket

5.3 The Current Socio-economic Challenges in Mai Khao

5.3.1 Low Popularity Figure 12 shows th map of Thailand andPhuket, showing the location of Mai Khao. Mai

Khao is located 10 kilometres from Phuket International Airport but far from the city centre

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and other famous beaches e.g. Patong, Karon, Rawai (approximately 35 kilometres or an

hour by car.) This results in less popularity of Mai Khao compared to other beaches in

Phuket. Another factor that makes Mai Khao unpopular or relatively quiet is that only a

short distance out into the water, there is a sharp drop off into the Andaman Sea, making

swimming dangerous from May to November.8 Out of 3,436 hotels in Phuket, only 28 of

them are located in Mai Khao.9

Figure 12a. Map of Thailand Figure 12b. Map of Phuket Province

8 http://www.phuket.com/island/mai-khao-beach.htm#promo 9 www.booking.com

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Figure 13. Map of Mai Khao

5.3.2 Endangered Turtle Species In the past, Mai Khao Beach was a nesting areas of the giant leatherback turtles or

Mafuang turtles. The number of turtles and turtle eggs found in Mai Khao area has been

drastically decreased over the recent years. The main causes were assumed to be the

installation of fishing equipment and plastic littering which was accidentally eaten by the

turtles.10 The leatherback turtle was last seen at Mai Khao Beach in 2010 with some of

its eggs, but unfortunately, none of the eggs was hatched.11 Now in Mai Khao Beach,

there are many projects launched with respect to turtle conservation, for example, building

turtle shelter. However, to breed and then release turtles back into the sea was criticised

as an inefficient preserving method.12 The best way to preserve the rare leatherback turtle

is likely to be the protection of the natural nesting areas, reduce the use of plastic and

keeping the beach clean, to which is the practice that everyone is capable .13

10 http://www.bangkokbiznews.com/news/detail/705991 11 Ibis. 12 http://www.dnp.go.th/park/sara/turtle/07-turtle.htm 13 Ibis, http://www.bangkokbiznews.com/news/detail/705991

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Figure 14. A leatherback turtle observed in Mai Khao beach in 2010

5.3.3 Cleanliness Due to the least popularity and tourist promotion strategies, Mai Khao beach is often

forgotten and hardly receives the mass media attention. There is a small proportion of

local and foreign tourists come and stay to enjoy the Phuket International Airport scenery

– at the same time – they polluted the beach with their left behind trashes. From the

questionnaire survey with one local hotel operator of Coriacea Resort at Mai Khao beach,

it was found out that waste management system is not fully implemented and least

number of environmental authority to pay attention on the littering locations as well. The

littering matter in Mai Khao beach is getting progressively more serious as shown in

Figure 15 and dangerous matters for the community people who live around those areas

and it is also contribute to the decrease number of turtle population.

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Figure 15. Littering in Mai Khao14

5.3.4 Local Industry Local products of Mai Khao are known as shrimp paste, plastic bags, batik bags, fragrant

soap, etc.15 In this regard, Thailand has launched a local entrepreneurship stimulus

programme since 2001 titled “One Tambon (Sub-district) One Product”, which was

originally derived from Japan’s One Village One Product (OVOP) campaign. This program

has been achieving considerable success in making local products sellable in global

market. There are some OTOPs from Mai Khao being promoted on OTOP’s official

website, as shown in Figure 16, such as handmade Batik clothes and shirts.16 However,

none of them looks promising due to several factors with the main drawback being lack

of uniqueness, thereby affecting it value, not attractive and not competitive in the tourism

market. Furthermore, from an interview with a local hotel operator in Mai Khao, she said

that Mai Khao has no local handicraft, but the locals sometimes produce some edible

products from seafood preservation. Accordingly, more OTOP ideas should be initiated

and properly promoted for Mai Khao residents in order to increase job opportunities as

well.

14 https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g293920-d1149585-r339133214-Mai_Khao_Beach-Phuket.html#REVIEWS 15 http://www.maikhaow.go.th/index.php?options=otop 16 http://www.thaitambon.com/tambon/830305

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Figure 16. Mai Khao’s OTOPs as Appeared on the OTOP Website

5.4 Awareness on Ecotourism One of the issues in Mai Khao is the lack of awareness among the local population on

ecotourism. Based on the data from Bunna (2009), out of 400 inhabitants surveyed, it

was found that 78% locals never receive training on sustainable tourism from relevant

organization, 68% locals never receive information on sustainable tourism, 72% locals

never receive sustainable tourism information from local government. Furthermore, the

3-year development plan that has been implemented by local government was concluded

as not able to achieve sustainable tourism. By this information, we concluded that there

was an urgency to increase awareness and implement capacity building program on

ecotourism.

