Som Tam on menu as Thailand identifies 50 soft power assets
The Culture Ministry has identified more than 50 cultural heritage assets with potential to be developed as Thai soft power.
Culture Minister Sermsak Pongpanit said the cultural assets include the Yi Peng floating lantern festival and Khan Tok dining tradition from the North, Mor Lam music and Som Tam papaya salad from the Northeast, ancient ruins, Khanom Chin noodles, and Nang Yai shadow puppetry from the Central and Eastern regions, and Nora dance and Nang Talung shadow puppets from the South.
The regional cultural assets were identified in a survey conducted by the ministry and Chulalongkorn University’s Sasin business school. The findings will be used in a national plan to promote Thailand’s soft power on the global stage, Sermsak said.
The plan incorporates a new law on soft power and formation of the Thailand Creative Content Agency to promote the kingdom’s soft power.
For the survey, 600 artists, culture entrepreneurs, scholars, and policymakers from the public and private sectors participated seven regional workshops to identify high-potential cultural assets.
These were divided into seven categories dubbed “5F+2” – Food, Fashion, Film, Festival, Fighting (martial arts), plus performing arts, and local folklore.
Measures are being devised to promote the “5F+2” as soft power, Sermsak said.
These include more food festivals, more scholarships for promising talents in the film industry, adopting cutting-edge technology in Muay Thai training; and more tourism routes to include sites rich in folklore.
