Thai locals confront the consequences of the country’s decades-long tourism push
Residents of Thailand's Koh Phangan island are expressing growing resentment toward the rapid increase in foreign-owned luxury developments. Locals argue that the tourism-driven real estate boom is permanently altering the island's landscape and cultural identity.
Why it matters
It highlights the tension between economic growth through tourism and the preservation of local communities and environments in popular global destinations.
As tourists step off the pier on Thailand’s Koh Phangan island, they’re greeted by a sales pitch tailored to outsiders — billboards touting luxury beachfront plots or clifftop villas as high-yield investments, a message repeated along the palm-fringed roads winding up into the hills.This tiny tropical island of fewer than 10,000 is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Southeast Asia, welcoming more than 1 million overseas visitors a year.
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