5.5 Turtle Conservation and Environment Programmes in Mai Khao

It is very pleasing to see some of the activities and programmes that are related to the

environmental protection in Mai Khao. Annually, the local communities, hotel staff,

government officers, and people from non-governmental organizations celebrate “Mai

Khao Marine Turtle Release” event since 2009 in order to raise fund and awareness about

the endangered sea creatures- Turtles among the communities and the international

tourists. People can donate 5000 THB to release one turtle and which really attracts

people to donate more for the event. This year, they have just celebrated the “8th Annual

Mai Khao Marine Turtle Release 2017” in April 13, 2017 and the event went successfully

well.

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Another interesting way of promoting environmental protection for Mai Khao by the local

government is “Turtle Fun Run”. Local communities, hotel staffs and the international

and local travelers are invited to join and just recently the “13th Turtle Fun Run” event has

done amazingly well and which was on October 8, 2017. The purpose behind the event

is to raise awareness about the environmental issue in their local communities. In fact, it

was very engaging, fun, and productive event to project the importance of preserving

environment.

Under the theme “World Ocean Days 2017”, the locals are gathering to collect rubbishes

along the Mai Khao beach and clean the beach together. Beach and reef cleaning,

recycling project and mangrove tree planning are wonderful activities that have been done

by the Mai Khao Marine Turtle Foundation (MKMTF). With the initial donation of 45, 000

US dollar from JW Marriott Phuket Resort and Spa and the Minor Hotel Group, the

foundation started in 2002. In addition, many other hotels such as Marriott Vacation Club

International and Anantara Hotels and Resorts are committed to raise funds for the

foundation in order to do more on Marine Conservation.

Mai Khao beach is well-known for its welcoming nesting turtles and therefore eggs are

rescued and given to the Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC) and PMBC gives an

intensive care for them. In addition, Royal Thai Navy provides a safe home and

environment for the eggs to incubate and the newly growing turtles to be able to grow day

by day before they return to their home- SEA. All those activities that are mentioned above

are funded by the Turtle Foundation. 17

17 http://www.maikhaomarineturtlefoundation.org

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5.6 Existing Programmes and The Current Gap

Figure 17. Current Gap in Existing Programmes

Figure 17 shows the current gap that needs to be bridged in order to achieve the

sustainable community in Mai Khao. There is always room for improvement and the Mai

Khao beach is no exception. The way the existing activities and programmes addresses

the environmental issue is selectively and it seems “Hit and Run” project. For instance,

“Turtle Fun Run 13th” is a big event but the next day people already forget the objective

of celebrating the event. Therefore, it should be addressed holistically.

In terms of raising awareness and funds to preserve the marine creatures like turtle, the

local communities, hotels and non-governmental organization like “The Mai Khao Marine

Turtle Foundation” have done wonderfully. However, in order to achieve the sustainable

community in Mai Khao and it is impossible to overlook the educational part and that’s

where the Shining Mai Khao project is aimed at bridging the current gap. Therefore, the

project will promote the ecotourism in Mai Khao by educating young people who will then

act as agents of change, increasing awareness and mindset of older generation as well

as the local community. Therefore, the concept of the project is addressing the

environmental issue holistically and achieving the sustainable community in Mai Khao

through education.

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6.0 SHINING MAI KHAO: PROJECT DESCRIPTION The name of the project is Shining Mai Khao and the goal of this project is to promote

ecotourism in Mai Khao, Thailand via Youth Capacity Building. Youth capacity building

program will be used as a tool in promoting awareness about the importance of

maintaining the balance of developing economic while preserving environment and local

traditions. The objectives of these activities are:

1) Raising awareness among young generation on ecotourism and sustainable community. Mai Khao is facing environmental and social sustainability related

issues. Local people do not want to work in Mai Khao because they think there are

not many jobs and business opportunities available. Through seminar on tourism in

general and on Mai Khao in particular, the four-day workshop provides students with

knowledge of sustainable tourism and current tourism situation in Mai Khao, thus

building awareness to younger generation.

