Abstract:
The purposes of this research are to study the economic and historical context of Trang province in relation to three groups of people, Thai-Buddhists, Thai-Muslims, and Thai-Chinese, and to examine the process of constructing a Trang identity via its cultural products. This study also analyzes the ideologies behind the making of a Trang identity under the provincial slogan of "Trang: City of Happiness", and investigates the benefit and impact of the provincial project titled "Trang: One Destination, Five Cultural Products, the City of Happiness", particularly in the relationship between the state and its communities. Therefore, four concepts are employed in this research, including: Identity, Cultural Commodification, Cultural Tourism and Cultural Branding, and Community Participation Development. A qualitative approach is used as the main method, involving fieldwork in four districts of Trang where the cultural products are produced. The results show that the historical development of Trang city from its origins as a seaport allowed a mixing of cultures between the ethnic groups. The different livelihoods of these people related to physical geography caused various subsistence productions in Trang. In more recent years, these products were developed as a part of the Trang OTOP Cultural Product Project. In 2013, the provincial government selected only five cultural products to represent the Trang identity, under the slogan of "Trang: City of Happiness". This process reflected the ideologies behind the selection of cultural products which emphasized only adding value, income, and meeting the central policy. Although the project helped to create a provincial tourism image, the process still lacked community involvement. As a result, it raised the issue of inequality among five-star OTOP products, and also pushed some ethnic people into the otherness of Trang.