RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT OF CONTEMPORARY CRAFT ACTIVITIES FOR THE PROMOTION OF CREATIVE TOURISM: A CASE STUDY OF KHOM MA TAO LANTERN IN NAN PROVINCE

Abstract

This research aimed to 1) Develop guidelines for creating contemporary craft activities to promote creative tourism, with a case study on the Khom Matao lanterns of Nan Province, and 2) Develop prototype contemporary craft activities to promote creative tourism for the Ban Khom Kham Learning Center in Nan Province. The study employed a research and development (R&D) approach and was conducted in two phases. The first phase involved the development of activity guidelines, which included reviewing related documents and previous research, assessing the needs of 112 target tourists selected through voluntary sampling using a questionnaire, and analyzing the data using frequency distribution, percentage, and content analysis. In addition, the current state of Khom Matao learning activities was examined through interviews with two representatives from the Ban Khom Kham Learning Center, selected by purposive sampling.
The research instrument was the Khom Matao study record form, and the data were analyzed using content analysis. The second phase focused on developing contemporary craft activities, the quality of which was evaluated by three experts using an activity suitability assessment form. Data were analyzed using frequency distribution, percentage, and content analysis. The findings revealed that the guidelines for developing contemporary craft activities to promote creative tourism involve enhancing traditional community activities to make them more engaging, creative, and educational about traditional crafts by simplifying complex processes and fostering creativity. The prototype activity, titled “Khom Craft,” consists of two formats: Contemporary Khom Craft, in which tourists design their own lantern patterns, and Frameless Khom Craft, where lanterns are made directly from paper without a frame. Supporting learning materials include both online and printed knowledge sheets containing images and instructional videos, as well as media presenting the cultural tourism routes related to the Khom tradition. The prototype activity was evaluated at a very good level and will be implemented at the Ban Khom Kham Learning Center in the future.