Journal articles on the topic 'Tourists, Phuket, Thailand'

This study uses the Google Trends Tool to determine the popularity of four island tourist destinations in the world, namely Phuket, Bali, Hawaii, and Langkawi. The most popular tourist destinations are Hawaii, then Bali, then Phuket, and finally Langkawi. The results of the analysis show that from the beginning of 2000 to the end of 2021, almost all island tourist destinations in the world. Phuket destination is very popular for tourists who come from Thailand itself, Russia, Turkey, Hong Kong, and Singapore. Bali is very popular among tourists from Indonesia, the Netherlands, India, Australia, and Belgium. Hawaii is very popular among tourists from the United States itself, Japan, Canada, Brazil, and South Korea. While Langkawi is very popular among tourists who come from Malaysia itself, Singapore, Pakistan, Hong Kong, and Egypt.

As a tourism-dependent country, Thailand has suffered tremendously amid the COVID-19 pandemic. As a pioneering move to reopen the country, the Island of Phuket has begun to welcome fully vaccinated international visitors under the Phuket Sandbox Scheme since July 2021. This research gained insight into the perceived issues of reviving the tourism industry amid COVID-19 by using the Phuket Sandbox Scheme as a case study. This research undertook a focus group interview of 15 international tourists who have entered Thailand through the Phuket Sandbox Scheme in February 2022. Drawing from thematic analysis, three perceived issues have been identified, including lack of spontaneity, bureaucratic process, and lack of contingency plans. This research contributed to the existing body of knowledge and literature in the subject area of post-crisis tourism recovery and resilience. Also, this research developed a framework that shed light on the essential role played by the central government in coordinating with relevant stakeholders and parties to recover the tourism industry amid the crisis, which goes beyond the context of Phuket.

Abstract Phuket is a tropical island in Thailand that is famous for tourism. The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the number of tourists reducing to almost zero. Since tourism contributes around one-half of the gross provincial product of Phuket, the impact was so severe that even the numbers of people employed and registered as locals decreased. Analysing the data from January 2015 to March 2021, we found that the total, residential and non-residential monthly consumptions dropped significantly after Thailand's State of Emergency was declared in March 2020. Unlike other studies that reported residential consumption increasing when people were required to stay home for a prolonged period, Phuket's residential consumption decreased by more than 10% from the pre-COVID-19 level, possibly due to the drop in peer-to-peer accommodation bookings. To study the impact on consumption in detail, we modelled using cascade regression analysis by dividing the predictors into three groups, namely socioeconomics, weather and calendar period. The results showed that the number of guest arrivals was the most statistically significant in all types of consumption and should be used as a predictor for water demand forecasting models in tourism areas.

The beauty of nature, the uniqueness of the culture and the hospitality of its inhabitants put the island of Bali first in the world, beating the Maldives and Phuket, Thailand. Bali ranks first among the 25 best destinations in the world (Trip Adivisor, 2017). The purpose of this study is to prove and analyze the influence of local culture on tourism products and the satisfaction of domestic tourists at tourist destinations in Gianyar regency of Bali province. The population in this study is domestic tourists whose numbers are unknown (unlimited). Convenience sampling was used of 204 respondents. The results of this study prove that local culture has a significant influence on tourism products and the satisfaction of the domestic tourists, as well as the tourism products have a significant effect on the satisfaction of the domestic tourists Keywords: local culture, tourism products, tourist satisfaction.

The 26 December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami appears to have reduced tourist visits to southern Thailand and particularly to the provinces of Phuket and Phang Nga. In Thailand, a much higher proportion of the tsunami victims were tourists than in other affected nations. Also, the tourism industry, which is a major source of foreign exchange, is very sensitive to the perception of risk created by disasters like this tsunami. Although revenues may remain depressed for some time, it is likely that tourism will rebound in this region because of the attractiveness of the physical amenity and the value it offers for European tourists. Damage to the physical infrastructure did not serve as a substantial impediment to response and recovery. Information and warning systems, together with buildings that afford vertical evacuation, will protect lives and reduce perceived risk.

This study aims to identify and validate a scale for multidimensional attributes of honeymoon tourism. Although having a romantic experience is an important reason why newlywed couples go on a honeymoon, multidimensional attributes that affect honeymoon tourist experience have yet to be fully explored in the honeymoon tourism literature. This study offers an extended view of honeymoon tourism from the perspective of multidimensional attributes. Data were collected through a survey among international honeymoon tourists. A total of 565 usable samples were collected in Phuket, Thailand, via convenience sampling. Thereafter, refinement and validation of the measurement scale were conducted. Findings indicate that the multidimensional attributes are represented by a nine-factor structure. The findings are expected to extend and enrich the honeymoon tourism literature. Theoretical and managerial implications were also discussed.

