Thailand launches free gastronomy tourism e-guidebook for foreign tourists

Deputy government spokeswoman Rachada Dhnadirek said the Thai and English versions of the e-book, “Muslim Friendly & Gastronomy Tourism Routes”, is available for free download.

Rachada said the guidebook from the Tourism Department of the Tourism and Sports Ministry aims to support self-drive tourism connecting 14 southern provinces, and extending to Malaysia, Singapore, and Batam Island in Indonesia.

The 154-pages guidebook provides two routes:

Muslim Friendly Tourism Route: This route will lead tourists to visit places of interest to Muslim tourists. General tourists may follow the route to experience Muslim culture, foods and activities, the spokeswoman added.

Gastronomy Route: The route provides information on general tourist attractions. It also suggests local and famous restaurants in each location.

The guidebook says the information in the book is based on data as of August 9, 2022. The book also provides links to websites or other sources for more updated information.

The book provides a sample of a Muslim-friendly tourism route that is covered in 20 days and a sample of a gastronomy tourism route, also undertaken in 20 days.

Both sample routes start in Chumphon province.

The Muslim-friendly route will guide tourists to drive down through Surat Thani, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Phatthalung, Songkhla, Pattani, Narathiwat provinces of Thailand to Penang in Malaysia, reach Batam Island and then head to Singapore, before driving back through Malaysia, Yala, Satun, Trang, Krabi, Phuket, Phang Nga, Surat Thani, and Ranong back to the starting point — Chumphon.

The sample gastronomy tourism route starts from Krom Luang Chumphon Shrine. Tourists will be guided to drive past the same provinces and the three countries but through different locations. This trip also ends in Chumphon.

The guidebook has separate sections on the 14 southern provinces, which are Chumphon, Ranong, Phang Nga, Phuket, Krabi, Trang, Satun, Surat Thani, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Phatthalung, Songkhla, Pattani, Yala, and Narathiwat.

The guidebook also provides information on how to apply for a tourist visa to enter Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia by crossing the borders.

In each province section, the guidebook provides a brief information of the province and tourist destinations that people must visit, restaurants where they should eat and goods they should buy.