2) Capacity building for younger generation on ecotourism through experiential learning. Many alternatives of tourist attractions and experience in Mai Khao have

not been fully explored yet. According to a local resort owner in Mai Khao, ecotourism

trend is still developing. However, the integrated ecotourism service has not been

developed as one of Mai Khao unique selling point. Therefore, introducing ecotourism

and necessary tools for service development is necessary to younger generations.

Through experiential learning method participants can internalize the subject, try by

themselves, and reflect on what they have learned during the day.

3) Promote inclusivity among local tourism stakeholders. Through this program, all

the stakeholders will be involved in taking part of each activity. This is needed to give

clear image to all the participants on how the stakeholders working and collaborating

each other. This project also needed to give more awareness of the inclusiveness

and connection among the stakeholders.

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6.1 Learning Methods

Shining Mai Khao programme shall include three main learning methods:

1) Seminars Four seminars on different topics will provide an opportunity for participants to

learn about Mai Khao and the current challenges in Mai Khao; an understanding of

working in Tourism and Hospitality industries; and opportunity to learn about business

skills and OTOP movements. Lecturers of the Seminars are business leaders and

professors from leading universities in Thailand.

2) Field Studies After gaining an understanding of tourism in Mai Khao and its current challenges

as well as knowledge of Tourism and Hospitality industries, participants will visit travel

company, hotel, ecotourism projects to see how these facilities work in practice.

3) Skills Training

In addition to Seminar and Field Study, participants will also receive basic training

on English skills, Customer service skills and Communication skills that will help them to

decide if they can work in Tourism and Hospitality industries.

6.2 Project Implementation Planning

The project will be carried out in 4 days of workshop and training program targeted 15

young people around 18 - 25 years old in Mai Khao and some sub districts around the

area. The reason behind choosing the young people are 1) Young people are at the stage

of reaching ideal self and thought, so that it will be easier to give new knowledge and

skills to that particular group, 2) Young people around that age are reaching university or

college stage, means that they are already acquired basic knowledge, 3) young people

around that age are at the stage of figuring out the career choice and plan, so that this

program will effectively reach their aspirations.

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In this project, several potential stakeholders will be involved to deliver various skills

training and knowledge, also career descriptions available in hospitality and tourism

industry. These collaborations will enrich participants’ point of view as they come from

different backgrounds and experience. The potential stakeholders involved in this projects

are hotels and tour operators, government, NGOs/NPOs, local communities, and youth

associations.

Collaboration between stakeholders is not only for workshop purpose only, but also in

promotion the activity, recruitment, and selection process. Those activities will be

undergone together between the Motto Hikaru Team and youth associations.

6.3 Project Preparation Timeline

Figure 18. A Project Preparation Timeline

Figure 18 is a project preparation timeline and it aims to start at the end of September

and the beginning of October 2018. Many preparations will be made in order to make an

effective and efficient project. Therefore, a location survey will be done at the February,

2018 and then coordination with partners will begin at the March, 2018. After that, the

coordination process with local communities will be carried out at May, 2018 and project

promotion will be take place at June, 2018. In August, 2018, the recruitment process of

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the project will begin. After the project activities, the impact assessment (PDCA) will be

followed up.

6.4 Activity Description

Main activities of four-day workshop include:

Day 1:

Figure 19. Day 1 Main Activities

Session 1 of Day 1: Orientation and Team Building

• Purpose To build initial understanding about the program and build teamwork as well as

mutual understanding between the participants.

• Activity Description Orientation will be the first activity in the morning. This is very important because

before all the activities will be run for 4 days, participants should have the same

image of the overall activities, what are the outputs we expected from them, and

the basic commitment they have to implant. The orientation will be followed by

team building that consists of several games for group setting.

• Stakeholder involved Motto Hikaru team will lead the overall activities.

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Session 2 of Day 1: Introduction of Mai Khao • Purpose

To build understanding about current Mai Khao situation, opportunities, and

challenges in tourism and hospitality industries

• Activity Description This lecturer session will cover the whole basic and important information about

Mai Khao area, demographic and geographic data, as well as sociographic and

tourism area. This session will also introduce several challenges and opportunities

faced by Mai Khao.

