DASTA unveils nine-route “THE SOUL OF THAILAND” drive for sustainable tourism
Initiative invites Thai and international visitors to experience local culture across nine designated areas, while helping channel tourism income to secondary cities.
- Thailand's sustainable tourism authority (DASTA) has launched "THE SOUL OF THAILAND" campaign, unveiling nine new travel routes.
- The campaign aims to promote sustainable tourism by highlighting local culture and distributing tourism income to secondary cities.
- The nine routes are located in designated areas including Chiang Rai, Nan, Sukhothai, Loei, and Koh Chang.
- Each route offers unique experiences focused on local life, history, nature, and community engagement, such as low-carbon activities and heritage exploration.
The Designated Areas for Sustainable Tourism Administration (Public Organisation), or DASTA, has launched the “THE SOUL OF THAILAND” campaign, inviting visitors to experience the spirit of Thai identity through nine travel routes across nine designated areas for sustainable tourism.
The campaign aims to encourage both Thai and international tourists to better understand local cultural capital, while helping to spread tourism income more widely to secondary cities.
Nine travel routes to experience the spirit of Thailand
COLORS OF CHIANG RAI
Chiang Rai, a creative city full of Lanna colour, offers a chance to explore Lanna ways of life by engaging with ethnic communities amid surrounding nature, alongside adventures through landscapes shaped by geology and mountain legends.
NAN SLOW LIFE
Nan celebrates the charm of a slower pace of living.
Visitors can unwind in a peaceful, uncomplicated town surrounded by nature, rich in arts, culture and beautiful historic sites centuries old, then savour the simple pleasure of a good cup of coffee in Nan.
SUKHOTHAI TIMELESS TREASURES
A living World Heritage site, Sukhothai invites travellers to discover a historic old city through fun activities throughout the trip.
Visit ancient monuments, stop by small, charming communities, and enjoy local dishes that have helped make “Sukhothai” one of the world’s 100 sustainable tourism destinations.
LOEI BEYOND THE MEKONG
A riverside Mekong way of life, explore Chiang Khan in Loei Province, a Green Destinations area, and Phu Luang, an agricultural community in the Northeast.
Enjoy a “slow life” trip blending contemporary travel with the atmosphere of the past in Chiang Khan’s old quarter by the Mekong River, still steeped in traditional local life.
Add creative activities and art, and visit a Tai Dam village, an ethnic community that maintains the Phi Fa way of life, philosophy and ancestral faith, set amid nature and bordering mountain views.
U THONG ANCIENT LEGACY
A heritage city of Suvarnabhumi, U Thong was once a thriving trade centre during the Dvaravati period and a key place for the spread of Buddhism.
Today, it is filled with archaeological sites and artefacts, with the lingering mystique of its past grandeur, ready for visitors to experience.
The route offers a striking historical journey alongside a fascinating local way of life in one of Southeast Asia’s great ancient landscapes.
BANG KACHAO LOW CARBON, HIGH SPIRIT
Experience the green environment and local lifestyle of Bang Kachao, more than a one-day trip.
For a fuller experience of shopping, tasting, relaxing and joining community activities, visitors can stay overnight amid green space close to Bangkok, rounding out their travel experience.
Enjoy a variety of local dishes and breathe deeply in the city’s large green lung at Khung Bang Kachao.
PATTAYA EVERYDAY WONDERS
Pattaya offers everyday wonders in a vibrant city full of creative energy and inspiration, expressed through design, fashion, music and major events.
At the same time, local cultural stories and charms from the past still linger in many corners.
Discovering fresh inspiration while also experiencing stories from traditional communities near Pattaya makes for a well-balanced trip for the whole family.
KOH CHANG BLUE CASTAWAY
Escape to Koh Chang and explore community life amid clear blue seas.
Learn from communities that want travellers to understand nature-based tourism with humility, minimising harm and reducing environmental impacts, so that the “dream archipelago, paradise of the Gulf of Thailand”, and their home, remains beautiful for a long time to come.
SONGKHLA LAGOON'S LIVING HERITAGE
A treasure shaped by time, let yourself be drawn into the charm of the Songkhla Lake Basin.
One trip brings together history, culture and nature, inviting travellers to experience and taste local cuisine made from fresh seafood ingredients, prepared with meticulous techniques unique to the area.
