(Session15-Monday) Transnational Tourism

The era of globalization has been activated, simultaneously fabricates by the two main domains; technologizations and capitalizations. In which, an interesting one is capitalist movemet because it introduce us the pathway leading to new fantacized world especially pioneering to creation for business and investment in the Third World, or, some part that advanced technology still cannot explore it. The flows of money, capital, as well as the eminent mobility of people since after the World War II reflects many changies. The European seems to flowly across each of their own neighboring countres in region, and by large explosion of massive flows, the mobilization both from voluntary or involutary migration is emerged expandily. The 'time' becomes one factor that we need to concern simultaneously with the scale and transnational space. The transnational perspective and many lessons from the previous session are very beneficial from looking the world into many scales can trace the route of understanding the general picture of world flexibility. Nevertheless, it is important to admit the other lens for searching the mechanism or fuel within cooperating model, such as 'Tourism'. Many peple may percieve that tourism isn't affect any social relations in the transnational scale, but it seems to play really initiative role to discloe the one remote community, and then slightly pervasive changing in varius aspects of life of local residents. The 'migrant' is a key actor for transformationthe community, even though each of them may have unequal dominate power and come into that society with various objectives.      

According to Torress and Momsen article, they try to induce the research on this transnational tourism and its effects that coherently expose many interesting ideas that normal travellers, tourists, or businessmen may no think when they are staying there. The highlight of "Globogoland or Gringorandia" has exemplified through the case of fabulous travelling place and resorts in Cancun, Mexico. The mixture of American lifestyles, Mexican dream, and artficial Mayan realm seem to altogether stand in this area by the means for tourism. Tourism is very best for foreign in term of their investment in new challenging environment and many recieved profits. Tourism also basically develop the country with high GDP around 70 per cent is coming from the tourst industry. From the 'Empty Land' has been developed expandily and modernly throguh the projects of government, including private sector that has many convenient to joint in especially after the 1980s neoliberalist sheding the light to this Latin American Region. Many TNCs or foreign companies avoid the direct investment by choosing the franchise and contact forms, instead. The tourism is not only affect te structure of power andeconomic of that society, but it increasingly intrude the daily life of residents as in the cultural ways of living; eating, clothes, social preferences. Moreover, it also creates directly the uneven or disparities in term of redistribution of wealth and developent. As Torres and Momsen stated in their article;

"  While constructing Gringolandia as a hybrid space, the interaction between the various forces and actors embeded in Cancun's transnational social fields has also created inequalities that have become iprinted on the landscape... ,constructed a highly inequitable economic and physical lndscape in which the wealthy tourist bubble remains the targeted beneficiary of capital, infrastructure, and services, while the workers' shantytown continues to struggle with squalid conditions and povery "(Torress and Momsen's Gringolandia: The Construction of a New Tourist Space in Mexico , page 326).

The tourism in Cancun is based predominantly on American value and pattern of tourist. The ways of residentual living style slightly get burred and transform in torespond the further one congromerated by the favors of tourist, entrepeuners, and investors. This example is similar with spectacular globalization that we can see the different grounds or layers of scale intertwinely operated within the one region. The main topic for consideration is to classify what is the suitable way of mutual gains for promoting tourism as psychological booster for tourist while, simultaneously, focusing on the sufficient lifeof people in localities and reducing discrimination as much as possible. Because the "Cancun" is the one reflector o the watershed of uneven development in which now we are confronting more and more Cancun or this Gringolandia in every parts of the world, in Thailand as well. The example for cse of Thailand, I observe the area of Nakhon Ratchasima province stretching around the Khao Yai Nationl Park, many advancement convinced by the urban elites and appeal many retirees and investor from foreign cuntries to join the tourist industry in the franchise pattern. The 'green' travelling becomes slogan to promote the travel natural loving or closing wth the natural resources. Many resorts ad villages was built enormous and its modernity is not lesser than having in big cities, there has big roads with concrete that some village in the Northern part still haveno such kind f commodities. The hospital and department store is located far from that around 30 kms. This provides many incomes to the country but question remains that the profit is for landlords, private firms, or local resdents. Eventhough, residents have more job ocupied as labor in the resort, but it is legitimate to consume the resources around there or not. Because the providing of electicity and water supply must compensate with large scale construction of dams, and the later problems are heavily affect the poor people in that area to move out their own lands. The local residents still confront with the feature of second hometown booming in which the retired foreigners chose as their final destination with big money loaning or buying the house in village project. That one villa started at 15 million bath, I supposed that it is not create for Thai residents around there for sure and I see one rhetoric in that area.The restaurant and travel environment was promoted under the slogan of 'Switzerland of Thailand," we now are eating steak or wear the cowboy suit, and go to sheep farm that was created with windmills and western's coutryside architecture, for sure, nt see a Thai style pavillion existed there. Also the trend of this world is changeable and it sees dramatically forward by the chain connectedness of capitalist movement, including mobilization of the one who once seen as a short term factor or minor considered in other circumstances within transnational fields, 'travellor'.    

The pictures of resort and restaurant in Khao Yai area