This thesis examines the contribution made by "alternative" tourism towards community development in the provinces of Phuket, Phangnga, and Krabi in southern Thailand. Aside from providing novel, adventurous, and presumably authentic travel experiences, "alternative" tourism promotes forms of community development characterized by equitable distribution of resources, quality of life, and environmental sustainability. Alongside conventional, mass tourism development in southern Thailand, nature-based "alternative" travel activities such as sea kayaking and jungle trekking have grown increasingly popular among foreign tourists and have emerged as measures of diversification within a slowly stagnating regional tourist trade. This study assesses "alternative" tourism along the lines of the tourism industry, tourist, and host perspectives, and addresses three key issues, or themes: "alternative" tourism as a theoretical and practical "alternative" to conventional, mass tourism; the role played by authenticity and ethical concern in distinguishing "alternative travellers" from mass tourists; and "alternative" tourism's contribution to community-based economic, social, and environmental development in southern Thailand. The results of this study are based upon several types of data, including selfadministered surveys, analysis of statistical and other documentary sources, field observations, and interviews with tourists, government officials, company owners, and Thais working in the tourism industry. Three central findings emerge from this research. First, "alternative" tourism in southern Thailand shares many structural and conceptual links with the existing mass tourism industry. Rather than signalling a true departure from conventional, packaged tourism, "alternative" tourism constitutes a regenerative niche in Phuket's mass tourism industry. Second, discrepant expectations of, and levels of desire for, authenticity serve to differentiate categories of "alternative" tourists, many of whom display insensitive behaviour and place inappropriate demands on their Thai hosts. Third, certain forms of "alternative" tourism, such as "mass ecotourism," foster equitable community development, while others, such as backpacking and adventure travel, remain limited as engines of economic development. In addition to discussing theoretical and policy implications, the thesis concludes with a localized model of "alternative" tourism in southern Thailand.

This thesis examines the contribution made by "alternative" tourism towards community development in the provinces of Phuket, Phangnga, and Krabi in southern Thailand. Aside from providing novel, adventurous, and presumably authentic travel experiences, "alternative" tourism promotes forms of community development characterized by equitable distribution of resources, quality of life, and environmental sustainability. Alongside conventional, mass tourism development in southern Thailand, nature-based "alternative" travel activities such as sea kayaking and jungle trekking have grown increasingly popular among foreign tourists and have emerged as measures of diversification within a slowly stagnating regional tourist trade. This study assesses "alternative" tourism along the lines of the tourism industry, tourist, and host perspectives, and addresses three key issues, or themes: "alternative" tourism as a theoretical and practical "alternative" to conventional, mass tourism; the role played by authenticity and ethical concern in distinguishing "alternative travellers" from mass tourists; and "alternative" tourism's contribution to community-based economic, social, and environmental development in southern Thailand. The results of this study are based upon several types of data, including selfadministered surveys, analysis of statistical and other documentary sources, field observations, and interviews with tourists, government officials, company owners, and Thais working in the tourism industry. Three central findings emerge from this research. First, "alternative" tourism in southern Thailand shares many structural and conceptual links with the existing mass tourism industry. Rather than signalling a true departure from conventional, packaged tourism, "alternative" tourism constitutes a regenerative niche in Phuket's mass tourism industry. Second, discrepant expectations of, and levels of desire for, authenticity serve to differentiate categories of "alternative" tourists, many of whom display insensitive behaviour and place inappropriate demands on their Thai hosts. Third, certain forms of "alternative" tourism, such as "mass ecotourism," foster equitable community development, while others, such as backpacking and adventure travel, remain limited as engines of economic development. In addition to discussing theoretical and policy implications, the thesis concludes with a localized model of "alternative" tourism in southern Thailand. / Arts, Faculty of / Geography, Department of / Graduate

Thesis (M.A. in National Security Affairs)--Naval Postgraduate School, June 2007. / Thesis Advisor(s): Jessica Piombo, Tuong Vu. "June 2007." Includes bibliographical references (p. 81-87). Also available in print.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 440-478). / Also available by subscription via World Wide Web / xxi, 478 leaves, bound col. ill., maps 29 cm

Thesis (Ph. D.)--State University of New York at Buffalo, 1988. / Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 297-306).

Thesis (M.A.)--Ohio University, June, 2007. / Title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1997. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 308-326). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1997. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 308-326). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 202-209). / ix, 209 leaves, bound .ill, maps 29 cm

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Uppsala University, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 289-311).