In contrast to the more spectacular ‘land grabs’ for tourism development, the smaller-scale, progressive encroachment by tourist establishments into protected environments has attracted little attention in the literature. This article seeks to highlight the issue by a case study of the Thai authorities’ crackdown on resorts and second homes encroaching upon protected forests in a national park area in Thailand.

Under certain circumstances, land titling, property regime changes, and land‐use conversions yield substantial profits. Yet few people possess the wealth, knowledge, and networks to benefit from these procedures. In the Yucatán Peninsula, a region recently targeted as a prominent investment location by the Mexican national government (mainly with the “Tren Maya” megaproject) and the private capital, forestlands collectively owned as ejidos by Mayan peasants are on the trend to complete privatization.