Phetchaburi
Thanks to its abundant biodiversity and diverse ecosystems, Phetchaburi in southern Thailand, is one of the country’s most productive provinces. Renowned for its high quality ingredients which have been refined by local artisan producers for generations, and make up the core of Phetchaburi’s gastronomic excellence, the city is dedicated to protecting traditional recipes held by the local communities. Uniting tradition with modern economic development, local cuisine has been adapted for more widespread national and global engagement. With its distinctive identity, renowned ‘Phetchaburi Craftsmanship’, rich cultural heritage and gastronomic traditions, Phetchaburi has become a centre of tourism, helping to protect and promote its rich tangible patrimony. With the support of culinary focused Institutions, research facilities and local government organizations, the city has a clear vision to elevate its gastronomic creativity to facilitate sustainable urban development, and become a global creative economic hub in the field of gastronomy. Phetchaburi’s agricultural and gastronomic sector comprises more than 500 close-knit groups of community chefs, artisans, food entrepreneurs etc., who have collaborated with a view to synchronizing their development plans towards a united goal: to improve the quality of life of the local people. This will see more equitable income distribution and implementation of sustainable urban development policies, uniting food, art, culture, and nature, via and with the mutual participation and comprehensive growth of all stakeholders.
As a Creative City of Gastronomy, the following steps will be important: • Promoting gastronomy, culture and creativity among its people; • Integrating the proposed major programmes into the city’s strategic plans for 2022-2027 • Strengthening Phetchaburi’s creative economy in gastronomy through creation, production, distribution and dissemination of creative activities, products and services of all sectors; • Developing Phetchaburi as a global hub of culinary creativity; • Broadening the participatory opportunities for every demographic, including vulnerable groups; • Establishing a Phetchaburi Gastronomy Information centre accessible to the public to encourage research and data utilization for the sustainable development of the gastronomy industry; and • Exchanging and collaborating with other UCCN member cities at both the local and global level.
