UKC

A newly appointed park chief has made the decision to ban climbing in the popular Koh Yao Noi area in Thailand.

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In reply to UKC News:

That's a real shame, really enjoyed climbing (and sea kayaking) on Koh Yao Noi. Will be a bit of a blow to the local economy on the island, let's hope this decision will be reversed one day...

In reply to UKC News:

A view that is likely to spread like wildfire to other seaside spots...Pembroke? Gogarth? Portland? Cornwall?

In reply to Greenbanks:


How'd you get that from one over zealous park manager closing down climbing in one small area of Thailand, a world away from UK coasts?

Meanwhile, a whole family sharing a single motorbike and wearing no helmets or protective clothing is perceived to be entirely safe... doh...

In reply to UKC News:

thankfully the focus is on commercial climbing so it looks like most climbers can fly under the radar

In reply to Stone Muppet:


Ah well that isn't tourists dying so it won't be reported in the Daily Mail and discourage other tourists from coming. I'm guessing that is one aspect of it.

In reply to Removed User:

Ah......now I see what you mean. How daft of me to stretch the point

In reply to UKC News:

There could be another unseen agenda here. Maybe he is not getting his cut of the profits made by local guiding outfits? Brown envelopes? Permits? Land grab?
Other National Park chiefs have welcomed climbing in other areas and are even encouraging it.
Climbing is becoming more popular with Thais,and not just visiting climbers. With several climbing walls open in Bangkok now and more climbing areas being opened up all around the country. It seems strange that an ill informed and bloody minded Park chief has banned climbing in a popular area that has seen continuous development for over 10 years now.
I'm puzzled?

In reply to UKC News:

The owner of the Paradise Resort instructed the resort GM during December '15 to ban access to climbers accessing sectors that crossed over resort property, despite previous agreements that access by climbers would only be via the boat jetty or round the back if approaching via the resort road.

Discussions had resulted in access being continued provided a new path would be cut through the jungle such that climbers would not need to enter resort property. The owner of the resort was there at the time this latest access issue was being resolved.

The issue with Grateful Wall occurred the following week.

In reply to dogfish:

I went climbing here and used The Mountain Shop for a guide and gear. Organised thru' email it worked well and I had a fantastic time. I used local transport from Phuket and on the island, shops for food and obviously the guide. I realise the shop is not Thai (Canadian owned I believe, please correct if wrong), but I hope I contributed somewhat to the system.

Years ago I went to Krabi and used an outfit called Hotrock, locally owned and run, and felt awful knowing they were probably wiped out in the tsunami. I fail to see how some jumped up official can benefit the economy/environment with this, given most climbers are probably insured. Even if they did have an accident, the hospital gets an income, jobs filled and ££ into the economy.

Sad. If anyone finds out who to mail with "comments", I'm sure you could let us know.

Chris

In reply to UKC News:

The climbing is still there!!! What has changed is that organised climbing yours are not allowed!!! As far as I know that is two groups, one is the Miners and another is a local Thai. So please go and climb there. I am based in Bangkok, but I have good friends who live on KYN and keep me up to date over this situation
Take no notice over media hype!!!!

In reply to rickeden:

Well said. Nothing to stop anyone arranging their own boat to access the grateful wall.

Has a new path been cut to access the Mitt etc? If so, then there should be no problem climbing there either....

I suspect it's partly about the park chief not getting a bribe from the guiding companies.