Previous studies largely treat the on-site travel experience as a single stage of homogenous tourist behavior, despite widespread recognition that tourist behavior is complex and consists of temporal decision processes. In particular, little attention has been given to what changes during the course of the long-stay holiday. The purpose of this exploratory study is to understand changes in tourist behavior, if any, from point of arrival through to the end of a long-stay relaxation holiday. In-depth interviews were conducted with mature-aged international travelers from the United States, Europe, and Australia visiting Phuket, Thailand. The findings illustrate changes that can be characterized, into four distinct stages of on-site behavior, through key activities, uncertainty levels, intercultural interactions, information needs, and sources of information. Important implications for destination marketing organizations are suggested which require innovative strategies to match the changing needs and activities of long-stay tourists at various stages of the holiday.

<p><em>This research aims to want to see the occurred on the discourse of cultural commodification of Songkran in Thailand. Songkran in Thailand is a religious and cultural festival, which is the celebration of New Year in Thailand. Culture of Songkran festival which then becomes bringing many foreign tourists come to some areas in Thailand like Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Phuket. This great Festival and then give effect to social, cultural as well as the economy on local community. The methods used in this study is a qualitative descriptive based on the experiences both of the author. The data analyzed i.e. secondary data that comes from a variety of scientific journals, then the primary data are analyzed based on the author’s experience when on the Songkran festival in Thailand on April, 2019. Based on the analysis that the commodification of culture happens to Songkran in Thailand is not so much to erode the authenticity of rituals. This means that the core rituals such as bathing the Buddha statues in the temples still do. Commodification is a positive impact on the local community, where on area of the festival they provided tubs for sale in range 5 THB to 15 THB. Then, foreign tourists are pouring in from various countries are also effect on the local community economy.</em></p>

The spread of the coronavirus pandemic from the end of 2019 until the present has drastically changed the trends in the tourism service industry around the world, also in community-based tourism in Thailand. This qualitative research article aimed to explain community-based tourism management during the coronavirus pandemic and includes multiple case studies in five communities of five provinces (Phangnga, Phuket, Krabi, Trang, and Satun provinces) along the Andaman coast of Thailand, which creates an understanding of the characteristics of community-based tourism management for application in specific situations. The data were collected from January to March 2022 via online in-depth interviews and online focus group discussions, with ten key informants and community-based tourism entrepreneurs (two representatives from each). Then, the data were verified using triangulation and analyzed by using content analysis. The results revealed that the community-based tourism management in the Andaman coastal area of Thailand was based on the communities’ cultural and natural resources. The tourism operation during the coronavirus 2019 pandemic was focused on building confidence and safety for tourists, namely: 1) characteristics of vaccinated tourists entering the communities and preferred quality tourists; 2) communities’ readiness for receiving tourists — service staff was regularly checked for coronavirus, renovations were done, and tourism activities were designed to be appropriate in a pandemic situation; 3) public relations and communication of the communities’ good image were pursued; 4) community development sought to achieve the standard of the Thailand Safety and Health Administration; 5) a surveillance system was established to monitor community situations. However, recommendations based on this research are that the government should support community-based tourism operations through tax measures, financial projects allocated to the communities, and technology to promote tourism on various platforms. Results from this research can be applied to community-based tourism entrepreneurs, especially in other areas of Thailand.

The coastal areas of Phuket Island are facing the risk of seawater intrusion, because intense anthropic activity due to urbanization and the expansion of tourism influences coastal hydrologic systems. Indeed, the Kamala sub-district—on the western part of Phuket Island—is a well-known and attractive destination for tourists. Previous research indicates that there is likely to be a seawater intrusion in Kamala. The main purpose of this study was to delineate the seawater intrusion problem in a coastal aquifer in Kamala. Geo-electrical surveys of four lines were successfully conducted in the study area. Two-dimensional (2D) inversion models from the resistivity data show high-resolution subsurface resistivity anomalies of seawater intrusion. The concentration of the seawater intrusion decreases eastward toward the inland areas. Based on a sample measurement, the contaminated zone of seawater has a resistivity value smaller than 30 Ohm-m, and the empirical relationship between the formation conductivity and fluid conductivity of the study area was established. Finally, time-lapse Electrical Resistivity Imaging (time-lapse ERI) was conducted to prove that there was no presence of clay layers in study area; thus, the low resistivity plumes (smaller than 30 Ohm-m) were scientifically interpreted as being seawater intrusion.

