Four resources and three activities were included in the study. In Ban Don Bay, the resources were mangrove
forests, mudflats, shellfish culture grounds and fishing grounds. The activities were shrimp farming, housing
development and oil spills. In Phangnga Bay, the four resources were mangrove forests, sandy beaches, seagrass
beds and coral reefs; and the activities included shrimp farming, hotel development and oil spills. Different levels of
damages to the resources and different sizes of activities were used to provide eight resource losses and eight
activities for paired comparisons. These losses and activities were kept separated in the questionnaire so that the
comparisons were either between any two resource losses or any two activities. In other word, no comparison was
made between a resource loss and an activity. For example, in the case of resource losses, respondents were asked
to choose which member within each pair of losses was more important. Similarly, in the case of activities, they were
asked to indicate which member within each pair of activities was more serious.