• Stakeholder Involved

This session will be delivered by Open-minded Project, an NGO which focuses on

ecotourism projects in Phuket.

Session 3 of Day 1: Introduction of Tourism & Hospitality

• Purpose

To give an introduction of Hospitality and Tourism Industry so that participants will

be able to decide if they can work in these industries.

• Activity Description At this seminar, lecturers who are professionals working in Tourism and Hospitality

industries will provide participants with knowledge of tourism and hospitality

industries while also describe about the career options in their respective fields. It

will involve 4 players in Hospitality and Tourism Industry. This session will be

ended by QnA session.

• Stakeholder Involved This session will be delivered by Hilton Hotel Phuket and some of tour companies

in Phuket

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Session 4 of Day 1: Mai Khao Hotel Tour • Purpose

To give hands on experience about how a hotel operates and contributes to the

industry

• Activity Description In this session, participants will be invited to have a hands-on experience about

how a hotel operates and gain revenues. Participants will have opportunities to

serve in different positions, for example as receptionist, room cleaning, etc.

• Stakeholder Involved Anatara Vacation Club Maikhao

Day 2:

Figure 20. Day 2 Main Activities

Session 1 of Day 2: Group Study

• Purpose

To give the participants the skills and a hands-on experience in designing the tour

• Activity Description

In this session, participants will be asked to design some tour routes in Mai Khao

based on their initial image and understanding. They also can take the learning

points from the previous lecturers. Motto Hikaru Team will hand the A1 sized paper

and colorful markers for them to design the routes.

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• Stakeholder Involved

Open-minded Project will deliver the session assisted by Motto Hikaru Team.

Session 2 of Day 2: Business Skills and OTOP (One Tambon One Product) Training

• Purpose

To give awareness about OTOP product ideas and to equip participants with basic

knowledge of business and entrepreneurship

• Activity Description This session will give an introduction about potential unique products that can be

developed in Mai Khao area. Participants will be given time to work in group to

think and design the potential OTOP based on their initial understanding. After

that, the lecture session will be carried out to provide deeper knowledge on how to

commercialize the OTOP ideas.

• Stakeholder Involved United World College Thailand and Tambon Thailand will be invited to deliver the

lecturer assisted by Motto Hikaru Team.

Session 3 of Day 2: Tour and Community Visits

• Purpose

To enhance sense of belonging about their local communities and to raise the

ideas of any potential OTOP product

• Activity Description In this activity, the participants will be invited to go around Mai Khao area and

visiting some respective local communities, for example, shrimp paste home

industry, local market, local authorities, important and historical landmarks, etc.

This session will be continued by further discussion on potential OTOP product

ideas that come up from the tour.

• Stakeholder Involved

Tambon Thailand in Phuket will deliver the session assisted by Motto Hikaru Team.

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Day 3:

Figure 21. Day 3 Main Activities

Session 1 of Day 3: Environmental Cleaning

• Purpose

To raise the awareness about the importance of environmental cleanliness for

future life

• Activity Description

Participants will be divided into three groups to clean 5km along the beach and its

surrounding area. The participants will be introduced with the type of rubbish and

its effect to environment.

• Stakeholder Involved

This activity will be carried out by Motto Hikaru Team

Session 2 of Day 3: Customer Service Orientation Training

• Purpose

To provide basic introduction of customer service skills to participants.

• Activity Description Participants will learn how to serve in a restaurant, how to receive customers, how

to greet them, and how to handle the complaint with the focus on their satisfaction.

• Stakeholder Involved

Hilton Phuket’s staffs are invited to deliver this training session

30

Session 3 of Day 3: Integrated Marketing Communication Strategy for Tourism

• Purpose To give practical knowledge and tools on how to promote and communicate

tourism to attract more tourists.

• Activity Description

Participants will be taught the specific strategies about Integrated Marketing

Communications that are applicable for hospitality and tourism industry. For

example, using digital & social media, personal selling, advertising, and so on. This

lecture will be followed by group study about how to promote Mai Khao area or

OTOP products.

• Stakeholder Involved

This session will be delivered by Faculty of Hospitality and Tourism, Prince of

Songkla University

Session 4 of Day 3: Practice at hotel

• Purpose

To give hands on experience about how a hotel operates and serves customers

• Activity Description Participants will have an opportunity to apply acquired knowledge and skills into

practicing at hotel in different units.

