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

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

1 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

2 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

3 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

4 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

5 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

6 environmental and socio-economic links between Mai Khao and other sub- 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;

7 ● 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

9 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- () of () in , 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%E 0%B8%82%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%A7 2http://www.maikhaow.go.th/index.php?options=general2

10 is still undeveloped as it is part of the .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.

11 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

12 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

14 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.

19 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

20 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.

21 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.

22 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.

23 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

24 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.

25 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

26 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.

27 • 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.

28 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

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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.

30 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

31 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.

32 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 Indicators Means of Risks/ Summary Verification Assumptions

Goal # At least 10% of the # Percentages of # Alumni participants will continue their participants network and career in hospitality and continuing their record tourism industry in 3 years career in hospitality # At least 10% of participants and tourism industry will actively promotes # Percentage of ecotourism in Mai Khao participants promoting ecotourism in different fields

Outcome # Improve students # Score level in pre- # Pre-test # Improved awareness about ecotourism test and post-test and post-test knowledge about by at least 60% at the end of # Score level given will be ecotourism and the program by the observer and conducted community will help # Improve students soft skill customers at before and them to understand in tourism and hospitality by Thematic Practical after the 60% at the end of the program # Improved soft-skills program # Observer and hard skills will sheet and help them to prepare customers themselves in satisfaction tourism and evaluation hospitality industry

Outputs # 15 High-School students in # Number of # Training # Students apply the grade 10 (15 years old) with students who program knowledge and new all students who interested in complete training attendance skills to their life tourism industry and have program records lower awareness in ecotourism and Mai Khao area

Activities # Run one training program # Number of training # Training # Teacher and per year that deliver both program run in one records school willing to send knowledge and soft skills year the students to the training in tourism and training program hospitality industries as well # Hotels, local as giving knowledge about community willing to ecotourism and environment collaborate preservation

33 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.

34 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

35 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.

36 ● 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

37 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.

38 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&Ite mid=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_sustainabili ty_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- 1FCAEoggJCAlhYSDNiBW5vcmVmaHWIAQGYATG4AQfIAQzYAQHoAQH4AQ KSAgF5qAID;sid=3905d4ef910b60e7cf1ce2e3777681d6;checkin_month=11&c heckin_monthday=10&checkin_year=2017&checkout_month=11&checkout_mo nthday=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&postc ard=0&raw_dest_type=city&room1=A%2CA&sb_price_type=total&search_selec ted=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=ma i%20khao&ssb=empty&sshis=0&, accessed 7 November 2017

OTOP: One Tambon One Product. http://www.thaitambon.com/tambon/830305, accessed 8 November 2017

39

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

40 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

Holiday Inn Resort Phuket Mai Khao Beach Opens in new window 3 246

Grand West Sands Resort & Villas Phuket Opens in new window 4 558

Renaissance Phuket Resort & Spa Opens in new window 5 180

SALA Phuket Resort & Spa Opens in new window 6 79

JW Marriott Phuket Resort and Spa Opens in new window 7 21

Orchidilla Phuket Mai Khao Beach Houses Opens in new window 8 9

Maikhao Home Garden Bungalow Opens in new window 9 12

Holiday homes Micky Monkey Beach Hotel Opens in new window 10 12

Holiday home Maikhao Beach Guest House Opens in new window 11 3

Sai Kaew House Opens in new window 12 158

Phuket Campground Opens in new window 13 5

Anantara Mai Khao Phuket Villas Opens in new window 14 92

41 Marriott's Mai Khao Beach - Phuket Opens in new window 15 133

Maikhao Dream Villa Resort & Spa Phuket Opens in new window 16 22

Apartments Baan Mai Khao Opens in new window 17 35

Apartment Baan Mai Khao by Trumpproperty Opens in new window 18 1

Marriott's Phuket Beach Club Opens in new window 19 144

Villas Grand West Sands Villas Phuket Opens in new window 20 48

Apartments Baan Mai Khao 5 stars condominimum Opens in new window

21 2

Maikhao Palm Beach Resort Opens in new window 22 225

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

23 5

Villa vue su mer by Lofty 24 8

Ruankeaw homestay Opens in new window 25 2

Apartment Luxury Oceanfront Condominium Opens in new window 26 2

Maikhao boutique hostel Opens in new window 27 4

Villas Triple Three Maikhao Villas Opens in new window 28 4

2,165 Total Room

42

Table 5. Project Operations Planning

43