Food tourism as a means of promoting food sustainability: a case study of street food in Bangkok

Abstract

In 2002, the Thai government lauched two gastrodiplomacy initiatives to promote cultural awareness, increase export revenue, and boost tourism by increasing the number and quality of Thai restaurants abroad. These iniatives have been vastly successful and have since been emulated by other countries. This paper builds on the gastrodiplomacy initiatives' success by exploring the possibility of the same methods being applied to promotion of food sustainability. This research addresses the questions surrounding the factors that both enable and risk food sustainability, the sustainability projects currently being pursued in Thailand, any possible link between food sustainability and gastrodiplomacy with regards to government promotion, the sustainability measures currently being taken in Chinatown and Jodd Fairs Market, and the larger socio-political issue of food sustainability. Using the existing frameworks of gastrodiplomacy, food tourism, and food sustainability in conjunction with Bangkok's street food scenes as a case study, this research aims to serve as a reference for future work on global food sustainability, which in turn can be used for policy recommendations. The observational research conducted in Chinatown and at Jodd Fairs Market found that, while street food is economically and socially sustainable, there is significant progress that still needs to be made with regards to environmental sustainability.