Visitor & Crowd Behaviour Management: Phuket Tourism Waste OMO Report

This report examines the escalating environmental problems in Phuket, Thailand, stemming from excessive waste generated by the tourism industry. The analysis, structured around the ABCDEFG-OMO framework, identifies key stakeholders including local residents, tourists, the environment, and government bodies. The report explores the impact of increased tourist influx on waste generation, landfill capacity, and water resources, highlighting the detrimental effects on the environment and local communities. It delves into the assumptions surrounding the issue, gathers relevant information, and assigns responsibilities for addressing the problem. The report proposes and evaluates potential solutions, aiming to maximize positive outcomes for all stakeholders, including waste minimization strategies, the implementation of waste incinerators, and strategies to reduce the environmental impact. The report aims to offer sustainable solutions to waste management and crowd behavior to ensure the long-term viability of Phuket's tourism sector and protect its natural resources.

Running head: VISITOR AND CROWD BEHAVIOR MANAGEMENT
The problems of excessive amount of garbage and wastes from tourism in Phuket, Thailand
ABCDEFG – OMO Report
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

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Contents
Attitude............................................................................................................................................2
Beginning.........................................................................................................................................2
Consider again.................................................................................................................................3
Definition of stakeholders................................................................................................................3
Explore assumptions........................................................................................................................4
Find information..............................................................................................................................5
Get the responsibility right..............................................................................................................7
Options.............................................................................................................................................8
Maximize outcomes.......................................................................................................................10
Reference.......................................................................................................................................12

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The problems of excessive amount of garbage and wastes from tourism in Phuket, Thailand
Attitude
Referring to the case study, there are actually ways that can be used to deal with the problems of
excessive amount of garbage and wastes from tourism in Phuket, Thailand. If the situation is not
controlled then it might be a big problem for the residents in Phuket and the tourists as well. The
excessive amount of waste and garbage will exert an enormous amount of pressure on the
environment as well as the carrying capacity of the city. Discussion and research can provide a
considerable amount of insight into the providing solution of tackling with the wastes ands
garbage.
Beginning
From the year 1990, Phuket has started to experience a lot of environmental problems due to
unmanaged economic growth. It is important to mention that the water pollution is a major
problem because the restaurants and the hotel dump a lot of their waste in to water. Although it
has been seen that Phuket has taken a considerable amount of initiative to tackle with the
problem. But the growing number of tourists has made the it impossible to manage the issue in a
sustainable way. The island has smore amount of garbage than the island nation can handle and it
is even increasing every year (The Phuket News Com, 2019). During to the increasing number of
tourists, a surplus of 70 to 95 tons of garbage gets piles every day. The garbage is even dumped
into the sanitary landfills which means that the garbage is piling up in to the underground on a
daily basis. Moreover, garbage is also dumped into the mangrove are in Phuket. It is important to
mention that there are not many dumpsites in Phuket. Whereas, it has been calculated that
tourists demand high amount of water in comparison to the locals and at the same time the

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amount is also not available. There is only water treatment plant that handles the polluted waster
in the island. It is important to mention that unmanaged and unregulated tourism can damage the
natural resources of the tourist destination. The landfills in Phuket are full and this adds to the
carbon emission and air pollution. Whereas, sending the garbage to the other provinces is not the
best option as it is a costly affair and this might create conflict with the other communities where
the landfills are situated (The Phuket News Com, 2019).
Consider again
The issue can also have a positive side. Due to the increase in tourism, the cost of living,
housing, land, services and goods have increased as well. Moreover, it is important to mention
that there is an increased cost of building the additional infrastructure as there is a growing
number of tourists in Phuket. the cost of road maintenance is high due to the fact that tourism is a
seasonal work and the income will not be distributed to the other part of the year. For example,
the number of tourists will be greater in the high season and there will be a smaller number of
tourists during the low season. Since the damage caused by the Tsunami in the year 2004, it has
shown that natural disaster can actually disturb the local economy. In Phuket agriculture comes
next to tourism and the land owners sell their rubber plantations so that they can work in the
tourism industry. One of the highlighting facts is that as land becomes expensive in Phuket, the
land owners sell their land and plantations so that they can have more money. This means that
the locals rely more on the tourism than before (The Ecologist, 2019).
Definition of stakeholders
The stakeholders in all current issue are the local residents, the tourists, environment, land
owners, tourism industry and Phuket government. The local residents are the important

