Launching of Two Ceramics Villages in Lampang Province (29/7/2015)

Lampang province in the North has organized an event to introduce to members of the media and representatives of the public and private sectors two ceramics villages in order to promote tourism and build up community enterprises.

The two villages are Ban Sala Meng and Ban Sala Bua Bok in Tha Pha subdistrict, Ko Kha district. The Tha Pha Subdistrict Municipality is joining hands with the Lampang Provincial Tourism and Sports Office and the Lampang Provincial Community Development Office in promoting these two villages as \"OTOP Tourism Villages.

OTOP stands for the \"One Tambon, One Product program, which aims to build up small enterprises in communities by encouraging the people to manufacture local products using their homegrown skills and expertise. It is a way of stimulating human creativity and innovation at the grassroots level, as well as generating more income for local people.

Thailand is rich in raw materials for making ceramics and pottery. Ceramics and pottery of high quality are produced in several areas in the country, but Lampang has become the largest ceramics- producing area for the Thai ceramics industry.

According to the Department of Industrial Promotion, there are currently more than 700 ceramics entrepreneurs in Lampang, Ratchaburi, Saraburi, Chiang Mai, Samut Sakhon, and Sukhothai. More than 70 percent of them are in Lampang, which is the location of over 200 ceramics factories, with about 9,000 workers.

Lampang Deputy Governor Rittipong Techaphan said that more than 60 ceramics factories are located in the two OTOP tourism villages in Ko Kha district. Local villagers have been engaged in ceramics production for a long time. These two communities can also be linked with other nearby cultural attractions, such as Wat Phra That Lampang Luang, which is one of the most highly revered temples in Thailand.

Lampang is among the 12 provinces in the 2015 Discover Thainess campaign, launched by the Tourism Authority of Thailand to boost the tourism industry. Recognized as \"hidden gems, the 12 provinces have been recommended as the places that tourists should not miss. Apart from Lampang, they also include Phetchabun, Nan, Buri Ram, Loei, Samut Songkhram, Ratchaburi, Trat, Chanthaburi, Trang, Chumphon, and Nakhon Si Thammarat.

Lampang is preparing the two OTOP tourism villages to welcome more Thai and foreign tourists, especially when the ASEAN Community is in place in late 2015. The Department of Industrial Promotion is striving to develop Lampang as a ceramics center in the ASEAN region. It is also promoting business matching for investment in this industry between Thai entrepreneurs and their counterparts in Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Myanmar.

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