An Economic Analysis of Coral Reefs in the Andaman Sea of Thailand

Udomsak Seenprachawong ()
Additional contact information
Udomsak Seenprachawong: School of Economics, Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University

No rr2016055, EEPSEA Research Report from Economy and Environment Program for Southeast Asia (EEPSEA)

Abstract: The focus of this study is the valuation of coral reefs and how this information can be used to improve planning for coral reef management in Thailand. The site analysed, Phi Phi Islands, is rich in reef systems and is envisioned as an eco-tourism destination by government planners. Phi Phi can generate large economic values through recreation. The consumer surplus estimated by the travel cost method reveals an annual value of 8,216.4 million Baht (US$205.41 million). This study also utilised the contingent valuation method to estimate both the use and non-use values of Phi Phi’s coral reefs, representing an annual value of 19,895 million Baht (US$497.38 million). It is apparent from this analysis that both local and national levels of government in Thailand can justify larger annual budget allocations for managing coastal resources. At present, the economic benefits from coastal resource management in Phi Phi are mostly due to the local residents and businesses. One of the economic instrument options to capture the net benefit values of Phi Phi is to directly target the consumers. Tourists could be charged fees for physically using the environment, such as participating in offshore water sports (specifically including snorkelling boats and dive operations), swimming and beach activities. The contingent valuation method provided information regarding the extent of the domestic consumer surplus. It estimated the consumer’s willingness to pay to increase biodiversity at Phi Phi as 287 Baht (US$7.18) per visit.

Keywords: Economic Analysis; Coral Reefs; Andaman Sea (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016-04, Revised 2016-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-env and nep-sea
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.eepsea.org/pub/rr/2001_RR7.pdf First version, 2001 (application/pdf)
Our link check indicates that this URL is bad, the error code is: 404 Not Found (http://www.eepsea.org/pub/rr/2001_RR7.pdf [301 Moved Permanently]--> https://www.eepsea.org/pub/rr/2001_RR7.pdf [301 Moved Permanently]--> https://eepsea.org/pub/rr/2001_RR7.pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eep:report:rr2016055

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in EEPSEA Research Report from Economy and Environment Program for Southeast Asia (EEPSEA)
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Arief Anshory yusuf ().