As environmental problems keep being concerned by many parties, not only actors in the production side are accused as roots of the problem, the consumer side should not also be neglected. Since it has been suggested that pro-environmental intention will probably lead to some responsible behavior, this study aims to explore factors influencing consumers’ pro-environmental behavioral intention by applying the framework of the theory of planned behavior (TPB). The study focused on exploring the behavior of international tourists from Russia, Australia and China who travel in Phuket Province, Thailand. The result of multiple regression analysis indicated that all factors were positively predictors of pro-environmental intention. Perceived behavioral control provided the highest impact (Beta = 0.543) whereas attitude toward pro-environmental behavior (Beta = 0.140) and subjective norms (Beta = 0.140) provided the lower impact and finally, perceived value (Beta = 0.087) provided the lowest impact.

Abstract The objectives of this research were 1) to study, collect, analyze, synthesize, and extract lessons learned from primary and secondary data of creative tourism and the principle of Authenticity Trend in the context of 5 Andaman provinces; 2) to study, explore, and collect the academic knowledge related to the Peranakan culture; 3) to search for some activities that are suitable for the context of creative tourism in 5 provinces (Ranong, Krabi, Pang-nga, Trang and Phuket); and 4) to develop and evaluate the creative tourism model. This research used a mixed method between the quantitative and qualitative. There were 2 sampling groups; A) the quantitative method was collected from Thai and foreign tourists in the amount of 800 persons and B) the qualitative method was also collected from the heads of the department, officers, professors who are related to the tourism in the amount of 9 persons and the community leaders, knowledgeable persons, and experts in the amount of 40 persons. The tools for gathering the quantitative data was a questionnaire with reliability in 0.95 and the structural interview from a qualitative method. Then the data were analyzed by the statistical in term of percentage, mean, standard deviation, and Scheffe method. The results were revealed that 1. In the quantitative data, the overall results were at a high level of demand as follows: A) the model should have a necessary information about creative tourism for a tourist in a high level of demand in 3.97; B) the trend for promoting the cultural tourism in 5 provinces should be following the principle of Authenticity Trend in a high level of demand in 3.96; C) the activities in promoting the creative tourism should be related with the Peranakan’s culture in a high level of demand in 3.98; D) the community should be participated in Peranakan’s cultural tourism development in a high level of demand in 4.02; and then E) it should have a form of cultural tourism management by the community with a high level of demand in 3.94. 2. In the qualitative research was found that the direction of the future of Peranakan cultural tourism should A) emphasize on the local wisdom, impression, appreciation, and awareness of the visitors; B) the community owners or the local wisdom teachers should present the knowledge by themselves; C) the government should promote the new concept of the creative tourism for Thai and foreign tourists in many ways; D) should have various methods and media to promote the ideas and attitude of the creative tourism (Peranakan culture) for the tourists; E) should have various presentation methods to build a confidence for tourists; and F) should establish or develop a fundamental information source or information center for tourists who are interested in traveling in 5 provinces of Peranakan culture 3. The model should consist of A) Input (many academic knowledge, such the recreational activities, the concept of creative tourism, and the knowledge of Peranakan culture) B) the Process (the cooperative network management between the government, private sector, and people in the form of Community Based Management) and C) Output (creative activities according to the integrated tourism between 3 concepts a) the creative tourism b) the Authenticity Trend and c) the Peranakan culture). 4. The hypothesis testing was found that the creative tourism model was in efficiency and good quality.

The fundamental people-to-people nature of tourism makes it more vulnerable than other industries and adds more difficulties in adapting to the pandemic. The mass tourist destination Phuket has suffered economic consequences due to a decline in international passenger arrivals, with inadequate domestic tourism to take their place. It is reasonable to state that, in some way, the absence of tourism will impact Phuket’s status quo of environmental sustainability. Environmental sustainability is a primary theme in the contemporary tourism and hospitality industry. Environmentally sustainable consumer behavior and ecotourism are important aspects of environmental protection, which eventually benefits society. This paper presents evidence related to the current state of environmental sustainability based on an ongoing work-in-progress research project. The study is led by the ethnographic principles of qualitative data collection. Moreover, the empirical data for this study were gathered through non-participant observations, unstructured interviews with local stakeholders, and the collecting of a variety of materials. The study discloses indecisive results based on the good practices that were observed, as well as behavior and outcomes that contradict the philosophy of environmental sustainability. The results of this paper have practical implications for residents, visitors, and policymakers and offer the scientific community a starting point for advanced research about environmental sustainability in the mass tourism destination Phuket, Thailand.

