Tourism contributes 12 per cent of Thailand’s GDP, with the country receiving over 35 million tourists in 2017; equivalent to half its own population and twice as many as in 2010.

This month, to coincide with the 4th UNWTO World Forum on Gastronomy Tourism, which takes place from 30 May to 1 June 2018 in Bangkok, our monthly assessment of tourism and sustainability in major urban centres looks at the Thai Capital.

According to WTTC’s City Travel and Tourism Impact Report for 2017, Bangkok’s relative share of Thailand’s travel & tourism has fallen from 60 per cent in 2006 to 50 per cent in 2016 as other destinations within the country have grown rapidly.

Nonetheless, while there has been significant media attention for the stress this growth has put on some of the island’s beaches, the growth in overall numbers of tourists to the country as a whole means the capital city Bangkok is also struggling to deal with issues around overcrowding.

Even without the influx of tourists, the city’s streets are some of the most crowded in the world. According to the TomTom Traffic Index 2017, Bangkok has the second worst traffic in the world, after Mexico City, with drivers expected to spend 61 per cent extra time each day due to congestion.

With transport now responsible for 23 per cent of global energy-related carbon dioxide emissions, congestion costs Bangkok over 5 percent of GDP and impacts disproportionately on the city’s poorer residents, who spend 25 to 30 per cent of household income on transport.

This year, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has launched a Go Local campaign that looks to redirect international visitors to secondary cities. TAT will monitor the ratio of visitors to main cities as compared to secondary cities, aiming to divert an additional 10 million tourists to these secondary cities, generating an estimated 10 billion baht (US$312 million) in tourism revenue in 2018.

Although most of the ecolodges and other sustainable accommodation is found along the coasts and in rural areas, the capital city is home to the ecofriendly Bangkok Treehouse, situated on the artificial island of Bang Krachao, known as the Green Lung of Bangkok.

There are also several local social enterprises based in the city and working to use tourism to support grassroots initiatives. Courageous Kitchen offers cooking classes and street food tours for tourists, which fund the provision of nutrition and cooking classes for students at risk of poverty, malnutrition, poor education, and exploitation. Meanwhile LocalAlike and Hivesters connect travellers with local communities and responsible tour operators.