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Thai ethnic cultural effect on Son La tourism development.

With a long history of creation and growth, as well as a rich and distinct culture, the Thai ethnic minority in Son La is committed to preserving and promoting national cultural values, resulting in distinctive and appealing tourism offerings.

The Thai ethnic group accounts for more than 53% of the province's population, and building community tourism villages is considered an important direction in developing unique tourism products in Son La province. In recent years, our province has had many preferential policies to encourage the development of community tourism in villages with potential and advantages. In particular, many community tourism villages that have been and are currently developing are villages of the Thai ethnic group, such as: Ang village, Vat village, Doi village of Moc Chau district; Na Bai village, Phu Mau village of Van Ho district; Bon village of Quynh Nhai district; Lut village of Muong La district; Bo village, Hun village, Hum village of the City; Kha village of Yen Chau district...

In Moc Chau plateau, community tourism villages of the Thai ethnic group attract many tourists to visit and experience. Ms. Dinh Thi Huong, Head of the Department of Culture and Information of Moc Chau district, shared: Thai ethnic villages live in communities with unique stilt house architecture, unique cultural space, combined with beautiful natural landscapes, creating attractive destinations for tourists. Especially associated with the preservation of traditional Thai ethnic festivals, such as: Het Cha Festival, praying for rain; building mass art troupes to serve community tourism, creating more unique and distinctive tourism products.

The appeal of Thai ethnic community tourism villages comes from the peaceful, communal living space; unique housing architecture, suitable for building into a community guesthouse without losing the beauty and structure of the traditional stilt house. Along with that are diverse dishes, meticulously prepared, sophisticated, attractive flavors, such as: Smoked meat, bamboo rice, pa pinh top (grilled fish), bon soup, ban flower salad... becoming an indispensable part to attract tourists when coming to Son La.

The long-standing and unique culture of the Thai ethnic group has also created an impressive highlight for Son La's tourism products. These include traditional festivals and cultural heritages that are restored and performed annually at local cultural and tourism events, such as: Ban Flower Festival, Kin Pang Then Festival, Hair Washing Festival, Xip Xi New Year Ceremony... The Thai people also have the Thai Xoe art recognized as a representative intangible cultural heritage of humanity, a highly communal folk dance that can be performed on stage, suitable for community activities at events, attracting everyone to participate and experience. Or the folk games of throwing con, to mak le, walking on stilts... also create attraction for tourists when coming to each village or participating in festivals of the Thai people.

Participating in the activities at the Van Ho District Ban Flower Festival, Ms. Ha Thi Thanh Tram, a tourist from Ho Chi Minh City, excitedly said: I am very impressed with the activities taking place at the festival, especially the cultural space of the Thai ethnic group which is restored, reproduced, and displayed, allowing visitors from far away like us to fully experience the unique traditional culture of the people here.

Thai ethnic villages, traditional stilt houses, unique festivals, unique cuisine... have been and are contributing significantly to creating typical tourism products of Son La. Along with that, souvenirs from Thai brocade, Pieu scarves, specialties of smoked meat, cham cheo... also create attraction in the journey of developing cultural - historical tourism, eco-tourism for visitors to explore and experience when coming to Son La.