This paper presents the investigation of the effect of website quality on tourist satisfaction. It focuses on an issue of the hotel industry in Phuket Province, Thailand: Does the website quality of hotels affect the relationship between the perceived value and tourist satisfaction? The results indicate that only the service quality aspect of website quality was affect positively associated with tourist satisfaction, whereas the service quality and information quality of hotel websites were not affect associated with the perceived information value. The perceived information value was affect strongly positively associated with tourist satisfaction.

Phuket is well-known around the world as a popular tourist destination. Tourism-related population growth depends more on groundwater as the only available source of potable water in Phuket. The proper precautions must be taken to reduce the risk of spending large sums of money in sinking abortive boreholes, and a groundwater potential map would enhance the success rate of future groundwater exploration and exploitation in the study area. Geoelectrical surveys were carried out in this study to collect electrical properties of the subsurface, and the Dar-Zarrouk parameters (DZP) were calculated using the geoelectrical data. The first thematic groundwater potential map was constructed using the interpretation of DZP, while the second thematic groundwater potential map was created using the basis maps of the depth-of-basement and aquifer thickness parameters. Finally, two thematic maps based on geographic information system (GIS) environments were overlaid on a groundwater potential map of Phuket. However, in order to provide a reliable assessment of groundwater potential, time-lapse electrical resistivity imaging was used to confirm the area of the high-potential zone indicated on the map. The map created by this study is aimed to act as a reference for future groundwater exploration and exploitation, preventing water supplies from becoming unsustainable through botched borehole drilling for groundwater production.

Specimens of a new species,Elaphoidella sanoamuangaen. sp., were collected during an investigation of cave-dwelling copepods in a tourist cave in the Phuket mountain range, South Thailand, and the new species is described and depicted herein.Elaphoidella sanoamuangaen. sp. fits intoElaphoidellagroup VII sensu Lang (1948). The new species is most similar toE. schubartiChappuis, 1936. The differential characters for females of the two species are: (a) the free margin of the anal operculum, (b) the number of ventral spinules on the anal somite, (c) the shape of the caudal rami, (d) the shape of the inner terminal caudal seta, (e) the segmentation of Endp P1, (f) the armature formula of Endp-2 P2-P4, and (g) the size of the setae on P5.

Currently, Phuket Island is facing water scarcity because water demand for consumption was approximately 51 million m3/year, whereas water supply was only about 46 million m3/year. Thus, the study of water supply, demand and balancing are important for effective water resources management. This study aims to simulate the LULC data using the CLUE-S model, estimate water supply using the SWAT model, and calculate water demand using a water footprint basis for water balancing on the Island. In addition, tourist water demand was separately estimated under normal and new normal conditions (COVID-19 pandemic) to fit with the actual situation at national and international levels. Water balance results with the consideration of ecological water requirements suggest that a water deficit occurs every year under the dry year scenario in normal and new normal conditions. In addition, the monthly water balance indicates that a water deficit occurs in the summer season every year, both without and with the consideration of ecological water requirements. Consequently, it can be concluded that remote sensing data with advanced geospatial models can provide essential information about water supply, demand, and balance for water resources management, particularly water scarcity, in Phuket Island in the future. Additionally, this study’s conceptual framework and research workflows can assist government agencies in examining water deficits in other areas.

McNeil, E., Inthawong, Y., & Assanangkornchai, S. (2015). Access to alcohol and binge drinking among vocational college students: A multilevel study in a tourist destination province of Thailand. The International Journal Of Alcohol And Drug Research, 5(2), 47-55. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.7895/ijadr.v5i2.214A key issue in alcohol-related harm reduction is the impact of commercial and social availability on alcohol-related problems and harm among young people. The increasing density of alcohol outlets has been shown to be associated with harmful youth drinking behavior, although studies have produced mixed results, underlying the complexity of the situation.Aims: The present study was conducted to assess the relationship between density of alcohol outlets and drinking behaviors among vocational college students.Methods: A cross-sectional school-based survey was conducted among full-time students studying in vocational colleges in Phuket, Thailand. Multilevel regression models were used to assess the relationship between alcohol-outlet density and current and binge drinking, controlling for student and school characteristics.Results: A total of 3,363 students completed the self-reported questionnaire (response rate 66.7%). A significant association was found between alcohol-outlet density and binge drinking but not current drinking. Both current and binge drinking were associated with a positive attitude toward drinking, perception of peer and family drinking norms, and social availability of alcohol. For every increase in 10 on-premise alcohol outlets per square kilometer the risk of binge drinking increased by an average of 5%. Empirical evidence regarding this relationship is important to support law and policy movements towards further restriction of alcohol outlets and zoning of entertainment venues.

