Adaptive Uses of Local Textiles for Creative Tourism Product Development in Thailand

This research paper aims 1) to study local textiles cultural ecology in Thailand, 2) to recommend approaches of adaptive uses of local textiles for creative tourism product development, and 3) to exemplify tourism products from adaptive using local textiles through creative process. The research is designed by employing Participatory Action Research method together with Qualitative Research and Survey Research techniques. Five groups of participants; which are 1) local people who keep producing and/or earning from local textiles for living, 2) local people from the community, 3) tourism stakeholders and/or network, 4) designers, artists and/or art critiques, and 5) tourism researchers. Four communities around Thailand have been selected purposively; which are 1) Ban Kokkong, Tumbon Kudwah, Amphoe Guchinarai, Kalasin Province; 2) Ban Kiriwong, Tumbon Kumlone, Amphoe Lanska, Nakhonsithamarat Province; 3) Ban Bung, Tumbon Banbung, Amphoe Banrai, Uthaithani Province; 4) Ban Donchai, Tumbon Silalang, Amphoe Pua, Nan Province. The research contributions are as follows: Cultural contexts of each different community influence characteristics, qualities and producing techniques of local textiles. The cultural contexts are the tourism capital for local community in both direct and indirect ways. Local textiles can be utilized to support tourism activities or to allure tourists into community. Local textiles can also being used to generate surplus from tourism through creative design process. Two approaches of adaptive using local textiles for creative tourism are recommended. The first approach is to originate from the community by employing its local textiles as local asset in order to increase both price and value from creative tourism activities. This differentiates the community from others, and also generates all kind of benefits to the community. The community can protect the local asset and be developed simultaneously. The other approach is to initiate from other stakeholders by adopting local textiles to creative product design process to generate economic benefits, the return most of the benefits back the community that owned the local textiles. This will create an awareness of local textiles in the community. Then, the local textiles can be adaptive used as creative tourism activities. Tourism products from adaptive using local textiles through creative process are exemplified i.e. logo, label, creative tourism program, souvenirs, tourist information center, local textiles shop, creative tourism website, and performing art for local textiles interpretation for tourism.