Assessment of tourism resource potential at Buriram Province, Thailand

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to assess the resource potentials for tourism and potential tourist destinations in the province of Buriram, Thailand. Buriram province is located in the North-eastern part of Thailand, about 410 km northeast of Bangkok. Indicators and evaluative standards for resource potential assessment were determined, and altogether the total of 31 sites were assessed by a simple weighted score method, one of the popular methods for evaluating the potential of tourism sites. The total number of indicators used was 45. The results revealed that eight sites were categorized into the natural tourist destination, ten sites were the historical tourist destination, ten sites were the cultural tourist destination, and another three were the sport-recreational tourist destination. These three sport-recreational sites, known as I-Mobile Stadium, Chang International Circuit, and Play La Ploen Boutique Resort and Adventure Camp, were the latest attractions because there were built within the last five years, but consequently have become among the most popular tourist attractions in the area. The site assessment revealed that tourism sites in Buriram province had a potential overall score of 2.23 (moderate level) from the highest score of 3.00. Approximately 39% of the total tourism sites have higher potential. According to the analysis of sites and tourism activities, Buriram is highly suitable for the educational tour in historical and cultural sites, and sports destination.