This study explored the trace of Peranakan heritage in the Andaman provincial cluster and presented the Cultural and Historical Trail Map of Peranakan heritage in Andaman provincial cluster. The concept of development communication objectives was used to create a research framework. Research results in the "complement" phase showed 117 traces of Peranakan heritage in the Andaman provincial cluster. As for the "facilitate" phase, 83 sites were qualified. An analysis of the relationship of qualified sites with Peranakan culture revealed five significant connections between each location and culture: 1) Peranakan ancestral monument, 2) Peranakan shrine, 3) Sino-European architectural building, 4) Peranakan residential areas, and 5) Peranakan cultural and historical learning center. Upon completion of the last phase, "extend," 6 tourist maps were created to display 8 cultural sites in Ranong province, 15 sites in Phang Nga province, 33 sites in Phuket province, 8 sites in Krabi province, 14 sites in Trang province, and 4 sites in Satun province, respectively. This study, thus, has produced a visual map in each province which is a catalytic communication tool to promote tourism development at the regional level and national level.

Employee emotions and feelings are often overlooked in the hotel industry, this could not be more true since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis. This is mainly due to the hotels having to make drastic cutbacks in order to survive owing to the massive decline of guests due to the closing of the international borders. Therefore, this has had a huge impact on employees working from within the hotel industry. The purpose of this study is to examine the burnout of hotel employees. A quantitative approach was taken by distributing questionnaires to hotel employees working in the heavily tourist-dependent island of Phuket, Thailand. As a result, 420 valid responses were collected which were then uploaded and analysed by using SPSS. The results showed that burnout has increased drastically among hotel employees during the COVID-19 crisis. The results also indicate different demographic and job characteristics that have been found to have significantly high burnout values. The hotel industry needs to focus on employee welfare to avoid employees burning out, human resource strategies and initiatives should be implemented.

The popularity of moving abroad for working and travelling at the same time has started to become a lifestyle that gradually breaks the traditional way of working as salaried workers or being known as a Digital Nomad (Müller, 2016). In Thailand, Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Phuket are the top destinations, especially Chiang Mai, which was once chosen as the world's number 1 destination for digital nomads to move to (Chiangmai buddy, 2017). This study aims to understand the factors of nomads’ migration (Pofeldt, 2017). Qualitative research collected data and in-depth interviews with 11 key informants through a digital nomad community in Chiang Mai. Data analysis was performed through the method of content analysis. The results of the research showed that there were three factors supporting a decision of selecting Chiang Mai as a destination city. The first factor is natural and cultural capital, such as its unique culture, various tourist attractions, food, and diverse nature. The second factor is access to work and communication infrastructures through the internet, cafés, internet prices, and services. The third factor is information exchange networks are built, integrating networks of a digital nomad community in Chiang Mai where opinions are exchanged, and activities are performed constantly. This has led to exchange networks that have made Chiang Mai become a top destination for nomads around the world.

When traveling in a foreign country, road transport is most frequently and conveniently used particularly, but road conditions and manners are stunningly different among countries, which increases potential risks to meet accidents. If tourists feel such risks, it may be that they will not be repeaters and their impressions will also be shared with others, leading to a potential decrease of tourists. Phuket, Thailand, a worldly wellknown beach resort, faces problems in road conditions and manners, with a high rate of traffic accidents and casualties, and governmental actions have to be taken. This paper reports a questionnaire survey result about how international tourists feel and understand road conditions in Phuket during their stay, which is expected to offer good evidence on which governmental actions should be based. The survey results revealed (mostly through the behaviors and recommendations) that the majority of international tourists to Phuket felt risks in terms of road conditions, regardless of whether they drove by themselves or not, and most of them wanted the basic information on road conditions as well as regulations, so that they could prepare themselves. Relations between demographic characteristics and questionnaire replies were also investigated, suggesting that there be a necessity of reducing risks particularly for elderly tourists, and that the driving manner of local residents including professional drivers should be improved.

