The Identity of Ban Wang Sai Community for Tourism Development in Thung Song District, Nakhon Si Thammarat Province

Abstract

The objectives of the research were to study the identity of Ban Wang Sai community and a guideline to develop the identity of Ban Wang Sai community for tourism development in Thung Song district, Nakhon Si Thammarat province. Purposive sampling was used to select 15 participants as the population and key informant groups in this study, including community leaders, the chairman and committee of Ban Wang Sai Upstream Tourism Community Enterprise, and community members who participated in various community activities. Based on the nature of the data gathering, research tools include focus group interview forms and informal interview forms for in-depth interviews. The collected data were analyzed by categorizing, explaining and content analysis. The findings revealed that Wang Sai community's identity comprises of: 1) tangible identities, for example, the community's characteristics that were rich in natural resources. This leads in an outstanding natural heritage, such as the presence of diverse forests, wildlife, and plants; and 2) intangible identities such as traditions, beliefs, rituals, and local wisdom. When the community's capacity to promote identity for development was evaluated, abundant forest resources, various species of plants, and wildlife were discovered to be strengths. As  a result, promoting the community's potential to present their identity in adherence to various standards, such as natural tourist attraction quality standards, which assess the characteristics of communities rich in natural resources, and Community-Based Tourism (CBT) standards, among others, can help promote the adoption of such community identities to the development of appropriate tourism for Ban Wang Sai community. The guidelines were tourism routes based on the community's rich forest resources and distinctiveness, as well as environmental management, improving the landscape of tourist attractions in the community, Integrated marketing through online and offline PR communication, development of local food, and creation of a community brand.