⌛ MOALBOAL bad news

Yabs...which Aussie mining company is that? I know what most of them are up to in P.I., do a little investing from time to time, so I'd be curious if a major is having a sniff-around.

Also, friendly hint, probably not a good idea to call the President of a country where you're a guest resident - a 'b*tch' on a public forum. Seen people jailed and deported in a couple places for less than that....

 

cebu
do you really think that tourism will stop pop growth?
what sort of crap is that! How would it ver achieve that?
to answer your question.....
It is basic population biology - it is called a demographic transition and the cultural forces behind it is that an employed, educated female is more empowered and tends to make life choices that reduce the number of children she has - it is the principle way a 3rd world country becomes a developed country - tourist income going into small buisnesses spurs the local economy and creates jobs - this effect is not as great when you are dealing with large corparations and mega investors who hire some locals at low wages but put their profits in Hawaii or Japan

 

Mass turism and economic development

"so e mega foreign owned resort never has been and never will be a route out of poverty, it merely increases it."

I agree with much of what you write, but I think you are exaggerating quite a bit here. I also do not like much what has happened in e.g. Phuket, but realistically, people were starving there, before the turist development started 30 years ago!

Today not only can they afford to eat properly, they can also pay education for their kids, drive motorcycles etc. I am sure most people from NE-Thailand, where there has been no turist development at all, would be more than happy to move to Phuket!

So I can not honestly say, that this delopment has been anything but brilliant for the people living in Phuket, even I don`t personally like it so much. However, the latter is my problem, and I can just go somewhere else for my vacation, if I don`t like a place with mass turism.

If Moal-Boal also turns into a place of mass turism (which I don´t really think it will), this would increase the standard of living for the local people tremendously. If you and I can no longer afford to go there, or don´t like what it has become, then we should just move on and find another low-key place to go, rather than mourn about it.

That is my honost opinion. I have heard, that as late as 1986, the Filippines was the 3. richest country in SE Asia, lacking behind only Singapore and Hong-Kong in pr. capita income. Today the country is close to being overtaken by even Vietman and dropping to dead last place.

I think the Filippines would probably do well in trying to learn a bit from, what has made other SE Asia nations more economically successfull than itself. And I don`t really think the reason for other nations succes is that they have declined foreign investments completely. More likely, it is just the opposite way around.

But of course it is ok also to simply select to be nationalistic and poor. I just pety a bit on the people, who quite literally dye from poverty in the Filippines, partly because of an attitude like the one, you are expressing here.

 

Interesting topic. I remember Phuket when there was only one low-rise "tourist" hotel at Patong Beach and no bars or prostitutes. Sure some of the locals are better off now with the tourist income but there has been a huge cost in terms of environmental and social damage.

I can't see how Moalboal could become another Phuket or even another Boracay. There is just not the natural attractions to drag in the tourists. I haven't been to Moalboal for may years but its charm was the village like atmosphere and the amazingly nice people who ran the small family businesses there.

But I am concerned about parts of Palawan that do have the natural attractions. I fear it's only a matter of time before they become like Boracay.

As far as the politics of development in the Philippines goes, I highly recommend Stirling Seagrave's "The Marcos Dynasty" as essential reading for anyone who seeks to understand Philippine politics.

cheers

lofty

 

I agree, that the development on Phuket has had a cost in the form of environmental damage. However, is that not true for all kinds of economic development? Industrial development is hardly environmentally neutral either.

Poverty and the related population growth is also a big threat to the environment itself. If people do not have any other options to support themselves or their family, they will naturally continue to catch fish until there are literally no more fish to catch, or to cut down original forest until there is no more forest left. They will also continue to have as many children as possible, since:

a) they have no chance to save up money for their retirement
b) they do not have money to buy condoms or anticontraceptive pills, nor perhaps any knowledge about how to use these things.

I am all for environmental regulation, and this has for sure been lagging in the development of a place like Phuket. But to be honest, environmental protection was also not a priority in any 1. world country, when they were at the state of development, where Thailand or the Philippines are now. And this hardly means, that we should say, that it would have been better, if there had not been any economic development at all, does it?

As for social damage caused by the turist development on Phuket or in other places, that is a highly emotional matter, and I do not really have any strong opinion about it one way or another. What is "social damage" anyway? And who is to judge, if people in the area are more or less happy now, than they were 30 years ago?

As for prostitution, I think it is important to remember, that the main cause for prostitution is not turism but poverty. There are women in Manila or Cebu, who have higher income than most of the turists, and these women are for sure not for sale for 2.000 peso or whatever the going price is.

Anyway, who are you or I to judge, if a woman is more or less happy being a prostitute than perhaps watching her child starve, because she can not afford to buy enough food? Saying that prostitution is bad, but without providing better ways for women to support themselves or their children, is quite cynical in my opinion.

A good way to limit prostitution would be to enable women to avoid delivering unwanted children before they are married. This would require at the minimum, that young people are educated about family planning in the school and not in the prewedding seminar. Preperable it would also meen to lift the current ban on abortion, though this is of course an even more controversial topic.

 

Yes Phuket may have suffered much worse environmental damage if gold or copper had been discovered there.

When I first visited Phuket in 1980 I thought I had discovered paradise. Most of the local people were living a subsistence lifestyle and I saw little evidence of real poverty. The tourist industry was kicking off but was still dominated by young budget travellers who would be known these days as backpackers.

The social damage I mentioned is the influence of western society and the change in lifestyle of the locals to accommodate the needs of the tourists. I accept poverty is an element in prostitution but so is supply and demand. The cashed-up tourists created a demand for young girls, young boys and drugs and people moved from other parts of thailand to meet that need. This included low-life criminals from bangkok and organised crime. As word got around, phuket became a haven for paedophiles and druggies from western countries due to the tolerant attitude of the locals.

I just can't see how this has provided an overall benefit to the local community but you are right that it is very difficult to compare happiness of people over 30 years. When the tsunami hit and all the tourists disappeared, many locals considered it to be an act of karma.

 

Yes, the E. coli issue is at least two years old. Been some leaning on resorts to move back, shut down, whatever. Bit lost on what is going on lately, it was a little confusing. I hear those with some foreign involvement in management/ownership are particularly targetted....duh....