Four cases of legionnaires’ disease have recently been reported in one Norwegian, one Finn and two people from Sweden. These patients were all among guests staying at a hotel in Patong Beach, Phuket, Thailand since 20 November 2006.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to integrate the theory of planned behavior and the protection motivation theory to propose a theoretical framework for examining the influence of attitude, perceived behavioral control and subjective norms on international tourists’ intentions to select restaurants with contactless dining services (CDSs) as a protective behavior against COVID-19. This study further tested the moderation effects of subjective norms on attitude and perceived behavioral control links with intention. Design/methodology/approach In all, 344 international tourists completed questionnaires via QR-coded Google forms in Phuket Old Town and Patong Beach in Thailand. Data analysis was conducted by SPSS and Smart-PLS (partial least square). Findings Intention to select a restaurant with CDSs was influenced by attitude, perceived behavioral control and subjective norms. Subjective norms had a significant negative moderating effect on attitude and intention links. However, the moderation effect of tourists’ subjective norms on the connection between their perceived behavioral control and intention toward restaurant dining was not proved. Practical implications Providing CDSs could be a quick solution to decrease the devastating effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the restaurant industry. Originality/value This study incorporated CDSs to expand the application of the integrated model of theory of planned behavior and protection motivation theory as a theoretical basis in the restaurant industry to explain how international tourists’ behavioral choices may change during the pandemic in Thailand. This study also contributes to the travel risk literature by highlighting the influence of attitude anchored on risk and efficacy beliefs (perceived vulnerability, severity and response efficacy) in predicting protective behavioral intention.

It is reasonable to state that the impact on Thailand’s economy has been severe due to the lack of international tourists. In particular, the mass-tourist destination Phuket has suffered economic consequences due to a plunge in the number of international passenger arrivals and inadequate domestic tourists to fill their places. This paper aims to identify inadequacies to help stakeholders more effectively manage tourism development amid COVID-19, as well as to contribute to the body of knowledge and establish a baseline that recommends a potential area of interest for future quantitative research. This case study utilizes a variety of primary and secondary data sources. The empirical data for this study were collected through a series of semi-structured interviews with local small business owners. After a rigorous review process, a total of 21 in-depth interviews were included in the content analysis. This research not only disclosed a high level of resilience amongst the small local business owner community but revealed that Phuket continues to depend strongly on international tourism to manage its local economy sustainably. This research offers insights into the recent tourism developments during the COVID-19 global pandemic and provides a baseline for future studies that seek to validate results through quantitative methods of inquiry. Furthermore, it offers guidance for policymakers that seek recommendations for implementing good governance strategies.

This research aims to describe components and relationship models of a business organization’s innovation management model affecting the innovative behaviour of executives of hotels’ human resources. An empirical study was conducted on 4- to 5-star hotels in Phuket Province seeking to become sustainable businesses by increasing the efficiency of performance and setting guidelines for hotel businesses to form a performance model relating to administration and human resource development in the midst of ongoing environmental changes. Questionnaires were used to collect data from 405 human resources executives of 4- 5 stars hotels in Phuket Province, Thailand. The data analysis first involved applying descriptive statistics and then adopting Pearson correlation analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling. The results show that innovative behaviour has had a positive effect on task performance and that causal factors including valuable human resources,transformational leadership, and innovation atmosphere have had a direct positive impact on innovative behaviour. Furthermore, we found positive direct and indirect effects on task performance.

Abstract. Boonman N, Wanna C, Chutrtong J, Chotpantarat S, Boonsilp S. 2022. Genotyping and physiological characteristics of Acanthamoeba isolated from beaches in Phuket Province, Thailand. Biodiversitas 23: 4377-4384. Acanthamoeba is widely distributed in water, soil, dust and air. Beaches are popular tourist destinations for water-related activities while they can also be reservoirs for Acanthamoeba to humans. This study aimed to determine the genotyping of Acanthamoeba in the beach environment and characterized their pathogenicity potential. A total of 63 samples were collected from six beaches in Phuket Province, Thailand. Twenty-one samples of each source including wet sand, dry sand and seawater, were collected and cultivated on 2% non-nutrient agar coated with heat-killed Escherichia coli. Acanthamoeba was found in 100% (n=21) wet sand, 52.4% (n=11) dry sand and 14.3% (n=3) seawater. Sequence analysis of the GTSA.B1 region in 18S rRNA revealed that 83.9% of sequenced isolates belonged to the T5 genotype and 16.1% belonged to the T4 genotype. The T5 genotype was predominant, differing from other reports of Acanthamoeba prevalence in natural sources. In vitro thermal and salt-tolerance showed that all isolates had growth rates similar to clinical Acanthamoeba isolates. This research was undertaken to increase awareness of human eye and brain infections caused by Acanthamoeba on beaches. Further studies on these Acanthamoeba isolates are still required such as co-culture assay between the trophozoites and human cell lines to confirm their pathogenicity as well as their susceptibility to the chemotherapeutic agents.

