CREATIVE TOURISM ROUTE MODEL BASED ON CULTURAL WISDOM OF BAN DON MANAO TAI DAM ETHNIC SUPHANBURI PROVINCE

Abstract

     The objectives of this article are to 1) study tourists' interest in cultural activities of ethnic group in Suphanburi province; 2) study the cultural wisdom of Ban Don Manao Tai Dam, Suphanburi province and 3) design a creative tourism route of the Ban Don Manao Tai Dam ethnic, Suphanburi province. This research is a combined method research. Data collecting tool was questionnaires for quantitative research. The sample group used in the study was 400 tourists chosen by accidental sampling method. The qualitative data collecting tools was the in-depth interview which the key informant groups were government sector, the private sector, and the community sector chosen by specific sampling method for 15 people. The statistical data used for analysis were frequency, percentage, content analysis and presented in a descriptive form.

          The research resulted found that: 1) Tourists travelling to Suphanburi province are interested in creative tourism of ethnic group comprising lifestyle and ethnic background followed by cultural tradition and the wisdom of ethnic groups. 2) Cultural wisdom of Ban Don Manao Tai Dam community comprises watermelon-patterned cloth/sarong weaving, pillow pattern embroidering, silver buttons making, Dok Piew embroidering, local food cooking and wicker handicraft craving. 3) Creative tourism routes based on cultural wisdom of Tai Dam ethnicities can be designed in 2 styles namely one-day plan or two-day and one-night program of Visiting Land of Faith, Culture of Belief and Tai Dam Spirit.