• Stakeholder Involved

JW Marriot Hotel will deliver the session in JW Marriot Hotel.

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Day 4: Thematic Practical Session

Figure 22. Day 4 Main Activities

• Purpose

For participants to apply knowledge and skills which they gain in the first three

days into practice.

• Activity Description

Participants will serve in different positions of tourism and hospitality industries

such as tour guide, hotel receptionist, etc. The real guests will be invited to

experience ecotourism in Mai Khao using the designated tour route done by the

participants. At the end of the session, guests will be asked to complete a survey

indicating their satisfaction level and suggestion for improvement.

• Stakeholder Involved

This session will be delivered by Motto Hikaru, Corea Boutique Resort, Anatara

Vacation Club Mai Khao, and JW Marriot Hotel.

6.5 Outcomes and Outputs

After four - day training workshop, participants are expected to gain a basic knowledge of

tourism and hospitality industry while also be aware of current challenges for tourism and

sustainable development in Mai Khao. Having learnt from experiences of experts in

tourism and hospitality industries, participants will be able to design a new tour route for

32

Mai Khao, make an integrated marketing communication strategy plan and generate new

ideas of OTOP products for Mai Khao, as indicated by the following figure.

Figure 23. Output and Deliverables

As for participants improvement, several tools and methods are needed to conduct the

evaluation, 1) pre-test to measure the common knowledge if participants in hospitality,

tourism, Mai Khao area, promotion tools, and OTOP products, 2) Post-test that will be

conducted to measure how improved their knowledge after intervention, 3) Observation

sheets that will be handed by Motto Hikaru team to know their behavior and how improved

their soft skills are, and 4) Customer feedbacks that will be given by tourists/guests to

measure their integrated skills after delivering a tour service.

33

Beside deliverables that explained in the previous part, below is the project design matrix

that describing the measurement tools used for this project.

Table 2. Project Design Matrix

Project Summary

Indicators Means of Verification

Risks/ Assumptions

Goal # At least 10% of the participants will continue their career in hospitality and tourism industry in 3 years # At least 10% of participants will actively promotes ecotourism in Mai Khao

# Percentages of participants continuing their career in hospitality and tourism industry # Percentage of participants promoting ecotourism in different fields

# Alumni network and record

Outcome # Improve students awareness about ecotourism by at least 60% at the end of the program # Improve students soft skill in tourism and hospitality by 60% at the end of the program

# Score level in pre-test and post-test # Score level given by the observer and customers at Thematic Practical

# Pre-test and post-test will be conducted before and after the program # Observer sheet and customers satisfaction evaluation

# Improved knowledge about ecotourism and community will help them to understand # Improved soft-skills and hard skills will help them to prepare themselves in tourism and hospitality industry

Outputs # 15 High-School students in grade 10 (15 years old) with all students who interested in tourism industry and have lower awareness in ecotourism and Mai Khao area

# Number of students who complete training program

# Training program attendance records

# Students apply the knowledge and new skills to their life

Activities # Run one training program per year that deliver both knowledge and soft skills training in tourism and hospitality industries as well as giving knowledge about ecotourism and environment preservation

# Number of training program run in one year

# Training records

# Teacher and school willing to send the students to the training program # Hotels, local community willing to collaborate

34

7.0 COST ESTIMATION AND FUNDING SOURCES As shown in Table 3, the total cost estimation of Shining Mai Khao project is around net

amount of USD 4,308.15 which allocates into two project phase: 1st phase will allocate

on project design stage with the estimate net amount of USD 495. This cost of project

team pre-visit and accommodations, partnership coordinating with local community will

be voluntary responsible by the project team. The estimation cost of the 2nd phase of

project implementation is around the net amount of USD 3,608. This budget will be

allocated to implementation of 4-day activities includes seminar, field study, skills training,

and thematic practical exercise. The estimate exchange rate will be THB30 = USD1 for

the budget estimation proposal - yet the exact exchange rate will be relying on Thailand

National Bank rate on the project proposal requested date.

