Tourism has ruined it
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- Category: Blog Friday - Steve
Many learned and scholarly reports have been produced on the impact of tourism on local cultures. This is not one of them, but I will add my rambling thoughts to the debate.
We are currently in Luang Prabang, Laos and have just been in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Both are lovely, lovely places. Both have the impact of global tourism writ large – rows of guest houses and large signs saying “Western Food”. One lunch time in Chiang Mai we were desperate for noodle soup, but ended up with a bagel as that was all we could find. Five years ago there were just two ATMs in the whole of Laos (and only one of them actually worked), now Luang Prabang has a street of them and some very nice coffee shops.
However I really do hate all those cries of “oh it’s ruined now, it is just so touristy” – which can only be justified if you’re a particularly grumpy local. Let’s be frank, without tourism the World Heritage city of Luang Prabang would be gently crumbling into the Mekong. Clearly there is the obvious tourist dollar, but there is also the major incentive to learn English and broaden your education, which may well have the biggest benefit for the next generation.
Yes tourism can have a negative impact (“you want Opium mister?”), but so can ill-judged development aid. Tourists can choose to visit the “human zoos” of the long-necked Karen tribe or use the eco-friendly indigenous home stay; we have done both. You can spend your day practicing English with locals or guzzling whisky and red bull out of a bucket; we’ve only done the former, but some do both.
If you are desperate for the “untouched” you can head-off into the highlands, stay in a village with intermittent electricity, and be eaten alive by bugs. Yes we have done this, it is fun, but also tiring and hard work for us as well as the children. I still feel guilty looking at Dickon’s legs peppered with bites and feel for all the local kids suffering.
Finally the anti-tourism cry is often made by either (a) the lover of five star luxuries or (b) the backpacker aggressively haggling to driven the price down as low as possible, squeezing out that vital 5,000 kip (approximately 40p). Personally I think the latter is the worst kind of neo-colonist.
Overall, based on a few completely unrepresentative conversations, I think tourism is over-whelmingly positive for Luang Prabang. Do come here if you can. It is beautiful and you can get a wonderful cinnamon bagel.
