Good to see that I am not the only one that realizes that the Tourism Authority of Thailand doesn’t know what it is doing.

Article in today’s Bangkok Post, Tradition traded for tourism at riverside market, talks about how the Thai people, with the assistance of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, took a great location and totally ruined it.

This article tells about a place that used to be wonderful, and now, thanks in great part to the Tourism Authority of Thailand and their total ineptness to market Thailand, is all but ruined.

Khlong Suan, a once-bustling place of commerce filled with relics of a bygone era, has largely lost its charm thanks to a misguided attempt to draw visitors

This is a model in how to totally screw up something that tourists, both Thai and Foreign, would flock to see.  Take an area that is steeped in tradition, culture, and Thai-ness, and turn it into a tourist trap selling crappy T-shirts and blocking the very shops that tourists long to see.  Another FAIL by the Tourism Authority of Thailand.

This was a place where one could see the “old” Thailand – the way it was 60 or 70 years ago, talk to the people and engage in the history and learn more about Thai culture.  But, no, the Tourism Authority or Thailand has to step in and completely fuck it all up.

But then Khlong Suan market came to the attention of the Tourism Authority of Thailand and the local community committee as a potential tourist destination. Years ago a meeting was held, attended by the local community committee and outside academics on how to preserve the market while also developing it as a tourist attraction. Funds were provided by a regional administrative agency and used to construct a new entrance. A small Chinese-style structure was built on the edge of the canal as a place for tourists to sit and relax, together with a stall selling souvenirs and handicrafts.

This is where it all goes to shit.  There are always meetings and conferences, but nothing comes of them.  There is no plan, no limits, no nothing.  So, the local folks set up stalls all over the place and block passageways and airflow, and ruin the entire experience.  More fine guidance and education from the Tourism Authority of Thailand.

Kind of like all the idiot vendors at the Thai beaches trying to sell me something when all I want to do is relax at the beach and not be pestered every 17 seconds.  No one gets it over here.  They just do not comprehend what foreign tourists want.  And, in many cases, the Tourism Authority of  Thailand doesn’t know what its own people want.

Today, Khlong Suan market has been completely transformed to satisfy the demands of tourism. Every shop has a stand in front that sells the kinds of things that the tourists who pack the area know and like _ cakes, waffles, toys, fish bowls for children, and T-shirts with pictures of the market. They completely block the entrances to the market’s shops, hiding one of the chief beauties of the market is therefore now hidden inside. What’s more, they block the breeze from the canal. The part of the market facing the water was originally completely open to let in air and light. Today it is dark and hot.

This is not the first place that this has happened to and surely won’t be the last because the Thais don’t learn from past mistakes.  They just think it was a bad location, the demons were angry, or someone else screwed it up.  And, the Tourism Authority of Thailand goes on its merry way with no clue on how to market to foreigners.

All that visitors can do these days is walk around and take pictures of themselves to show that they have been there and perhaps buy things they can easily get elsewhere. The goals that the local committee and the academics wanted to achieve at their seminar all those years ago _ preserving the market and its historical character while developing it as a tourist destination _ has gone unfulfilled.

The photo above is from a fantastic city in Loei Province, Chiang Khan.  This city will soon go the way of Khlong Suan market thanks, in part, to the Tourism Authority of Thailand.

My wife has an uncle that lives in Chiang Khan and I have been there to visit a few times.  The city was a backpacker’s secret until it was discovered by the Bangkokians and promoted by the Tourism Authority of Thailand locally.

Quaint is about the best word to describe Chiang Khan.  Located along the Mekong River, small, wooden houses dot the city and the main mode of transportation is bicycle.  The people exceed the normal friendliness of Thais and life is almost at a standstill there.  Until the weekend.

Busload after busload arrive in Chiang Khan with hundreds, maybe thousands of Bangkokians.  What is the prime attraction?  The Mekong River?  The old, historical buildings?  The eco-friendly bike rides?

Nope.

The big attraction is to get up early in the morning and make merit by giving an offering to the local Buddhist monks.  Nothing wrong with that in itself, but the Bangkokians are only doing it as a photo opportunity.

You can see in the video I shot, people line the streets and give the Buddhist monks so much food, that a guy has to follow behind with a cart to help carry the donations.

What you see if you look hard, are the guys with the Nikon cameras on tripods to capture the moment so that the Bangkokians can show their fellow Bangkokians how wonderful they are by making an offering.

Total hypocrisy.  There are great people in Thailand that provide food to the Buddhist monks on a daily basis with no need for a photo.

Anyhow, the hordes from Bangkok, will soon send Chiang Khan into oblivion.  Street vendors, restaurants and cafes, and crappy souvenirs are popping up everywhere, and the quiet lifestyle of Chiang Khan will be lost forever – just like Khlong Suan.

And, we will be able to thank the Tourism Authority of Thailand for their help promoting Chiang Khan to their fellow Thais in Bangkok for all the wrong reasons.

Tags: bangkok post chiang khan inept khlong suan TAT tourism authority of thailand