Perceived impacts are not the same as actual (or even intended) impacts but they are instructive nonetheless. The results presented in this paper point to a problematic relationship between NMPs and local communities that is likely to undermine the success of marine conservation initiatives in Thailand. While these results cannot be assumed to be representative of the situation in all communities near all NMPs, interviews with those familiar with other areas and site visits by members of our research team suggest that many of the critiques are applicable to other NMPs on the Andaman coast of Thailand. Furthermore, the critical nature of these results are largely consistent with those presented elsewhere regarding Thai NMP governance, management, and impact on communities (e.g., [65,80]) but provide a much more nuanced perspective. Cheung et al. [81] also suggest that in Thailand “management of MPAs is generally weak”.