Tourism Carrying Capacity Assessment for Phu Hin Rong Kla National Park, Phitsanulok Province

Abstract

The tourism carrying capacity was assessed of Phu Hin Rong Kla National Park based on the physical, facilities and biological/ecological and sociological aspects. Data were collected monthly from July 2022 to April 2023 (10 months). The physical and facility capacities could accommodate 970,984 and 2,327,971 tourists per year, respectively. Based on statistics in 2017, the maximum number of tourists was 320,675, which accounted for 24.55% and 10.24% of the physical and facility capacities, respectively, indicating that the number of tourists had a minimal impact and was lower than the park's capacity for these items. From the biological or ecological aspect, based on sampling along major trails, the area of exposed tree roots was 12.60%, which had a negligible impact. However, 3 and 6 species of young plants were highly affected and severely affected, respectively, while 1, 2 and 4 species of seedlings were moderately affected, highly affected and severely affected, respectively. From the sociological aspect, the park's capacity to support social psychology had an average score of 12.25%, suggesting a low impact, with the number of tourists not exceeding the area’s capacity to support psychological sociological aspects. Considering the biological or ecological carrying capacity, many plant species were affected to a severe and high extent. Guidelines should be developed for managing the area, such as restricting tourism to allow natural resources to recover by limiting the number of tourists or tours, to assist in the future sustainability of the area’s ecosystems.