Phuket launches cultural ‘Shopping List’ to link heritage assets with creative tourism routes

Phuket province, through the Phuket Provincial Cultural Office, has launched a "Shopping List" of cultural assets along tourism routes as part of an effort to connect art, culture and community life with creative tourism and the local cultural economy.

The initiative is being rolled out under the project "Phuket Local Art and Way of Life for the Promotion of Creative Tourism." It is intended to gather and connect key cultural resources across the island, including history, architecture, arts and culture, traditions, community ways of life, contemporary art, local wisdom and creative products, and turn them into tourism routes that are easier for visitors to access.

Supawadee Paiphak, director of the Strategy and Cultural Surveillance Group and acting Phuket provincial culture chief, said Phuket stands out for its cultural diversity, with both tangible and intangible cultural assets spread across the province. She said these include the old town, contemporary art, crafts, local food, local traditions, tourism operators and community product groups, which together form an important foundation for the development of a creative city.

According to the provincial office, the new Shopping List is meant to serve as a mechanism for compiling a cultural database, telling the story of local identity and building awareness among residents, tourists and business operators through tourism routes tied to art, lifestyle and creative experiences in Phuket.

The list covers learning sites and creative spaces such as artist communities, galleries, museums and cultural markets. The office said these locations reflect Phuket's identity through contemporary art, community life and local wisdom, and can support experience-based activities including workshops, craft activities and artist meet-ups.

The Shopping List is available online through Facebook under the name "Shopping List," where users can find place information, route maps, activity details and travel recommendations for each stop. The platform also allows users to search locations, plan trips and follow activity updates.

Supawadee said the project was an important step in organizing Phuket's cultural capital and linking it concretely with creative tourism. She said it could help enhance visitor experiences, generate income for communities and support the sustainable growth of the cultural economy at the local level.

The Phuket Provincial Cultural Office said it expects the project to support tourism route planning, public relations and further economic development based on culture, while helping conserve and carry forward local identity and strengthen Phuket's position as a sustainable creative tourism destination.