When the Thai Hotel Association on Samui puts back into the community, it does so with total commitment.

Samui has hundreds of hotels and luxury resorts lining the beaches around the island. And they exist to provide every comfort a holidaymaker could possibly wish for. They’re businesses, and making money by delivering a great product and service is their priority. But behind the scenes there’re determined forces that are focused on strengthening links with the local community, being pro-active in environmental causes and achieving tangible results that benefit future generations of native Samuians.

Back in the early 1960s, the first chapter of the Thai Hotels Association (THA) was set up in Bangkok. Aimed initially at standardizing the quality of the rooms and services provided to early tourists, its membership has grown exponentially ever since. Today, many of the hotels on Samui belong to the THA’s Southern Chapter East Coast and their aims and objectives have changed with the times. Samui in particular has experienced rapid growth and the infrastructure of the island hasn’t always been able to keep pace.

By some distance, the tourism industry is the largest employer on the island and generates the most revenue. There’s little on the island that isn’t in some way reliant on the success of tourism. And it’s only right that the hotels should be supportive and influential in how the island lives and breathes. They have pledged themselves to several inter-connected projects. For instance, all of the member hotels are actively involved in utilizing Effective Microorganism (EM) technology. This involves recycling all hotel kitchen and garden waste into fertilizer and liquid EM can be safely used to clean septic tanks, toilets and floors. It not only results in cost savings, but also takes the pressure off the island’s waste disposal service.

They also work closely with the local authorities to help improve the overall tourist experience, take part with other groups, in beach clean-ups and contribute to many charitable events. There’s quite a number of organisations and associations on Samui that have taken a positive role in promoting and sustaining the island. Known as the ‘Green Island Project’, it has lots of different contributors but they all have the same final objective – a clean, healthy and sustainable island.

A good example of how they work together happened in March this year. A beach clean-up of the tiny neighbouring island of Koh Tan, off Samui’s southern coast, was organized. Past storms had taken their toll and the THA along with volunteers from the hotels, local schools, the Koh Tan Conservation Group, the local authorities, island residents and some visiting tourists made their way over to the island. All the flotsam and jetsam was collected and brought back for proper disposal and an EM ball was added to the island’s canal to help improve its quality.

Driving the THA’s ‘Green Committee’ is John Ens, the General Manager of Poppies Resort, in Chaweng. He’s been on the island for many years and has witnessed the challenges that Samui has gone through. “As the island became more and more popular it was inevitable that new hotels would be constructed and that also meant an increased amount of accommodation for all the people who have come to the island to work. And infrastructures that are easily put in place on the mainland aren’t as straightforward on an island.”

Over the years, a number of ways of disposing of refuse has been tried, such as landfills and incinerators. However, it soon became clear that new methods of reduction, recycling and conservation needed to be introduced. And to ensure sustainability, the members of the THA took it upon themselves to initiate a ‘Low Carbon School Program’. Over two years, they implemented the initiative in all of the 26 government-funded schools on the island which educate around 18,000 Thai children. Many of their parents work in the tourism industry, and in the hotels in particular. And with the support of the local authorities, subjects such as recycling, reducing, reusing, energy saving, water saving, water treatment and environmental awareness have been included into the schools’ curriculums. Each student is marked on the projects they undertake related to green issues and are actively encouraged to begin those projects in their homes and help educate their siblings and other family members.

It’s something of a first in Thailand and has attracted widespread interest from authorities across the Kingdom. Samui’s local government department responsible for schools now grants an additional 50,000 baht to each school for the projects. And each school has two sponsoring hotels that provide manpower, advice and tangible support.

Following on from this, in 2009, a ‘Green Fingers Club’ that comprised gardeners and landscapers from the hotels was established. They were already involved in projects specific to their locations and are instrumental in the EM and recycling processes. Supported by the Samui Mayor’s office and the THA, the club was given some land by the government to set up a nursery for growing indigenous trees on Samui. It’s also a centre for learning and development and the members are also closely involved with the school projects.