A major goal of sustainability is to strike a balance between socio-economic interests and the planet's finite ecological systems. This trend is also affecting the area of tourism with its environmental, social, and economic impacts. To change the relationship between tourism stakeholders and elements that impact sustainable tourism development, it is critical to understand their perspectives. The explorative interview study aims to contribute by critically exploring how small tourism businesses perceive sustainable tourism development in Phuket, Thailand. A series of 18 in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted to explore the phenomena empirically. The findings revealed that insufficient governance and lack of education are the largest obstacles. Furthermore, small tourism businesses perceive environmental sustainability as a synonym for sustainable tourism development. The study concludes by providing theoretical and practical implications.

In the morning of 5 May 2014, over sixty people took their seats in the cosy conference hall of the Holiday Villa Beach Resort and Spa Langkawi, to witness the opening ceremony of the THIC 2014 on the theme: Dimensions of Sustainability in the Planning, Development and Management of Tourism and Hospitality Industry. The Deputy Secretary General, Ministry of Tourism and Culture Malaysia, Rashidi Hasbullah, officiated at the ceremony and joined the conference Chair Dr. Shaharuddin Tahir in welcoming participants from over a dozen countries, mostly Malaysians, Indonesians and Thais, who were also collaborators in organising the meeting. As a display of regional fraternity, the Thai and Malaysian contingents took turns to entertain attendees with a repertoire of traditional dances. This social warm up was to be continued in the evening when UUM Dean of Tourism and Hospitality, Dr. Basri Rashid, played host at a dinner given by the Langkawi Development Authority (LADA). The theme on sustainability was a timely choice given the growing interest in Langkawi and the industry at large in green tourism and the issues of sustainability. Altogether, sixty-seven papers were presented but few addressed the theme explicitly. To be sure, most papers touched on aspects of tourism and hospitality management which were linked, directly or indirectly, to the general concept of sustainable development. Most of the papers that dealt with sustainability issues were contributed by tourism researchers and this preponderance was well reflected in the keynote addresses with three of the four papers focusing on tourism. The only keynote address from a hospitality perspective was a presentation by Dr. Yusak Anshori (Universitas Ciputra) who spoke on sustainable hotel business through environment friendly practices such as a ban on smoking and commercialised recycling of waste material. He observed that although there was a general skepticism if not rejection of the radical approach to ban smoking in the Surabaya Plaza Hotel while he was in charge, the management was able to secure ample sustenance from the segment of market that favoured a smoke-free facility. The three keynote papers that discussed sustainable tourism began with Kadir Din’s address which provided an overview of the concept, current thinking on the subject, and its application on the conference site, Langkawi Island. In his view, the three pillars of sustainability as commonly presented in the literature were arguably too general to capture the influence of context-specific features which may appear to be more localised such as location in areas prone to natural hazards, inept leadership, political instability and technological change. In the case of Langkawi, he considered resource limitations (water, space, power, food supply) to be possible impediments to sustainable tourism, besides a dozen other dimensions which may constrain the capacity of the island to cater to the needs of the visitor. The second address by Kalsom Kayat traced the evolution of the concept “sustainable tourism development” which was linked to the concept of balanced development as promulgated through activities organised by the Club of Rome in 1972. The concern with economic growth was whether it could be sustained in terms of the positive and negative consequences, inluding the impacts of development on the well being of future generations. A desirable model for community-based tourism would be a situation in which the entire community consisting of heterogeneous groups of stakeholders are empowered to plan for their own future with collective community welfare in mind. To do this, there must be appropriate policies, standards and institutional arrangements. As illustrations, Kalsom described examples from four different contexts in Thailand, Nepal, China and Fiji, which together presented a range of cases with different literacies, capacities and degrees of consensus in the community, indicating non-homogeneity among host stakeholders. Institutional support from the state is thus clearly needed to harmonise the needs of hosts and guests for now and the future. The next keynote speaker, Manat Chaisawat, is a familiar figure in the ASEAN tourism circle. His long established involvement in the tourism training gave him enough exposure to recall many regional pronouncements and institutional networks which were always promising on paper, but left much to be desired on the ground. Acharn Manat recounted many initiatives articulated in documents issued by the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), and Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT) since the 1980s. These regional bodies organised meetings where roadmaps, blueprints and strategic development models were presented, but as the THIC 2014 conference participants were fully aware, there had hardly been much meat that could be appreciated on the ground other than the initiatives which arose from private enterprises. Manat and the other keynote speakers were fortunate to be able to enjoy gratis the luxury of lodging at the Frangipani Langkawi Resort & Spa where innovations