Tea culture tourism in Southeast Asia : A comparative study of Mae Salong in Thailand and Thai Nguyen in Vietnam

Abstract

This study attempts to explore the development of tea planting and producing, and tea culture tourism in Mae Salong in Thailand and Thai Nguyen in Vietnam. The findings reveal that tea planting in Mae Salong is derived from KMT villagers in northern Thailand who initially planted tea for livelihood, later developed as a cash crop for substituting opium and reducing soil erosion under the cooperation between the Royal Project and Taiwanese organizations. Nowadays, tea in Mae Salong is selected as “OTOP” and marketed as tourism resources to attract tourists. The tea culture tours in Mae Salong are usually organized with other tourism activities and tourists prefer sightseeing and consuming oolong tea, although Mae Salong is able to offer other tea-related activities. Thai Nguyen, situated in North Vietnam, has a long history of green tea but started large-scale plantation after French colonization and revived during Doi Moi reform. The tea culture destinations in Thai Nguyen have been mostly visited by foreign tourists during these two years and the tour packages mainly provide tea producing experience and knowledge for tourists. In sum, the tea culture tourism of Mae Salong and Thai Nguyen have different characteristics as the result of different historical development and market strategies.