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stakeholder here because they are one that are accruing the benefits of tourism as well as they are
ones that are suffering the increased burden of the garbage and wastes that are left by the tourists.
It is important to mention that the landfill sites are filled with the wastes and garbage. The
tourism sector is in itself creating problems for the local residents and it is detrimental for the
environment as well. Next comes the tourists and the tourism industry. The tourism industry and
the tourism sector acted as a savior for the island nation (Imran, Alam & Beaumont, 2014).
Majority of the economic growth and development has occurred due to the increase in the
tourism. However, one of the drawbacks of the tourism is that it exerts a extra pressure on the
land as well as the water resources. Water resources are already facing a crisis situation because
water resources are only sufficient for the local residents and it exerts extra pressure on the water
resources due to the increased number of the tourists (Jarupunphol et al., 2016). It has been seen
that the restaurants and the hotel are extensively dumping the waste water into the water bodies
and it is extensively damaging and polluting the water resources. The land owners here are the
ones that ones that used to used their land for agriculture and now they are selling to the real
estate so that they have more money by selling the land at higher prices. These land owners are
now engaged in to the tourism sector and use the high seasons for earning more money. The
Phuket industry and the Phuket government are the ones that are accruing the benefits of the
tourism growth and it is actually acting as a factor in country's economic growth (Lew, 2014).
Explore assumptions
The study presents an increased amount of pressure on the environment due to the excessive
burden of the garbage and waste. Whereas it is important to mention hat the condition of the
local people or the local residents are not taken into account. The major concern here is the waste
that is generated due to the increased number of influx of tourists in to Phuket. Another major

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concern here is the presence of the presence of waste and it is important to mention that Phuket
has utilized all the dumping sites it had. The large amount of the garbage and wastes can actually
hamper the normal living of the local residents. Even though they are the potential, stakeholders
here but they are devoid proper environment in which they can lead an altogether different life
(Polnyotee & Thadaniti, 2015).
Find information
Phuket is a multicultural city and it is heavily influenced by the development in tourism
and globalization. The development of tourism was a part of the Amazing Thailand campaign.
This campaign was promoted by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT). The region is termed
as a natural gem because it has tropical landscape, cleaner sea, and white sandy beaches. It is
important to mention that the development in Phuket is not always positive. The reason is that
the Phuket connects the several neighboring countries like Singapore, Russia, China, Malaysia
and Australia. The number of the tourist visitation has increased from 4.5 million to 9.5 million
from the year 2006 to 2011. In the year 2013 this the number of the tourists has increased to 10.5
million. This increased number odd influx of people or tourist exerts pressure on the natural
resources and the natural landscape, this leads to the degradation of the coastal waters, ground
and surface water as well (Polnyotee & Thadaniti, 2014). Therefore, sustainability development
is one of the important factors that takes into account of the replacement and conservation of the
natural resources for the wellbeing of the future generations. In the rural settings, investments
done at the multilevel must have a strong focus on building the psychological capitals,
knowledge, human capitals. The sustainable development guidelines also take into account of
considering the needs of the local communities that emphasize on the knowledge of the social
characteristics, cultural characteristics, environmental conditions, and local economic

