Cultural Valued Tour Route of Huatakhe Old Market

Abstract

The research objectives are to study and assess cultural values; and to create a cultural tour route of Huatakhe. This research is qualitative research designed to collect information by means of literature reviews, current condition survey with non-participant observation, and personal in-depth interviews. The key informants were considered from people who have been affiliated with the community comprising the community’s natural leader, place caretaker, business owners and their descendants. For the data analysis, the collected data from the reviews, the survey and the interviews were analyzed to classify cultural resources into the occupation, dwellings and sacred place, to define criteria of cultural values and to compare the cultural resources with the defined criteria. The research findings disclosed that the cultural resources of Huatakhe Community such as the old market holding four values, the lathe factory holding historic and scientific values, a dessert shop holding historic, social and scientific values, Thai Samakkhi House holding historic and aesthetic values, House No. 162 holding aesthetic value; and the Chinese Shrine holding spiritual value. The final procedure that created a tourism route on the custom map of Google My Maps displayed (1) setting the boundary of the tour route covering both banks of Prawesburirom Canal and adjoining with Huatakhe Canal, (2) marking the route and places on the map that mainly considered the ease of access to tourist attractions; and (3) selecting stories for tour route interpretation by using the cultural value assessment of places as the guideline to develop storytelling.