Krabi's Khlong Thom district to be promoted as sustainable tourism area

The director-general of the Designated Areas for Sustainable Tourism Administration (Dasta), Group Captain Athikun Kongmee said on Monday that the designated area would cover the Emerald Pool (Sa Morakot) and the Saline Hot Spring under the “Khlong Thom wellness city” programme.

Khlong Thom, especially Huai Nam Khao sub-district, is noted for its natural beauty, history, and culture.

Thailand’s only saline hot spring is located here. The spring is only one of two of its kind in the world — the other saline hot spring is located in Europe in the Czech Republic.

Athikun said the administration is preparing to present the findings of its study for the designation of Khlong Thom as a sustainable tourism area to the policy board of the Tourism Authority of Thailand. The study is expected to be completed by the end of 2024.

Afterwards, a strategic development plan for Khlong Thom will be developed to conform to the strategic development plan for the southern provinces on the Andaman coast. This comprises Phuket, Phang Nga, Krabi, Trang, and Satun. Together with the Bio-Circular-Green (BCG) model which aims to add value to existing resources and attract investments, the plan will be presented to a Cabinet meeting, he said.

Dasta will be responsible for liaising with state and non-state agencies to develop the Khlong Thom area for sustainable tourism, Athikun said. They will work with the community to ensure that the locals benefit from the programme. This would strengthen the community, conserve the environment, and foster long-term development, he added.

The potential commercialisation of mineral water from the saline hot spring has been shown the green flag and the private sector is already acting on it. Though, investments from the government are yet to come in this area.

Dasta will be the central agency collaborating with other agencies, such as the Department of Groundwater Resources and the Department of Public Works and Town & Country Planning, to manage the usage of land and infrastructure planning. The Board of Investment is also considering providing benefits to attract investors.

Once Khlong Thom is designated a sustainable tourism area, Dasta will educate locals about the global sustainable tourism criterion and community-led tourism development. It will also present the area to be nominated in the “Green Destinations Top 100” stories.

Athikun said that in 2019, Krabi received 7 million domestic and foreign tourists. In the same year, Krabi’s income from tourism was fourth highest in Thailand. However, Covid-19 restrictions seriously affected tourism and the number of visitors fell. After 2022, however, more tourists are visiting the province. The first five months of 2023 saw 1.2 million tourists.