Is Tourism the (Only) Best “Choice” for Community Rehabilitation and Development?

Economic conditions, societies, and current changes make many communities in Thailand face changes in occupation and life, especially suburban communities which face loneliness and sluggishness. With this problem, renovation and development of communities ensue. Many communities have changed their image to be the “tourism community”, the result of which is generally perceived as either failure or success. According to this phenomenon, the author would like to present a story through a case study of Pak Nam Prasae Community, Klaeng District, Rayong Province. The author had an opportunity to conduct a participatory action research with collaboration for the main objectives which are to support knowledge body that leads the community out of loneliness and sluggishness and to create tourism activities. Nowadays, this community has become a popular tourist attraction, which is promoted as part of the national tourism by Tourism Authority of Thailand. The author would like to present both sides of the development through the tool called “tourism” which was employed by the community as a new approach to maintain, renovate, and develop the community. Even though in the initial stage, promotion and support from the external network were important, the most important thing is the cost of community in certain aspects that support the community to insist, improve, and connect to new networks by itself. On the other hand, the community will have to face with new different issues and challenges, especially in terms of management and share of benefit gained from using the local resources to develop the tourism in the community. According to these two pieces of information, after all, whether “tourism” is the best tool for development is an important issue that the community has to consider.