|
Foreigners who ventured to Thailand's
northern city of Chiang Mai in the backpacker heydays of the 1970s
found a sleepy city dotted with temples and a handful of homely
guesthouses.
Fast forward 30 years and the old temples remain, but sprouting up
around them are five-star hotels and extravagant resorts, leaving
locals divided over the benefits for the historic city.
Lonely Planet author and long-time Chiang Mai resident Joe Cummings
first visited the city in 1977, and recalls a sleepy town with few
facilities for the modern tourist.
"It was dead at night. There were some dodgy bars, but there
wasn't much entertainment for tourists," says the American. "It
has really gone upscale, especially in the last five years."
In 1986, 19,000 international visitors passed through Chiang Mai
airport. By 2005, this figure had leaped to 176,000.
But with the boom comes consequences, and people are concerned
about the environmental, social and economic impact on the ancient
city.
"The government is pushing too much for tourists when we should
preserve our city for the locals," says Duongchan Apavatjrut
Charoenmuang, a researcher at Chiang Mai university's Social
Research Institute.
"More people means more garbage and more traffic jams."
The first sign of the impending luxury hotel explosion was the
opening of a Four Seasons hotel in 1995.
In 2001 Chiang Mai-born Thaksin Shinawatra was elected prime
minister, and has been keen to promote his hometown as a tourist
draw, instigating projects including a Night Safari.
Chiang Mai's transformation from backpacker hideaway to luxury
haunt was confirmed last year 2005 with the opening of the Mandarin
Oriental Dhara Devi.
The $A132-million resort stretches over 24.3 hectares and contains
six restaurants, a cooking school, an art and craft village, and
its own market.
Resorts such as these worry local people, who say that they
encourage tourists to eat, sleep and shop in one location rather
than at locally-run businesses.
Eleanor Hardy, general manager of Chedi Chiang Mai, a boutique
hotel that opened this year, concedes that the bigger hotels can
have an impact, but says that at the smaller Chedi, people are keen
to experience local culture.
"People want to see authentic Chiang Mai, and we are not. We are a
five star hotel," she says.
Hardy thinks that moneyed travellers are heading to Chiang Mai
after tiring of the well-trodden southern beach destinations.
"Chiang Mai is relatively untouched by development and
commercialisation," she says. "It still has a feeling of old Siam."
Viparwan Chaiprakorb, who works at the popular Maesa elephant camp
just outside Chiang Mai, says she too has seen an influx of wealthy
tourists searching for a bit of authenticity.
"They get a private jet from the US, stay at the Four Seasons and
hire the camp," she says. "On the one hand they want to see
something primitive, but they stay in the Four Seasons and come in
their Gucci and Louis Vuitton."
Although Viparwan is glad of the money tourists bring, she also
sees a downside to the flourishing luxury sector. The elephants
used to play in the river, she says, but now rubbish from new
resorts prevents that.
"There is garbage, they have a difficult time getting rid of it,"
she says. "The quality of water has gone down and we have had
floods. The draining system is bad."
Local residents are also concerned that the encroachment of the
city into the surrounding forest is destroying natural flood
defenses, causing increasing destruction during the rainy season.
At the end of July, some 5,900 homes flooded after torrential
rains.
But the five-star boom shows no sign of abating. The Chedi and two
other high-end hotels have opened in the past year, and a
Shangri-La hotel will open in 2007.
Sandy Morowitz, a backpacker from the United States who spent the
day at the popular Maesa elephant camp, says she found it difficult
to get off the tourist track in Chiang Mai, but believes that
change will be for the good.
"Thailand is not only going to be for backpackers, it is going to
be for the rich who want spas, five-star treatments, and elephant
rides on nice seats," she says.
But Seksan Sutthana, a Chiang Mai tour guide of 15 years, questions
whether tourists will still be drawn to the city when sprawlling
shopping malls and high-rise buildings dwarf the traditional
sights.
There are 300 temples dotted in and around Chiang Mai.
Travellers also flock to the ancient city for its relaxing
atmosphere, which is a welcome respite from buzzing Bangkok.
"The charm of Chiang Mai is the nice areas, the nice people,
everything is natural," says Seksan.
"Now, everywhere tourists go they see American food like KFC and
Swensens. Once everything from the US is opened up here, there is
no difference between their home town and here. Why would they
come?"
 |
Show/Hide comments
Show/Hide comment form
