Touristic craft ribbon development in Thailand

The locational dynamics of tourism-related craft-producing and marketing establishments in regions recently opened to motorized tourist visits is investigated in a series of case studies from Thailand. Departing from the concept of 'ribbon development', two types of craft-ribbons are conceptualized: the simple localized ribbon, emerging along roads in and adjoining a craft-producing community, and the complex ramified ribbon which emerges between such a community and a major urban tourist centre. Both types of ribbon undergo increasing heterogeneization in terms of products offered, as the original craft-producing villages gradually specialize in retailing crafts produced elsewhere, and urban businesses introduce new kinds of products onto the ribbons. Some ribbons become a tourist attraction in their own right, helping to promote Thai crafts not only through direct sales to tourists but increasingly to intermediaries and exporters to foreign markets.