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opportunities. Therefore, for the purpose of local application, understanding the adaptive systems
and it interactions with the social, ecological and economic systems is the fundamental part. This
highlights that the sustainable development must include the local stakeholders rather than
considering the ideas of the outsiders. This is highly important when there is a knowledge gap
between the different parties involved (Theingthae, 2016).
Therefore, it is important to mention that the empowerment, participation and
engagement of the public into the implementation of sustainable development is important. The
reason is that the making developments more sustainable requires a synchronized and
simultaneous social movement at the different levels. the beliefs, indigenous knowledge and the
cultural values are the ones that play an important role in the actions of the individual and the
communities. Thus, it is important to highlight that the compatible ideologies and the principles
must be directed towards the sustainable development and it must include the traditional
knowledge and local cultures as well. the significance of the mother earth and the Buddhist
recognition of the interconnectedness are the complex balances that are held by many religions
and many traditions. In Thailand, the monarchy and Theravada Buddhism have long influenced
the Thai traditions and Thai cultures (Boonchai & Beeton, 2016).
Waste incinerator are a great solution for the problem of reduction of the waste as well as
its volume. The reason for such a step is that land area is insufficient and at the same time this
could also contribute to the added benefits of renewable energy in the city. The Phuket city
already has an incineration plant and this plant generates about 2.5 MW and this incinerator
manages about 50- percent of the waste generated in Phuket. At the present moment, about 300
tons of wastes are actually sent to the incinerator plant (Siriratpiriya, 2014). However, it is
important to mention that the separation of wastes is not practiced in Phuket while a mis waste is

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altogether used at the incinerator plant. The content of the waste includes, combustibles (13
percent), textile (2 percent), leather and rubber (5 percent), paper (25 percent), plastics (19
percent), yard waste (11 percent) and food waste (23 percent). This highlights that the waste
received actually contains high moisture content and the wasted is required to be stored in a
waste pit for 4 to 5 days so that moisture can be removed. Therefore, it is important to mention
the high moisture content has the capability to reduce the overall efficiency of the incineration
plant and the capacity of electricity generation (Menikpura, Sang-Arun & Bengtsson, 2016). The
problems of waste management system take into account of the environmental and the health
quality, release of dioxins, emission of greenhouse gases, waste disposal; costs and the limited
areas of landfill. All these concerns can be solved in a combined rather than an individual way.
The 3R campaign is one of the best strategies of waste management and it helps in reducing the
quantity of waste and then reusing and recycling based on the increasing awareness of the
linkage between the resource consumption and waste generation. The activities pertaining to 3R
will be promoted through the various stakeholders that will implement the effective waste
management strategy (Agamuthu & Masaru, 2014).
Get the responsibility right
The ones that will be involved into bring the possible solution in mind are the municipal
corporations and the solid waste incinerators so that the waste can be minimized can controlled
as well. It is important to mention that the tourists leave a lot of garbage and waste during the
new year holiday destinations. This is reported by the tourism operators at the Hua Hin and Khao
Lak. The garbage and wastes that are left by the tourists are again returned after the New Year
holidays. It has been reported that the seaside retreats like the Khao Lak, and Hua Hin is seen to
be turned into area full of garbage and the it is left by the tourists sharply after the festive

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holidays. This causes environmental problems (The Thaiger, 2019). The Hua Hin municipality
can potentially increase the volume of garbage by 40 tons per day in comparison to what it does
during the normal times. Therefore, if efforts are pulled together then the garbage can reach to
200 tons per day in comparison to the average 160 tons. This effort will lead to successful
removal of garbage around the city and the resorts can be kept clean and the places that are for
main attraction for the international and domestic tourists. It can be highlighted that the private
company as well as the local authorities can work together to collect garbage for like three time a
day every day so that the city can be kept clean. the wastes collected can be buried at the landfill
site in Pranburi district (The Thaiger, 2019).
Options
Solid waste management
The landfill sites of Phuket are full and this indicates that the garbage must be burned in
the incinerator of the Phuket island. However, it is important to mention that the this will lead to
carbon emissions and it will also cause air pollution. It is also not feasible to send the garbage to
the provinces as this is lead to conflicts with the other communities where these landfills are
situated. it is important to mention that litter is one of the most visible indicators of the
deteriorating environment and the unsustainable environment. This also reflects a lack of
awareness of the people that reside in these places. Specifically, for the Phuket region, this kind
of environment l issues takes the shine out of the beautiful island areas of Phuket and takes away
the world class status that Phuket has received due to its beautiful tourist destination
(Sukholthaman & Sharp, 2016). It is important to highlight that when the litters on the beaches
are washed off by the sea waves, it affects the perceptions of the tourists and affects the holiday
experiences as well. Apart from the visual litter, wastes and garbage can seriously affect the