towards sustainable hospitality were being experimented as he had happily complimented during his keynote speech. The beaches to the east of Frangipani were probably cleaner than Waikiki, thanks to the operator Anthony Wong who continues to pursue green hospitality as his lifelong corporate goal. My own quick stroll on the beach abutting the venue of the THIC 2014 conference however, revealed a contrasting situation. I saw site occupiers engaged in open burning at the edge of a beachfront property. Along the beach there were plastic and styrofoam litters that could be seen on the spot which was ostensibly one of the best beaches on the island. The idea of acquiring a strip for a pedestrian walk, in line with the Langkawi Blueprint initiatives was strongly opposed by the local community. In this sense, Kalsom was correct in the observation that there was rarely a consensus in the community but there must be a common understanding among locals, tourists and industry insiders, before any blueprint can be effectively translated into a harmonious management of the environment. Manat’s expressed desire to see the development of a sacred heritage trail in honour of an eminent Buddhist monk Luang Pu Tuad was understandable given his religious background. The challenge here, however, was how to persuade the host community to share his sentiment that such a trail which would circumambulate non-Buddhist areas would be for the common good. My own reaction, from the lens of a believer in the wasatiyyah (moderate) approach, was that it was a great idea. Discussing the subject after his presentation, I also raised the need to promote heroines Mok and Chan, the two Malay sisters who are valourised in a downtown statue, in honour of their contributions to the provincial government of Phuket during their war of liberation from Burma. The last time I met Manat was in Pusan (Korea) where we were guests of honour as founding members of the Asia-Pacific Tourism Research Association. I subsequently attended a tourism conference and later a meeting he organised in Phuket which allowed me the opportunity to visit Kamala Beach where Aisyah the descendent of Mahsuri lived. Such was my networking with an old scholar who is now in his seventies. As we parted with a big hug at the Padang Matsirat airport, my hope was that we will meet again, so that we can continue to “gaze across the cultural border” as I had written in a presentation entitled “Gazing across the border from Sintok” in a regional meeting of a similar kind, held both in Sintok and Haatyai several years ago. My desire is that such meetings will strengthen interest among researchers in Malaysia to look beyond the Malaysian context. In so doing, they will also be interested in looking beyond the confines of their own cultural sphere, to be in a position to know and eventually accept the other. For me, this is the only way forward for a harmonious, and through that, a prosperous Malaysia. At the risk of being stigmatized by Non-Muslim readers, I must confess that I am fully committed to Prophet Muhammad’s teaching that one should not subscribe to groupism or asabiyyah. This is the way forward for a sustainable Malaysian society. If we go by the theme of the conference, there seems to be little interest in interrogating any of the multifarious dimensions of sustainable tourism, not even in the three presumed pillars—economic, social and environmental. Looking at the key words of papers, only six of the sixty-three papers mentioned sustainable or sustainability and among them only three had mindfully used the term. When a series of announcement on the conference was made almost a year earlier the subscript was intended to draw a wide audience who would be in the position to share ideas on their respective perspectives on sustainable tourism development since the concept in the subscript can be read as a catch-all tagline intended to persuade prospective participants to attend the gathering. In this sense, the organisers had succeeded in securing that critical mass of some eighty attendees, but in terms of sharing ideas and networking on sustainable tourism and hospitality the THIC series must await many more meetings before this interest in grand ideas and frameworks can gather the momentum it deserves. To be sure, as Kalsom said of the non-homegeneity of the host community, there was a non-homegeneity of attendees, with some showing spirited interest in the sustainability theme while others were more interested in the experience visiting Langkawi, period. As the meeting came to a close with a brief parting message from the conference Chair Shaharuddin and Dean Basri, we were left with a measure of excitement–on the prospect of meeting again for the THIC 2015 in Surabaya. As I write this report, there was an announcement on TV on the discovery of debris from Air Asia carrier flight QZ 8501 which left Surabaya two days earlier. It left us ordinary mortals with a tinge of sadness, but now that more people know the city called Surabaya, we hope our prospective co-organiser at Universitas Cipura will rekindle the regional IMT-GT spirit that we have tried to build together in Phuket, Haatyai and Langkawi.

This paper seeks to explore environmental, social and governance issues arising from investment in special economic zones (SEZs) in the mainland Southeast Asian region through a mixture of thick analytical description and multiple case study approach. All the states studied here have embraced the SEZ approach as it offers rapid economic development without any implications for the political settlement, which is considered beneficial by current administrations. Particular emphasis is placed on environmental, social and governance issues in the region covered and some complex issues that have emerged. It is shown that the situation is complex and continually evolving and that there are limited constraints on the actions of corporations. Consequently, there is an opportunity for investors to set precedents and protocols on a progressive basis. 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