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It strikes the Gazette as sadly
ironic that less than two weeks after the deadly poisoning of fish
farms off Saphan Hin that US-based conglomerate Ripley Entertainment
announced its ambitious plan to build Southeast Asia’s largest aquarium
somewhere on the island – though they aren’t saying exactly where.
If the 2.1-billion-baht “megaquarium” becomes a reality within three
years, as Ripley’s hopes it will [see News pages], it will likely
become one of Phuket’s top tourism draws – a must-see attraction
ranking alongside the Laem Phromthep, Phuket FantaSea and the Mingmongkol
Buddha image now under construction in Karon and expected to open
by the end of 2008 [see p10, Around the Island].
Unfortunately, Phuket needs ever more attractions just to keep up
with the ongoing expansion in its number of hotel rooms, the official
number of which is already around 35,000 – not including all the
villas, condos, time-share developments and small, unregistered
accommodation establishments that push the actual number of accommodation
establishments much higher.
While the aquarium at the Phuket Marine Biological Center is interesting,
informative and well-maintained, it is too small to keep a family
entertained for more than an hour or two. Other family-oriented
attractions that have been long discussed but never built include
a world-class water park or other types of amusement parks.
Increasing the number of such attractions is a key development issue
for Phuket, which has developed too much of a reputation for more
“adult-oriented” activities from golf to bar hopping.
Fortunately, the opening of large, new retail centers such as Central
Festival and Jungceylon have improved Phuket’s appeal, though the
number of baby strollers being pushed up and down Soi Bangla by
night continues to speak for itself.
At the same time, Phuket’s greatest natural tourism asset, its beaches,
continue to suffer through a combination of poor regulation, environmental
degradation and outright greed. At Patong, the days when kids could
safely swim in the sea, build sandcastles on the sands at dusk or
swim safely have been long since passed, having been ended by the
activities of jet-ski and parasail operators.
Then again, fewer people are choosing to swim in Patong Bay due
to the failure of the municipality to treat its wastewater, resulting
in much of it being discharged into the south end of the bay, once
home to impressive coral beds and the marine life they sustained.
In this regard, Ripley’s might be the perfect match for Phuket.
As the fish farm fiasco indicates, the current rate of decline of
our island’s coastal resources might make Ripley’s aquarium the
last healthy environment left for fish left in Phuket.
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