Creative and Cultural Districts in Thailand

This report by the Designing Social Innovation in Asia-Pacific (DESIAP) team presents insights into four creative districts in Thailand, to better understand the unique features of their creative ecosystems and focusing on the interlinks between hubs and the neighbourhoods. The four districts studied include Songkhla Old Town in the south, the Wua Lai district in the northern city of Chiang Mai, Charoen Krung in Bangkok and Sakon Nakhon in the northeast.

The report identifies the importance of hard and soft infrastructures and its social capital to understand the development and sustainment of a vibrant creative ecosystem. In particular, we demonstrate the important role individuals and organisations play in bridging and linking with other groups, networks and organisations. They extend the value and impact of a place’s soft infrastructures by bringing in new ideas, connections and access to resources that otherwise would not be accessible.

The research was commissioned by the British Council in September 2019 as part of The British Council’s South-East Asia regional Creative Hubs for Good programme.