Mike Parnwell is a Geographer who over the last quarter-century has specialised on the development process in Southeast Asia and its many problems and outcomes. His PhD examined the then fairly recently theorised phenomenon of 'return migration', using northeast Thailand as a case study. From there his interests have blossomed to include many facets of development - tourism, rural change, urbanisation, deforestation, rural industrialisation, sustainability - and also many countries of the region and beyond - Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Laos and China. His recent research has looked at the emerging phenomenon of 'localism' in Thailand, which he has combined with collaborative research on the interface of Buddhism and development, looking at the work of 'development monks' in the northeast. He is presently working on a wider project on 'alternative visions of development' in the Southeast Asian context.

Tourism in Southeast Asia provides an up-to-date exploration of the state of tourism development and associated issues in one of the world’s most dynamic tourism destinations.

The volume takes a close look at many of the challenges facing Southeast Asian tourism at a critical stage of transition and transformation, and following a recent series of crises and disasters. Building on and advancing the path-breaking Tourism in South-East Asia, produced by the same editors in 1993, it adopts a multidisciplinary approach and includes contributions from some of the leading researchers on tourism in Southeast Asia, presenting a number of fresh perspectives.

The volume combines introductory material with an in-depth examination of anthropological writing on Southeast Asian tourism followed by case studies dealing with as diverse issues as globalization, terrorism, ‘romance tourism’ and ecotourism. A sister volume, Heritage Tourism in Southeast Asia, is in preparation.