University of Phayao Trains Ban Wiang Lo Community in Tourism Management

The University of Phayao visited Ban Wiang Lo, Lor Subdistrict, Chun District, Phayao Province, on 24 and 25 August 2026, to train community members to design and manage tourism themselves under the creative tourism promotion project. The 50 participants were community leaders and local guides from nine OTOP Nawatwithi tourism villages. The goal is for the community to develop existing cultural capital into professions and income.

Empowering the Community to Own Their Stories

This activity was organised under the concept "Eat Well, Sleep Warm: A Model OTOP Nawatwithi Tourism Village". The organisers placed importance on building the capacity of local people rather than merely developing a tourist attraction, enabling villagers to be storytellers, activity owners, and tourism service providers themselves.

Assistant Professor Dr Suriya Suwannatipayachot, a lecturer in the Tourism and Hotel Management Programme, School of Business and Communication Arts, University of Phayao, imparted knowledge on community-based tourism, focusing on elevating service standards. Ms Chompunut Ounruean, Director of the Community Development Promotion Group, Phayao Provincial Community Development Office, jointly drove the work at the provincial policy level.

Three Learning Stations Adapted to the Community Context

The project organised three types of learning stations for participants to discover the area's identity and then use local wisdom and resources to design tourism activities and services.

• Crafts: Encouraging the search for ways to develop traditional crafts and wisdom into products with a story and added value.
• Stories from Community to Society: Focusing on discovering and conveying the stories, identity, and highlights of Ban Wiang Lo to communicate with tourists.
• Model Community Nawatwithi: Demonstrating guidelines for taking cultural capital and local resources and developing them into activities suited to their own community.

Ing River Minced Fish Salad and Fish Curry: Menus for Development

The Ing River Basin and Ban Wiang Lo communities jointly presented the local dishes "Ing River Minced Fish Salad" and "Fish Curry with Elephant Ear Stems", demonstrating everything from ingredient preparation and cooking to eating together. These steps reflect the relationship between the people and local resources, whilst simultaneously passing on culinary knowledge.

These dishes can be developed in various ways, including as cultural tourism activities, welcome menus for tourists, or local food products that generate income for the community.

Transforming Cultural Capital into Career-Building Capital

The University of Phayao stated that this initiative aims to bring knowledge to work collaboratively with the community. It allows local people to participate from designing activities, storytelling, and local wisdom, through to developing products and services, in order to transform "cultural capital" into "capital for creating professions and income".

Meanwhile, it is necessary to simultaneously preserve the local identity, way of life, and wisdom to ensure the community's cultural tourism remains strong and sustainable in the long term.

This news is of interest to tourists seeking community lifestyle experiences in Phayao, creative tourism project organisers wanting to observe community collaboration guidelines, and tourism and hotel professionals interested in elevating service standards at the local level.