Selecting villages for the first phase

OTOP products are handicrafts of many kinds made with many techniques and in many different materials. They may be pottery, furniture, cotton and silk garments, fashion accessories, household items practical and decorative and many other articles indigenous to each community. The essential ingredient is they are all hand-made with great skill, and reflect the uniqueness of their localities.

With thousands of tambon (an administrative sub-districts that may be towns, a village or a collection of villages) throughout Thailand each producing its own distinctive products, the size and scope of the OTOP Programme is enormous. From the beginning it was decided to categorise the products with a starrating system that would be used in marketing strategies. The OTOP Product Selection Committee chose 627 OTOP products that would bear the premier 5-star logo.

Each of the OTOP Tourism Villages produces a 5-star OTOP product. Other considerations in selecting the villages include accessible locations close to popular tourist routes, an attractive geographic character and environment, residents' friendly attitudes, an interesting history, and most of all, interesting production process that can be demonstrated to visitors. Residents of the chosen OTOP communities will maintain their normal way of life by preserving their own customs and traditions.

To ensure that all this is easily accessible to visitors, and that they are assured of a comfortable stay, the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, Office of Tourism Development has developed certification standards based on the well-established Thailand home stay tourism programme that has already enjoyed great success in attracting visitors to rural areas. These standards are applied to accommodation, food and nutrition, safety, management, tourism services, environment, added value and marketing.

Consequently, visitors to the OTOP Tourism Villages are able to experience a way of life that may have remained unchanged in its essence for centuries. Families warmly welcome guests into their homes and are happy to share their lifestyle with the visitors, offering insights into their ways and traditions, sharing their meals, and arranging guided rambles or drives around the locality. Sampling the local foods, attending local festivals, visiting historic temples and monuments, and exploring areas of natural beauty are all part of this home stay experience.

Visitors will see how these leading OTOP products, now on sale in the international markets, are manufactured. A guide will explain the history and the craftsmanship that goes into the manufacturing process, and the visitors will be able to talk to the craftsmen and the community leaders who have helped steer the OTOP product to success, for each of these is a cooperative venture in which many people in the community will have played an important part.