For Day 1, the estimate budget will be USD 670.33 to allocate for Orientation and team

Building Team activities, Introduction to Mai Khao session, Occupation Options in

Tourism, and Hotel Tour around Mai Khao sub-district. For Day 2, the estimate budget

will be USD 560.33 for Seminar session on Mai Khao Tourism and Landscape, Group

Study on Design Tour, and Community visits. The estimate budget for Day 3 activities will

be USD 570.33 for Environmental Cleaning Activity, Customer Services Orientation

Training, Integrated Marketing Communication Strategy for Tourism session, and

Practical Exercise at the visit hotel. For Day 4, the estimate budget will be USD 1,807 for

Thematic Practical Activities, Closing Ceremony, Dinner and Networking Event with

stakeholders. For 4-day round-trips transportation, lunch and two times snacks per day

that provided at the accommodation places - will be covered in each day activity budget

expense.

35

Table 3. Total Budget Needed

The budget estimation expenses will cover 30 headcounts includes 15 youth participants,

2 teachers, at least 3 stakeholders per day, 4 people from Thailand IATSS Forum alumni

and IATSS Forum staffs, and 6 members of Shining Mai Khao project teams. 7.2 Potential Contributors or Actors to Shining Mai Khao Throughout the project outline and activities, the potential stakeholders have been

identified based on the activities and fields of expertise on their voluntary basis as shown

in Figure 24. The stakeholders will be selected from diverse eco-tourism involvement

parties include:

● Hotels: Coriacea Boutique Resort, JW Marriott Phuket, Anantara Mai Khao

Phuket.

● Local Authorities: Thailand Ministry of Tourism and Sports, Phuket Provincial

Authority, Thailand Courts of Justice.

● Foundation, NGOs, University: Mai Khao Marine Turtle Foundations,

International Union for Conservation of Nature & Natural Resources, IATSS

36

Forum, Prince of Songkla University.

Figure 24. Potential Stakeholders Involved

7.3 Potential Funding Sources The estimated budget cost around $4,308.15 for this project to be implemented. As shown

in Figure 25, the project Team plans to seek funding from following sources:

● IATSS Forum Program provides a grant of $2,000.00 for Thailand Alumni. The

project Team hopes to have 30% of the total cost from this grant.

● Companies/Enterprises 20%: The Project Team will work with companies and

enterprises that implement CSR policy in order to invite them to be part of our

project. For example, Hilton Hotel has travel grant which supports NGOs working

in education, youth unemployment and economic development. The grant is range

from $1000 - $5000. The Project Team hopes to have 20% of the total cost from

this grant.

● The Project Team will work with ecotourism projects such as Open-minded project

that will support us to cover 15% of total cost.

● Coriacea Boutique Resort will sponsor accommodation for participants.

Accommodation cost makes up 15% of the total cost.

37

● The Project Team will seek the rest of 20% of total cost from crowdfunding source

from IATSS Thailand alumni.

Figure 25. Potential Funding Sources

8.0 CONCLUSION Phuket is experiencing rapid development due to increasing number of foreign tourists to

this island. Over the last few years, Phuket had experienced development of hotels,

resorts and other facilities to cater to this increased number of visitors and in several

aspects, this rapid development came at a cost especially on the island’s natural and

cultural heritage. There are also other associated socio-economic challenges that were

highlighted in this report. Unlike the rest of Phuket, Mai Khao is an area which is located

far from the Phuket City Centre and other well-known beaches among tourists and

hospitality establishments. Mai Khao is regarded by some quarters to be the last natural

beach in Phuket due to its proximity to the Sirinath National Park but Mai Khao is also

facing its own socio-economic challenges. The Shining Mai Khao project aims to provide

necessary foundation of knowledge and skills for youth in Mai Khao to act as agents of

38

change in the society via capacity building to promote ecotourism in Mai Khao. This

investment in Mai Khao’s social capital would hopefully lead to the creation of a

sustainable society that can harness Mai Khao’s unique cultural heritage and natural

environment for ecotourism in socio-economic development.

