Realizing the obstacles that hotel business owners are facing due to the closer relationship between environmental management and hotel business development, the Senate Sub-Commission on the Study of Laws which are Obstacles to Tourism Industry would like to provide advice to persons who have engaged or wish to engage in hotel business in Thailand as follows:
If you are interested in opening a hotel, but do not wish to face with problems such as…
•Tremendous amount invested but stuck with EIA!
•Sea in front is strictly conserved due to endangered animals and corals!
•Construction of a small pier caused the hotel beach to collapse!
•Hotel development is stuck due to land use restrictions!
•If known about Green Hotels earlier, the hotel could have attracted a lot more guests!
•Sea turtle egg laying zone, no night parties allowed on the beach!
An environmental study can help solve these problems.
It should be undeniable to say that hotel business mainly depends on environmental resources. Good locations are not only difficult to find but are also strictly controlled by laws, rules and regulations, such as those of building control, town planning, environment and public health. Even with the absence of such restrictions, business owners would not wish to destroy the beautiful surrounding natures with their innocent mistakes anyway, since doing so is comparable to destroying their own gold mines.
The Environmental Impact Assessment Report (EIA Report) is what the environmental law requires a project owner to conduct if the owner wishes to construct a hotel with 80 or more rooms. Under the EIA Report process, the project owner must hire a juristic person authorized by the Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning (ONEP) to conduct the report. As a benefit, the project that has undergone an environmental impact assessment study will be able to respond to all relating environmental issues. Then, the project owner can utilize the suggestions received after the report submission to help develop the project.
As for hotel projects with less than 80 rooms, even though the EIA Report is not required, but however, if the owner wants to ensure that there will be no environmental problems occurred later on, for instance, collapse of beach or destruction of sea animal’s habitat nearby (whose existence helps attract tourists) due to the hotel development, an advice of a competent environmental consultant is recommended to be sought. Being non-governmental professionals, the environmental consultants do not only conduct the EIA Report, but they are also able to provide environmental consultations to project owners in every aspect. Since before the project initiation, the consultants can answer questions such as: What are the laws, rules, and regulations to be considered for running the project in a certain areaω Are there any natural resources to be utilized to attract customersω The consultant can also help the owner plan the construction by advising methods to best conserve the surrounding natural resources both while constructing and running the hotel, since to the owner, surrounding natural resources are like breadbaskets.
As for the EIA Report process, hotel project owners are recommended to have environmental consultants involved since the location selection period. Later on during construction design, the consultant can recommend the architect on important environmental restrictions while studying the environmental impact at the same time to ensure that the project goes according to the environmental standard and to also clarify and speed up the EIA Report.
To seek for a competent environmental consultant is not a difficult task. Project owners are welcomed to see the list of registered environmental consultants at the Environmental Impact Evaluation Bureau (EIEB), Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning (ONEP) 60/1 Soi Pibunwattana 7, Param 6 Road, Bangkok 10400, Tel. 0-2265-6500 or through the websitehttp://www.onep.go.th/eia.