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marine and terrestrial ecosystems and as it breaks down into smaller pieces it becomes more
dangerous for the animals that ingests the small particles and pieces. Therefore, the challenge is
that Phuket is presently having issues with overcapacity of waste. The waste management
options like incinerator is overcapacity, land fill is closed (Yukalang, Clarke & Ross, 2017). The
continued generation of waste has led to the increase of wastes and litter in canals, beaches and
along roads. The main goal is to make Phuket clean of the wastes by the year 2025. The strategy
is to support the formation of community beach groups as well as schemes for recognition and
awards for the communities, institutions and businesses that recycle and reduce waste, road side
collection and separation of the wastes, set up the easy to use schemes of recycling and
composting of the organic waste (figure 1) (Iucn.org, 2019).
Figure 1: waste collection
sustainable tourism
It is important to highlight that the Phuket is one of the most popular beaches that have resorts
and it attracts about nine million visitors each and every year. The Phuket island resort have the
reputation that it can be both bring ills and benefits and the Phuket island has the mass tourism
benefits. It has seen that the increase in the number of the tourist has led to the increase in the

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economic growth. Along with it has also led to growth of the local economy, higher income for
the local residents (Towner, 2015). However, it is important to highlight this increase in the
economic growth is associated with the increase in the traffic congestion on the main roads of
Phuket. the other issues that have been seen are the contribution to various forms of pollution,
generation of solid wastes in tones, overconsumption of the sea food species, degradation in the
quality of the services, tourism and entertainment services, syndicated transportation,
overcapacity of certain sites and development of resorts and infrastructure on the environments
that are sensitive. beach encroachment, Therefore the challenge is the number of tourists is
increasing at a rapid rate, and it serves as a threat for the island's capacity and sustainably
manage the social development and environmental development (Farmaki, 2015). The main goal
is to have sustainable tourism that will manage a positive growth in tourism sector and not
having any negative impact on the island. The strategy will be to collaborate with the businesses,
higher education, local government, and residents that will implement a sustainable standards
operating procedure as well as assessment framework for the various sectors (figure 2) (Iucn.org,
2019).
Figure 2: Sustainable tourism with less impact on environment

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Maximize outcomes
The majority of the stakeholder that will be is through the sustainable tourism. This is a
form of tourism that can take into account of the needs of the local residents or the communities
that are residing in a particular area. it is important to mention that the sustainable tourism
considers a wide array of stakeholder and it includes the local; communities, local residents,
business entities in the area, local government and the tourists as well. Considering the scenario
the local communities are the ones that are valued the most for the extensive involvement into
the sustainable tourism (Mihalic, 2016). It is important to highlight that the tourism activities in
the Phuket island leads to an increased amount of pressure on the environment and this can be
eased if the local government, the private players, local communities, local residents and the
business entities act together. This will lead to a comprehensive work of a plan and it will prove
to foster the tourism sector of the Phuket island. This is the single most approach that can
accommodate a large number of stakeholder and bring them on to a single table where the values
and voices of each of the stakeholders are listened to and it helps in building a better and
sustainable future so that Phuket’s tourism can grow and not harm the environment as well
(Waligo, Clarke & Hawkins, (2015).