B700m elephant park for Doi-Pui The profitability of the Night Safari is still in doubt without the wild animals from Kenya, but the government is already embarking on a 700-million-baht elephant park as the second stage of its multi-billion-baht Chiang Mai World megaproject. The park, tipped as the biggest of its kind with more than 200 elephants, will cover 6,000 rai of land in the Doi Suthep-Pui national park, which already houses the 1.2-billion-baht Night Safari park. It is part of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's drive to turn Chiang Mai, his home province, into a world-class tourist attraction to compete with destinations like Disneyland in Hong Kong.Other developments planned for the megaproject, which will eventually absorb 23,000 rai of land in the national park, include a 500-million-baht Royal Flora Ratchaphruek exposition, a 15km cable car, an entertainment theme park, an aquarium, a spa complex and a monorail. A 10-billion-baht total cost is estimated. Plodprasop Suraswadi, the director of Night Safari who is also responsible for Chiang Mai World, said the elephant theme park would feature a jungle-like habitat. The animals would live in natural conditions, roaming the forest for food. An exhibition area would offer visitors comprehensive information about elephants _ the designated symbol of the nation. ''The theme park will also reproduce some history relating to elephants in Thailand, including the traditional way of catching them in the jungle,'' he said. The exact number of elephants which would roam the park is still to be settled, but there should be more than 200. They would include those now roaming city streets and so-called ''unemployed'' elephants. Others would come from nearby elephant camps, including the popular Mae Sa camp in the Mae Rim area. Mr Plodprasop said he would encourage owners of private elephant camps to co-invest in the park project. He placed particular interest on the Mae Sa elephant camp, which he claimed had caused environmental problems including pollution of the Mae Sa river. However, the owner of the Mae Sa elephant camp said Mr Plodprasop was just being a bully. Anchalee Kalmapijit said Mr Plodprasop has smeared her name with unfair accusations without solid evidence. Earlier, she said, forestry officials scoured her establishment, trying to find unregistered wild elephants. ''The government has never supported us. That's fine. But this time, they are starting to bully us. I'm not afraid of competition as long as it is fair,'' she said. Northern conservationists said the government should review the whole Chiang Mai World project. It was much more of a problem, they said. Chaiyaphan Prapasawat, of the Love Chiang Mai Network, said the elephant park, in particular, would lead to confrontation between local villagers and the animals over land, food and water. ''Ironically, while the government tries to exploit the national park for tourism-related activities, it has driven forest dwellers from their homes,'' he said. Mr Chaiyaphan also worried about the environmental and social effects of the elephant park, which he said would also include several adventure activities for tourists including elevated animal observation platforms, bush lodges, a suspended canopy walk, a crocodile farm, a tiger zoo and a bird tunnel. Leading academic Thanet Charoenmuang, of Chiang Mai University's social science faculty, said the Chiang Mai World project would completely change the image of the northern province, from a charming historical and cultural site with Lanna tradition to a modern tourist town. ''Chiang Mai would soon be big and ugly like Bangkok,'' he said. ''In the end, tourists would bypass Chiang Mai for other nearby provinces like Phrae, Nan and Lampang where beauty and nature are conserved.'' Mr Thanet said the government should shift huge projects away from Chiang Mai. Lampang, for instance, was an ideal location for huge projects because it was in the centre of the northern region. It was more appropriate to put the main development in Lampang and spread other projects over other northern provinces. ''The government should take a step back and draw up a proper development plan for Chiang Mai. ''I understand that Mr Thaksin has the good intention to modernise his hometown, the same way Banharn Silpa-archa did for the province of Suphan Buri,'' Mr Thanet said. ''But it needs a genuine understanding about the real value of Chiang Mai and what is best for the province. Not just throwing megaprojects at it.'' |