Soft Power of Local Identity to Drive Community-based Tourism in Rai Khing Municipality as Creative Economy to Add Value and Sustainability

Abstract

The objectives of this research article are 1) to study local identity in Rai Khing Municipality for community tourism, and 2) to develop the soft power of local identity to drive community-based tourism. Rai Khing Municipality According to the creative economy guideline, it is qualitative research. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data. The main informants consist of 3 main groups to allow for data triangulation: (1) community leaders living in Rai Khing Municipality (2) officials working in Rai Khing Municipality (3) government officials, called key informants, who were specifically selected (purposive sampling), a total of 20 people with using content analysis as an analysis tool. The research results according to the research objectives were found. 1) Local identity in Rai Khing Municipality for community tourism consists of sustainable agricultural and conservation tourism, the reputation of pomelo, and large-scale pomelo marketing. The local folk museum is a heritage of wisdom reflecting the way of life of the local communities of the central region, people of various races who have settled in addition to Thai people, large-scale groups of farmers who grow pomelo or mixed agricultural products, and temples and local folk museums that have stories passed down from generation to generation.  2) Guidelines for developing the soft power of local identity to drive tourism by the community in Rai Khing Municipality according to the creative economy concept include resource management by producing organic agricultural products and local food; tourism format management by creating more modern tourism plans; and community tourism innovation by creating a network linking tourism routes from provinces, districts, and communities.