Abstract
The Lanna region is a former kingdom in the area of modern-day Northern Thailand that also once extended into Myanmar, Laos and China. Currently, Lanna culture is used as a selling point for tourism to Northern Thailand, but there are problems with the way tourism routes are designed and packaged. This paper aims to promote the architectural value of Lanna culture through the development of tourism routes. The qualitative investigation assesses existing Lanna tourist routes in Northern Thailand and develops guidelines for the development of cultural tourism in the region. Initial research led to the identification of 35 sites for in-depth evaluation. Data was gathered by document research, field evaluation and interviews following criteria co-developed by Chulalongkorn University and the Department of Tourism (2007). Findings indicated that destinations in Northern Thailand are of a good standard but should be developed in terms of tourism support and management. The researchers produced guidelines for the development of individual attractions and designed cultural routes according to provincial boundaries and periodic themes.
Highlights
Through a combination of better education, greater publicity and diversity of opportunities, cultural tourism has become increasingly popular in the past decade, accounting for over 39% of worldwide international tourist arrivals (Richards, 2018)
In order to raise the standard of cultural tourism routes, this study aims to assess the current situation of the routes designed by Sangkakorn in Northern Thailand and develop guidelines for the promotion and development of further cultural tourism routes that encourage tourists to appreciate the value of Lanna architecture
Following further refinement of cultural tourist sites based on the criteria given above, an in-depth study of the cultural tourism situation was conducted at each destination with five Lanna architectural experts, community participants and local tourism managers
Summary
Through a combination of better education, greater publicity and diversity of opportunities, cultural tourism has become increasingly popular in the past decade, accounting for over 39% of worldwide international tourist arrivals (Richards, 2018). Countries in Asia are important destinations for cultural tourists because. The Thai government has recognised this and placed further importance on the promotion and development of cultural tourism. Given their former membership of the Lanna Kingdom, an historic state in Southeast Asia from the 13th to 18th centuries, the provinces in the upper north of Thailand have been designated as part of a Lanna civilisation tourist route that can link tourism in Thailand with the neighbouring countries of Lao People's Democratic Republic (Laos PDR), the Republic of the Union of Myanmar and the People's Republic of China (Piboonrungroj & Sangkakorn, 2013)
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