Ethnohistoriography of Koh Samui: Change and adaptation in a tourism period

Abstract

This thesis is in the late stage of development, as it started in July 2004. It is an Ethnohistoriography of Koh Samui, which involved 12 months of fieldwork, February 2005- February 2006, on Koh Samui, Thailand. The main focus of this research is to produce a historiography of Koh Samui through a contextual analysis of discursive change on living process, change in economic organization and social institutions in a period of tourism development. In other words, it is about recognizing and perceiving tourism development as a cause of Koh Samui history. It is important to note that this research adopts a historical approach, whereby history as a discipline aims to reconstruct the uniqueness of the event rather than making a general law (Evans 2002; Jordanova 2000; Meyerhoff 1959; McCullagh 2004; Tower 1988). Therefore, in paraphrasing Towner’s words into this context, this study of the history of Koh Samui aims to understand the change of Koh Samui over tourism time. The case study ‘will contribute to a dynamic model or concept of the role of tourism in societies in general’ rather than ‘to develop a more general concept of society’ (Tower 1988: 51). The thesis sets out primarily to examine the experience of life on a small island in Thailand in coping with mass tourism development and the response to the rapid and overwhelming social changes exerted by such development. Moreover, the work intends to provide insight into the relationship between change and tourism development as seen by the locals themselves, a perspective which is often overlooked in studies of tourism development. However, although the results are specific, the research model, theoretical concern and methodology can be applied to researching those living with tourism elsewhere (Tucker 2003).