Several hotels on the island, such as Prana Beach Resorts & Spa in Bangrak, have their own hydroponic gardens and they teach the children how to make and maintain their own gardens in the schools which can provide vegetables and herbs for school lunches. Other resorts, such as Fair House Villas in Maenam, have extensive gardens and vegetable plots. And they give talks and tours to school groups about their green initiatives and how they can all take part both at home and at school.

Samui’s Thai Hotel Association members have admirably demonstrated their desire and commitment to a better future environment for visitors and for those who call the island home. Take a peek behind the scenes and ask what the hotel you’re staying at is doing. Are they proud to tell you about their endeavours and show you that they care about more than just profit? If so, then there’s a very good chance that they’ll really care about you.

Source: Johnny Peterson
            Samui Holiday Magazine

Samui Regatta Organizers, in coorporate with the International School of Samui, led crew members of boats participating in the regatta, students, officials and staff of business and civic organizations who took part in the Bangrak Beach Clean Up recently.

The event, held on a non-racing day if the regatta, was to give something back to the island. The volunteers gathered at Laem Mai Kaen at Bangrak Beach near the Yacht Club and started the clean up moving along the public beach armed with gloves, trash bags and some tools.

Many of last year's contributors were again in the list of 2011 contributors - SeaTran Discovery Pier, Bangrak Dee Club, AIS, Makro, Foremost, Wongpanit, Thai International Hospital, Petcherat Marina Pier, Bangkok Airways, Bangrak School, Mermaid Resot, Ifun Films and Four Seasons Resort Koh Samui.

On Sunday, 6^th March 2011, Koh Samui’s local authority and Koh Tan’s Conservation Group organized a beach clean up of Koh Tan.  Staff from THA-green hotels, schools, villages and even foreigners numbering 150 left Tong Krut in the morning by long-tail boat.

Garbage, which consisted of mainly foam and shoes was removed from the beaches and canals.  The amount of glass and plastic bottles was less than expected.  The rubbish was then bagged and returned to Koh Samui for separation and disposal.

An EM ball (effective micro-organism ball) and EM solution was added to the canal water to help improve its quality.

The visit ended with an inspection of the mangrove, which was in good condition.  Several years ago, for the benefit of those who are interested in nature, TAT and Koh Tan’s Conservation Group erected wooden walkways through the forest, highlighted the different types of mangrove trees and built bird observation areas.

SAMUI TAKES THE LEED WITH A PIONEERING CONSERVATION PROJECT THAT'S UNIQUE IN THAILAND 

At times there can be more than a quarter of a million people on our little island. And that’s a lot. Apart from the ebb and flow of visitors, more and more businesses have sprung up. More accommodation has appeared, along with more eateries to cater for the increased population. And then there’s the associated service-industry of suppliers, wholesalers, engineers, repair shops and workers, all of which are growing proportionately. These things are certainly generating more income for Samui. But they’re generating a correspondingly larger amount of refuse, too. A generation ago this wasn’t a problem as nearly all of Samui’s refuse was adapted and used again in some way, or was organic and simply went away all by itself. There were no plastic bags from supermarkets, no stretchy plastic tags from 6-packs of beer, rope was made of hemp, not nylon, and there was no polystyrene – banana leaves (or paper) were used to wrap takeaway food. But things have changed dramatically since those days. And, three or four years back, it had become distressingly apparent that something needed to be done. It was no longer sustainable to sling our garbage over the nearest wall and forget about it.

http://www.samuimala.org/living-the-mala.html

Inspired by an annual Samui Mala festival, Samui Mala is a small group of local residents on Samui island that supports a vision for a clean and green Samui.

We looks for ways for visitors and residents to meet via action, events, education or networking to share their skills, knowledge, techniques and suggestions and help us all live together in a more harmonious, healthy and regenerative environment.