39

REFERENCES Phuket Hotel Market Update (2017)- https://www.c9hotelworks.com/downloads/phuket-

hotel-market-update-2017-02.pdf (Accessed on 8 Nov 2017) Tambon Mai Khao.

https://th.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%B8%95%E0%B8%B3%E0%B8%9A%E0%B8%A5%E0%B9%84%E0%B8%A1%E0%B9%89%E0%B8%82%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%A7, accessed 6 November 2017

Mai Khao. http://www.maikhaow.go.th/index.php?options=general2, accessed 7

November 2017 Mai Khao Beach. http://www.phuket.com/island/mai-khao-beach.htm#promo, accessed

8 November 2017 Ask Mai Khao Beach for Turtle (Again).

http://www.bangkokbiznews.com/news/detail/705991, accessed 8 November 2017

The Statistics Office of Phuket

http://phuket.nso.go.th/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=373&Itemid=636, accessed 6 November 2017

Seek Phuket. (2013). Phuket Sustainability Indicator Report: Seeking a Sustainable

Phuket.https://www.iucn.org/sites/dev/files/import/downloads/phuket_sustainability_indicator_report_22_nov_2013.pdf, accessed 7 November 2017

National Park Official Website. http://www.phuket.com/island/mai-khao-

beach.htm#promo, accessed 8 November 2017 Mai Khao Hotel. https://www.booking.com/searchresults.html?label=gen173nr-

1FCAEoggJCAlhYSDNiBW5vcmVmaHWIAQGYATG4AQfIAQzYAQHoAQH4AQKSAgF5qAID;sid=3905d4ef910b60e7cf1ce2e3777681d6;checkin_month=11&checkin_monthday=10&checkin_year=2017&checkout_month=11&checkout_monthday=11&checkout_year=2017&class_interval=1&dest_id=-3238779&dest_type=city&dtdisc=0&from_sf=1&group_adults=2&group_children=0&inac=0&index_postcard=0&label_click=undef&no_rooms=1&offset=0&postcard=0&raw_dest_type=city&room1=A%2CA&sb_price_type=total&search_selected=1&src=index&src_elem=sb&ss=Mai%20Khao%20Beach%2C%20%E2%80%8BPhuket%20Province%2C%20%E2%80%8BThailand&ss_all=0&ss_raw=mai%20khao&ssb=empty&sshis=0&, accessed 7 November 2017

OTOP: One Tambon One Product. http://www.thaitambon.com/tambon/830305,

accessed 8 November 2017

40

Litter Everywhere. https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g293920-d1149585-

r339133214-Mai_Khao_Beach-Phuket.html#REVIEWS, accessed 7 November 2017

Royal Thai Turtle Preservation. http://www.maikhaomarineturtlefoundation.org,

accessed 6 November 2017

41

APPENDIXES Table 4. Number of Hotel and Boutiques in Mai Khao

No. Hotel and Boutiques No. Room

1 Coriacea Boutique Resort 41

2 D Varee Mai Khao Beach 114

3 Holiday Inn Resort Phuket Mai Khao Beach Opens in new window

246

4 Grand West Sands Resort & Villas Phuket Opens in new window

558

5 Renaissance Phuket Resort & Spa Opens in new window

180

6 SALA Phuket Resort & Spa Opens in new window

79

7 JW Marriott Phuket Resort and Spa Opens in new window

21

8 Orchidilla Phuket Mai Khao Beach Houses Opens in new window

9

9 Maikhao Home Garden Bungalow Opens in new window

12

10

Holiday homes Micky Monkey Beach Hotel Opens in new window

12

11 Holiday home Maikhao Beach Guest House Opens in new window

3

12 Sai Kaew House Opens in new window

158

13 Phuket Campground Opens in new window

5

14 Anantara Mai Khao Phuket Villas Opens in new window

92

42

15 Marriott's Mai Khao Beach - Phuket Opens in new window

133

16 Maikhao Dream Villa Resort & Spa Phuket Opens in new window

22

17 Apartments Baan Mai Khao Opens in new window

35

18 Apartment Baan Mai Khao by Trumpproperty Opens in new window

1

19 Marriott's Phuket Beach Club Opens in new window

144

20 Villas Grand West Sands Villas Phuket Opens in new window

48

21

Apartments Baan Mai Khao 5 stars condominimum Opens in new window

2

22 Maikhao Palm Beach Resort Opens in new window

225

23

Apartment Baan Mai Khao at Mai Khao Beach Phuket Opens in new window

5

24 Villa vue su mer by Lofty

8

25 Ruankeaw homestay Opens in new window

2

26 Apartment Luxury Oceanfront Condominium Opens in new window

2

27 Maikhao boutique hostel Opens in new window

4

28 Villas Triple Three Maikhao Villas Opens in new window

4

Total Room 2,165

43

Table 5. Project Operations Planning