Cultural Identities to Promote Mon Ethnographic Tourism Activities in Suphanburi Province

Abstract

The objectives of this article are 1) to study the needs of tourists towards ethnographic tourism in Suphanburi province; 2) to study the cultural identity of the Mon Ban Thung Khen ethnic group and 3) to design cultural tourism activities of the Mon ethnic group. The researcher used a mixed research method and the sample groups used in this research were 400 Thai tourists visiting Suphanburi province with the use of coincidentally selective sampling method. The instrument was a questionnaire to analyze the results by determining the percentage frequency. For the qualitative research, the used tool were the interview and focus group conversation with the selection of specific sample group of 5 people, namely community leaders, community scholars, cultural leaders together with the study on information from various documents to analyze content and draw conclusions of descriptive results.

The results of the study showed that the needs of tourists towards ethnic tourism in Suphanburi province in a whole picture were of moderate importance (mean = 3.44, SD = 0.57) with high demand  for tourism in tourism areas (mean = 3.71, SD = 0.63), accessibility was high level (mean = 3.57, SD = 0.50) and tourism activities were at a high level (mean = 3.54, SD = 0.64), respectively. The results of the study of cultural identity promoting tourism activities found that cultural identities to promote tourism include clothing, traditions, beliefs, food, and play. The researcher can design tourism activities as follows: 1) Transmitting the culture transcend time, Following the cultural trail from Hongsa to Thung Khen  and dressing culture and 2) Inheriting of Mon culture and wisdom such as activities of local food and disease prevention, Mon breast cloth embroidery, folk games, cultural attractions of Mon Ban Thung  Khen community.