Forwarding for John "Caveman" Gray (he attempted to send this to the list but his attachment caused problems): ----- Begin Included Message ----- >From caveman_at_seacanoe.com Wed Nov 4 08:03 PST 1998 From: "Caveman" <caveman_at_seacanoe.com> To: <jackie_at_intelenet.net> Subject: Environmental Wars Reply to caveman_at_seacanoe.com Date: Wed, 4 Nov 1998 22:36:44 +0700 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Priority: 3 (Normal) X-MSMail-Priority: Normal Importance: Normal X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V4.72.3110.3 "SeaCanoe is a great new concept in adventure travel - an ideal Ecotourism model with exciting and innovative new economics." Dr. John Hemming, Director Emeritus, Royal Geographical Society * * * * * Sawasdee Everybody - I've been off-line so much that I don't know who is still there. Will you please forward rhis to as many folks as you can? Since we are Amazing Thailand's Best Inbound Tour Operator, internatioonal pressure might force the government to take action. Your replies may actually save a life. Complicating matters, we've had terrible server problems for the past month now, so I don't know when I will get any of your replies - and I'm not even sure of the date that this message was sent. Please send your replies anyway. We are at the start of dry season and the phone lines will dry up eventually. I want to emphasize that we do not take guests near any problem areas, and our trips remain fully booked, even though the day trip guests understand that they may not get in any of the caves that we discovered. (Overnighters are unaffected.) Guest support has been total and heartwarming - a good statement on the Human Race. The guest lettters have been a very powerful tool for our cause - your replies can do the same. Expect a full spread story on this issue soon in the Bangkok Post - http://www.bangkokpost.net/ PLEASE HELP US FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION AND EXTORTION Forward this to all your friends Your international input can be vital. Post-devaluation Thailand has a new constitution. There is a new wave of anti-corruption activism. Many progressive Thais see our stand as a test of Thailand's future. If the Thai Constitution, the Rule of Law and basic Human Rights are to prevail, and if the Thai Government is to control its own National Parks and Tourism policy, we need your help in this cause. Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai is a good man, but his coalition is filled with all sorts of politicians, so YOUR INTERNATIONAL PRESSURE will help his clear support of our cause. Please email Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai at secretariat_pm_at_thaigov.go.th with your concern for Thailand's National Parks, Tourism sustainability, professional standards for "kayaking" companies, volume limits in the cramped caves and lagoons (our limit is 24 kayaks a day split into three different trips) User Fees set by law that go to the National Park in lieu of extortion. That's secretariat_pm_at_thaigov.go.th Thanks, Caveman October 29, 1998 Phuket, Thailand For Immediate Release For further information, please contact: John "Caveman" Gray Founder, SeaCanoe Thailand Tel/Fax: (66-76) 212-252 or 212-172 Email: caveman_at_seacanoe.com or info_at_seacanoe.com Bangkok Post, October 28, 1998 "Gunman shoots canoe firm boss" A canoe operating company manager was shot and seriously wounded yesterday in what is believed to be a business conflict with a Phang Nga bird nest concessionaire. Panwong Hiranchai, operation manager of SeaCanoe (Thailand) Co., was rushed to a local hospital where he was said to be in critical condition. An unidentified man in the company's compound shot him several times at close range. The company often organized canoe trips for tourists around a bird-nest rich Phang Nga island, and the shooting might have something to do with the firm's refusal to pay protection money to local nest collectors." Paddlenews, October 29, 1998 Panwong Hirunchay, SeaCanoe Thailand operations manager, was shot the morning of October 27 at 10:15AM immediately outside the SeaCanoe office in Phuket town. An unmasked gunman shot Mr. Hirunchay three times - in the leg, the arm and the abdomen - with an accomplice waiting nearby with a motorcycle. There were eight witnesses to the shooting. At this time, it is not known who is responsible. The shooting follows a dispute in Phang Nga Bay Marine National Park where Birds' Nest concession holders are extorting money from kayaking operators who take tourists to visit the caves and inland lagoons known as "hongs" near the famous James Bond Island. As claimed by the previous concessionaire, there are no birds' in the caves. The five-time award winning company has refused to pay a demanded fee of 100 baht (US$2.50) per person to enter the caves. With the high volume limit set by the concessionaire, the extortion is worth several million baht a year. SeaCanoe Thailand originally explored the caves and hongs in 1989, and developed the Tidal Technology that allows entry by kayak into the stunning limestone cavities. The company has long advocated a B500 user fee paid to Phang Nga Marine National Park to support field management and public education programs. SeaCanoe is Amazing Thailand's Best Inbound Tour Operator. Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai presented the award to SeaCanoe at the 1988 Thailand Tourism Awards ceremony in August. SeaCanoe is a rural development demonstration project highly awarded for its advocacy for professional standards, conservation policies including volume limits and enlightened human resources including local franchisement. A list of awards, including the ASTA/Smithsonian Magazine 1997 Environmental Award, follows this release. After nine years of lobbying government authorities for professional standards, volume limits and other management controls for these pristine environments, the Tourism Authority of Thailand finally sponsored the formation of a canoe club this August. However, the "Phuket Canoeing Club for the Protection of the Environment" has no criteria for membership, and no members other than SeaCanoe offer or endorse guide training, professional standards or volume limits. Since 1990, SeaCanoe has enforced a self-imposed volume limit of 24 kayaks per day, with supervision by guides trained in limestone cave and pristine habitat conservation. The "environmental" club promotes a 300-kayaks/day-volume limit, with no training requirements. The owner of a copycat called SeaCave Canoe was elected president. One week after its formation, the canoeing club announced that it had reached a contractual agreement with the current Birds Nest Concessionaires, PP Cabana Company, to charge the entry fees. Under the deal, from 1 October 1998, the club collects money from the kayaking companies to be paid directly to PP Cabana, who own the Pee Pee island resort of the same name. It was the first time in their three-year concession that PP Cabana Company attempted to charge admission to the caves. Updated in 1996 to protect tourism, Section 8 of the new government agreement clearly states that the concession is to gather birds' nests only. Despite the urging of the local TAT official, SeaCanoe refused to participate in the "agreement", and was subsequently locked out of the caves that the SeaCanoe exploratory team discovered. Other, high volume, low cost, low quality tours of up to 300 people per day were allowed in the caves because they paid the extortion. These high volume operators have no environmental or kayaking training, and turned the caves into an environmental disgrace for the Kingdom. Recently, signs have been erected outside the caves in the two primary islands, Koh Hong and Koh Penak. In Thai and English, the signs warn that outsiders are forbidden to enter within 300 meters of the caves. PP Cabana wrote SeaCanoe Thailand that the kayaking firm is operating illegally by entering the caves. SeaCanoe claims that under the terms of the license issued by the Thailand government Department of Finance in 1996 that the license holders have the right to collect birds' nests only. On October 12, 1998, PP Cabana staff warned Mr. Hirunchay that his opposition to their demands might cost him his life. On October 18, a SeaCanoe boat captain was physically attacked outside a cave at Koh Hong. On October 20, Panwong told SeaCanoe Founder John "Caveman" Gray to "be sure to take care of my family if anything happens to me." On October 24, staff told Gray that two copycat companies offered their guides a reward for any "valuable information" about SeaCanoe. On October 27, Mr. Hirunchay was shot. On October 28, the entire SeaCanoe staff showed up for work, and ran their normal program in tribute to Panwong. Throughout September, SeaCanoe lobbied the Governor of Phang Nga, the Tourism Authority of Thailand and the citizens Bird's Nest Committee of Phang Nga, the Tourism Ministry, The Forestry Department and National Parks Department, who are the factual landowners of Koh Hong and Koh Penak. Until Mr. Hirunchay was shot, no government action had been taken, either in the past month, or the past nine years. Now, Police General Sonjet Sirikul, Assistant Chief of Police of the Muang (Town) District of Phuket, heads a Police investigation. Despite the contract, ticket coupon, signs and hired guns, a senior manager from PP Cabana claimed on an early evening TV talk show that for the past three years, they welcomed tourism in the caves and had no plans of charging admission. After station break, the evening news' lead story was extensive coverage of the SeaCanoe office shooting scene and the police generals delivering a preliminary report to the provincial governor. The entire SeaCanoe organization including staff, managers and outside "stakeholders" stand firm in support of the National Park rather than the extortion. The network sees this as just one more step towards proper standards for Phang Nga Marine National Park and the Kingdom's sea kayaking industry, and in support of Thailand's new constitution, anti-corruption attitude and emerging democracy. All honest and decent Thai's should be proud that Panwong Hirunchay placed his life in harm's way to further their dream of a stronger, corruption-free democracy. SeaCanoe Thailand Awards: Thailand Tourism Awards 1998 - Best Inbound Tour American Society of Travel Agents/Smithsonian Magazine - Environmental Award 1997 Pacific Asia Travel Assn. (PATA) Gold Award - Environment/Ecotourism 1996 Green Globe Awards Commendation - 1996 British Airways "Tourism For Tomorrow" Regional Winners - 1995 See You On The Water, John "Caveman" Gray, Founder, SeaCanoe International, Ltd.. http://seacanoe.com ----- End Included Message ----- *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************Received on Wed Nov 04 1998 - 19:53:05 PST
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