Overdevelopment has had an obvious effect on Thailand. The pollution, garbage, and traffic in Bangkok can be overwhelming. In some of the tourist beach areas, you can only shake your head–it’s both funny, catering to every cheesy notion of the “romantic tropical paradise”, and sad, causing serious damage to the coral reefs & ecosystem. I know that industrial pollution has seriously impacted fishing on the Mekong and in other rivers in Thailand. This looks like an excellent book on the subject.

There are also still many unspoiled regions in Southeast Asia that were incredible to visit; parts of Laos could use more tourism. And there seems to be greater consciousness these days of building ecologically sustainable tourism in less-developed regions.

Still, you can’t help being somewhat conflicted about tourism’s impact; it brings money to very poor people, but at a variable cost to their environment and their way of life. Some of the most depressing places I’ve visited are the traditional hill tribe villages that are little more than souvenir stop-offs and begging stations. The kids I’ve seen in a couple of these places–around Chiang Mai, and near Luang Prabang–were joyless little zombies, asking for money in the flattest, saddest affect. And of course, in observing all this, you realize you’re leaving your footprint too, just like the other tourists.

An interesting observation is that much of the air pollution that had been covering northern Thailand and much of Laos was actually caused by the traditional farming practices of native people, the slash-and-burn technique. Though I don’t know if their burning could have caused that much haze and pollution. Anyway, here’s an interesting post on the subject from a great blog about Laos.

I just went to the Texas library Association meeting, which meant I flew into Memphis, San Antonio, Atlanta, and New York. Seeing what people do to places makes me despise them–there is some relief in seeing a few wild places and the meandering Mississippi–but all those cul-de-sacs and shopping centers make me feel like wretching. I generally like people more once I’m on the ground–not all the time and certainly not all of them. What is your general feeling about people and their impact on nature/the earth with all your experiences?