The third season of HBO show White Lotus It was first displayed this week, and opened a fire branch in a dense forest, followed the camera up before landing on a monkey, turning attention. The shot creates nature as a basic topic that continues with our viewing of the guests of this season, then they separate into villas that crack alongside the legendary Thai hill, each of them gives attractive views on an island and a seen apparently.
In real life, this resort is for the Seasons Coho Samoy, and thanks to its visual attractiveness and popularity, Thailand expects to increase the main tourism.
The country has witnessed the power to appear on screens all over the world before. At the dawn of the new millennium, the movie Beach It was first shown, starring Leonardo DiCaprio in the post-Titanic The peak as well as the same preparation – the other Maya Bay, a closed slice of the Andaman Sea on the island of Fay Fi, is not inhabited, inside a national garden. It was a popular place to divide before BeachBut the superior interest in the film and the fans began to flow to the Gulf of Maya, with more asceticism 5000 tourists and 200 boats The overwhelming beach and its marine ecosystem every day.
The country went with her, which occurred in the common comprehensive trap depending on revenues from the same tourism that endangered its infrastructure and its environment. Meanwhile, the destruction of garbage on the beach, the killing of boats and the pollution of coral reefs, and wildlife disappeared.
Now, after approximately 25 years after that Beach It came, Thailand has the next frenzy caused by Hollywood on her hands, and she hopes to be better this time.
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while Beach Those looking for heaven depicts the traditional signs of the welfare of holidays by starting their work on a secret beach, White Lotus It shows these signs, then ruin them. Each season is consumed in a new group of wealthy distinguished and locals who make their holidays work smoothly. Both producers share the feeling of paradise. They actually raise the idea of the beach as a paradise, which seems to make them embarrassing channels to sell a site. However, the marketing budget cannot buy the type of promotion they provided.
“The appearance in White Lotus, the third season, allows us to reach a real world audience,” said Chumbo Maraosashot, director of the Tourist Authority in Thailand. “We are constantly striving to enhance and expand our tourism and infrastructure efforts to welcome more visitors in the future.”
But as Maya Bay showed, more tourists can mean more problems. In 2018, the Thai government recently witnessed enough Close the place down Even another notice. Maya Bay was reopened in 2022 With a strict system in the place To reduce future damage. The boats are no longer permitted to enter the Gulf, and instead is at a berth elsewhere on the island. The new maximum of 4,125 visitors per day, who reach specific time openings, walk along a new corridor to reach the Gulf, as they can no longer swim or bring unsafe sunscreen. Maya Bay continues to approach visitors for two months every year for rehabilitation.
In contrast, Koh Samawi was home to the loud tourism industry long ago White Lotus. Today it has 630 hotels and resorts. One of them, the four chapters, was opened in 2007 and occupies a quiet extension of the coastal line compared to other parts of the island, to which 3.5 million visitors join the local population of 70,000.
Both signers deal with challenges of climate change. Last year, Thailand suffered Record high sea temperaturesThis led to a big, hard bleaching event and the death of seaweed, which in turn led to a mass death from Dugongs and other ocean life. Storms and floods have become more destructive. In 2024, Thailand witnessed her The worst floods in decadesThis affects more than half a million families.
KoH Samui is a case study on how to add tourism to these problems. “Since tourism has evolved quickly without planning the appropriate infrastructure and environmental management, Samui faces critical problems in terms of waste management and water resources,” said Canapa Pongsonrat, a professor at the University of Thalata in Thailand.
The pipeline that brings water from the main line to Koh Samawi has proven that it is insufficient with the growth of tourism, which led Lack of water on the island. The sediments are from Building resorts and hotels Called coral reefs and other peripheral life. The garbage often accumulates on the edges of the roads and in the same environment. Thailand is one of the largest shareholders in the world to the pollution of maritime plastic, with After learning about tourism As a major source of the problem in the Gulf of Thailand, where there is a Samui.
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However, the Thai government worked hard to attract Mike White’s creator in a show, as it made generous tax exemptions and other incentives in the end. Roll up to $ 4.4 million Of production costs for White LotusThe third season. The returns? A close guarantee for more tourism revenues. After broadcasting the second season in 2022, the San Dominico Palace “Four Seasons”, Terurma, who stood in the White Lotus resort, It was sold to all the year 2023While traveling Sicilian interest rose. Watch for Seasons Maui, prepare for the first season, 425 percent increase in traffic to its website After broadcasting the show. A representative of Four Seasons in Koh Samawi said that since his “white” white “Lotus” announced the third season, the hotel has already witnessed an increase in searches and reservations.
While the country seeks to increase tourism, there are ongoing plans to start Building on the cruise ship station Lua Samawi in 2029. Airport expansion He was appointed to start this year. The development of new hotels continues to forgive. A second water line is built from the mainland.
At the same time, the government has taken steps to relieve environmental effects over the past decade or so. 2015 The Law of Marine and Coastal Resources Management has been harnessed To prohibit harmful activities such as drainage of sewage in the ocean and “marine walking”, as tourists wander around the ocean bottom with helmets fueled by oxygen. Road map in the country on plastic waste management It aims to reduce the use of plastic and increase recycling practices. Along the way in 2014, the government launched the “Save Water, Save Samui” campaign to encourage the use of sustainable water on the island.
According to experts, though these efforts are sometimes without teeth. “In this case, these laws and regulations must be followed,” said Chavanic, a professor of ocean science at the University of Challongkorn, “but in this case these laws and regulations must be confirmed,” The Thai government has laws and regulations. But in this case, they need to be confirmed From following these laws and regulations. Plastic waste road map, for example, does not include an enforcement mechanism, which is likely to limit its effectiveness. PongPonrat referred to the illegal construction of Koh Samui, often with insufficient water drainage, which exacerbates flood problems.
Shavanic also indicated that many other tourist hotels and companies in Koh Samawi are working independently to make Koh Samui green over the past decade or so, but these efforts in turn can use more government support. “This must be a cooperation between [the Thai] The government, local government, public and private sectors.
For its part, Four Seasons said it had begun in a number of initiatives. All unilateral plastic has canceled in 2019, treated its gray waters on property, and participated with the Ministry of Marine and Coastal Resources in Thailand in the project to maintain coral reefs that has so far re -provided 16,000 coral pieces to coral reefs abroad from the resort. The resort said it is developing additional sustainability measures in light of the expected White Lotus Impact, but he was unable to provide details at this time as the plans are still approved.
Experts have agreed that more measures would be necessary to balance the damage caused by Ohan Koh Samawi. The crowds are coming, which proves that even with climate change and the height of the seas It threatens the entire beach modelCultural cachet. Three seasons in, White Lotus Display Nature prominently, but always with fateful tones – it turns out that the fruit of the Bong Bong tree in one toxic villa is a large screen lizard that scares one of the guests. It seems as if the island is trying to send a message. A quarter of a century after Beach, Whether this message will be received an open issue.
