The Thai Embassy in Vietnam, in coordination with the Thai Nguyen Department for Foreign Affairs, organized the discussion “Thailand - Vietnam Friendship Village" aiming to develop sustainable community-based tourism on April 2 in Hanoi.

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The Thai Embassy in Vietnam, in coordination with the Thai Nguyen Department for Foreign Affairs, organized the discussion “Thailand - Vietnam Friendship Village" aiming to develop sustainable community-based tourism on April 2 in Hanoi.

Charge D'affaires of Thailand Embassy in Vietnam Morakot Janemathukorn speaks at the discussion. Photo: The World & Vietnam Report.

The discussion is part of the project “Applying Sufficiency Economy Philosophy (SEP) of King Rama 9 into the sustainable community development", and one of the first events to celebrate the 45th anniversary of establishing the Vietnam-Thailand diplomatic ties (August 6, 1976 - August 6, 2021).

The event was attended by Charge D'affaires of Thailand Embassy in Vietnam Morakot Janemathukorn, Director of Thai Nguyen Department of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Dinh Viet, Deputy Director of Thai Nguyen Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Van Ngoc, etc, according to the World & Vietnam Report.

The event played an important role in promoting the friendship and multifaceted cooperation between Vietnam and Thailand, in which the tourism industry is a bright spot. Photo: The World & Vietnam Report.

Ms. Morakot Janemathukorn affirmed that the event played an important role in promoting the friendship and multifaceted cooperation between Vietnam and Thailand, in which the tourism industry is a bright spot. Besides, the discussion aimed to exchange experiences in tourism development associated with preserving the cultural diversity of ethnic groups in Thailand and Thai Nguyen province.

Director of the Thai Nguyen Department of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Dinh Viet said “A number of localities in Thai Nguyen possess many factors to implement the project of sustainable community tourism development. The local ethnic minorities boast a diverse culture, with good architectural and environmental preservation.

According to Mr. Viet, Thai Nguyen has some initially typical advantages in developing sustainable tourism such as community-based tourism in Quyen Village (Dinh Hoa district), green tourism at the Thai Hai Reserve Area of Ecological Houses-on-stilts Ethnic Village, tourism at the Tan Cuong tea-growing area, etc. These are bright spots in the local tourism industry, which have attracted an influx of many tourists.

Especially, at the event, the speech of Ms. Ratiwan Boonprakhong - Director of Representative Office of the Tourism Authority of Thailand and speech of Mr. Nguyen Van Ngoc - Deputy Director of Thai Nguyen Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism mentioned the key factors for sustainable community-based tourism development.

According to delegates, to develop community-based tourism, it is necessary to have the participation of all three sectors (Government, private- companies having the capability of developing community-based tourism, and the local people).

Charge D'affaires of Thailand Embassy in Vietnam Morakot Janemathukorn takes a group photo with representatives of the units attending the event. Photo: The World & Vietnam Report.

It is necessary for indigenous people to participate in all 3 parts (thinking together, working together, and enjoying income from local projects), but not losing the local traits.

Developing sustainable community-based tourism also helps the locals in that community know how to manage tourism because they are the main tourism management entity.

However, the delegates also affirmed that the Government’s role is also important in developing sustainable community-based tourism.

Accordingly, the Government should create favorable conditions to develop regional infrastructure or launch domestic and foreign promotions to lure more tourists.

Malie Nguyen