A heady blend of Robinson Crusoe and Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, sans irritating nasal whine and buffount hairstyles, Vietnam's Emerald Coast has muscled into what Thailand once did best.

Thats affordable luxury with all the trimmings on some of Asia's most outstanding beaches - beaches more deserted and less sullied through the absence of the 12 million or so tourists that hit Thailand's shores each year.

It's close to 300 km of cobalt blue waters and polished white beaches that run from Vietnam's big daddy beach town of Nha Trang o­n the central coast, to the more sedate Phan Thiet in the south. But what makes the Emerald Coast the new jewel in the crown of Vietnam's tourism industry, could also be its very ruin. It is the preconceived notion of Southeast Asian beaches o­n steroids. The beaches are whiter, the sun is brighter and your dollar goes further, a lot further, and maybe ultimately too far.

The high-end resorts that have mushroomed along the length of what some are calling 'The New Thai East Coast' have provided much-needed jobs to a part of the country that desperately needs them. But they have also placed greater pressure o­n the area's fragile ecosystem. It's a major problem for cash-strapped central and local governments struggling to meet the needs of both development and conservation.

"I used to fish for a living and really loved my job. But I couldn't pay for my children to go to school full time or have a television for my house," says Nam Le, a porter at an exclusive resort in Mui Ne.

"Carrying tourist's bags pays much more than fishing ever could."

Fifteen years ago, this central coastal area of Vietnam was vastly different to what it is today. Hollowed-out sea taxis, a former staple of transport in this developing nation, were 90 percent cheaper than they are now. Beachside real estate sold for a pittance compared to today's skyrocketing prices when every developer and his dog, are rushing in to get a piece of the action.

Back then, bunches of children like Nam's could not afford to go to school.

A stable supply of electricity to locals was sporadic - unfortunately poverty wasn't. It was endemic.

The slick resorts which sprung up and the tourists like me who followed them have changed a lot of that.

"Nha Trang is o­ne of the world's most beautiful bay settings," says Duong, a local chef, who laughs a lot and shakes hands with me every two minutes.

"Everything is going up and up, buildings, shops, people enjoying it, everyday," he beams, a total believer, telling me "you welcome here, good friends, everybody."

But for all that unbridled enthusiasm, I just want to lounge o­n the beach, where funnily enough very few people seem to agree with Duong. The message I got from more than o­ne quietly brooding local face was that if we don't preserve what we have, we risk losing it forever. I wouldn't want to see that happen to the Emerald Coast. I want it and I want it forever.

To benefit the people

OK sure, a growing number of travellers want their journeys to benefit the people and places they visit. But the line between helping and hurting isn't always apparent.

On the beach at Mui Ne I bump into Bruna, a tourist from Dusseldorf who has been coming here for years. In between her bouts of haggling with a local fisherman over what amounts to a USD $9 crayfish, we chat about the merits of this destination over the many other Southeast Asian hotspots. She is convinced it's the most beautiful of the lot and tells me that it's all down to the locals.

"The people you meet here are different from those in Phuket or Bali," she insists. "There is playfulness to them, their smiles are genuine."

It's a telltale sign of a beachophile in denial when she thinks that hawkers want her for her person rather than her money. But this may be doing the locals here a disservice for they are generally a lot less jaded than their more established regional colleagues.

For better or worse, they, along with the rest of the country have been jolted along by the breakneck pace of development. With it Vietnam has joined a growing list of developing countries that are experiencing the growing pains of the transition.

Vietnam and the Emerald Coast are some of Asia's hottest tourist destinations. But even a beach addict must ask, at what price?

Environmental pressures and upswings in beachside land prices have forced locals to relocate inland. You know the story: growth is the start of the rot. Yet when a fisherman can make up to 10 times more as a concierge, the cycle is hard to stop.

"We used to think that the success of our tourism strategy was reflected by an increase in visitor arrivals," says Phuong Minh, deputy director of a tour company in Hanoi.

"We now realise that you end up stunting the local flavour of the country if you just put up the same hotels everywhere. It is quality, diversity and sustainability that are our catch cries now."

Did I mention that I hate people like that? Some people o­nly look for the negatives. Tourism has played a major role in slashing poverty in this former economic backwater of 86 million.

Furthermore, not everyone is lying down like me, o­n the beach with a salmon and goat cheese pizza o­n my lap and a vodka cranberry in my hand.

World’s most beautiful bays

"Everyone knows Nha Trang is o­ne of the world's most beautiful bays. We have to do more than what we have been, or risk losing it forever," says Hiep Duc, director of a local conservation NGO.

"We really are facing some challenges right now. Urban development is moving quickly; tourism numbers have gone crazy the last ten years and so have fishing activities along the coast."

The government has warned that Duc's work may get tougher as earnings from marine and seaside business have been forecast to account for 54 percent of the areas total GDP by 2020.

Further down the coast in Phan Thiet, an international NGO volunteer, Amy Mitchell says education programmes are underway in schools and fishing communities to teach people how to dispose of waste and rubbish in a more environmentally sustainable manner.

"The beaches here are even nicer than Nha Trang. But it's a shame to see rubbish in such a pristine place. We teach them that it is in the interest of themselves, their families and their livelihoods to take better care of their environment."

Source: The Hanoi Times