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This year I met many artists from the south of Thailand. It poignantly reminds me of the five years I spent in the south of Thailand surrounded by the Thai gulf, a remembrance of the South like my home. There is disappointment in Thai education and bureaucracy which are not easy to manage because Thai education seldom provides creativity. We always admire good followers more than leaders. The patronage system lets many people take full advantage and push good and skilled people away. We have found that "brain drain" is very common in Thailand. The salary men come from rich families and have no motivation to create new things. They also exploit the bureaucracy and only accept their siblings and relatives to their organizations.
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I have seen some unique photos from Grit Wattanapruek who showed the better side of the seascapes and culture in Songkla Province, the different way of living, the food, and the prosperity of the Southern Thailand. His photos are outstanding. I followed his work which reflects his intention and eagerness to change the image of TAT (Tourism Authority of Thailand) I had no hesitation to connect with him immediately and I found that he had his own unique point of view in his photography as visual artists have in their painting.
JY: I am impressed with these photographs and your perspective to see changes in the South of Thailand. Please tell me about that.
GW: I am a marketer for TAT (Tourism Authority of Thailand - Hat Yai branch) which operates in Pattalung and Songkla provinces. The main attraction of Songkla Province is Hat Yai which is the most well-known district and also one of the main economic cities in southern Thailand. Each year, foreign visitors from many countries especially Malaysia and Singapore, arrive here regularly. On special occasions like Thai festivals or important holidays in Malaysia, a huge number of foreign and Malaysian visitors come to the Hat Yai District. This makes Hat Yai the primary destination for them and many even call it their second home. However, with many limitations, due to the frequent visits and the change in traveling behavior, Hat Yai alters its role from a one-stop destination into the traveling base in the lower south of Thailand. We see nowadays that many Malaysian and Singaporean visitors prefer to eat, drink and rest in Hat Yai for a few days and then explore the areas of Hat Yai and nearby cities a bit more. After that, they will go to other provinces according to their travel plans and in the end they will return to Hat Yai before they fly back to their countries with the intention to come back here again. In terms of behavior, Thai visitors who come to the area of Pattalung and Songkla Provinces are not so much different from foreign visitors. Food is what visitors like the most. Convenient and interesting tourist attractions are main factors that attract Malaysian and Singaporean visitors to travel here.
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From my working experience in the field of tourism both in marketing and public relations, I am always happy and proud when I recommend new tourist attractions and new routes to those sites to groups of visitors. Positive feedback from people who go to such places shows that our work goes well and smoothly but in the Songkla area there are too many problems with the marketing of accommodations. We have less cooperation from accommodation owners unlike many other provinces that have no such difficulty. Another problem is communication with countries using English which is the main language in ASEAN group. It is very difficult for Thai entrepreneurs and villagers who cannot speak English to provide useful information to foreign visitors. The result is there is less chance to learn about their culture thoroughly. But in some areas, Bahasa, Malaysian and Chinese languages are more common than English and Thai people there can use these languages to communicate with foreign visitors.
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One of my duties is taking photos to be used in the media or advertising in the tourism market. I captures images of many festivals, traditions and tourist attractions from the actual experience, natural lighting, weather and atmosphere from true locations. Anyone who sees these pictures will definitely want to see with their own eyes. Truthfully, some people may be disappointed with the location which is sometimes not as beautiful as in the photograph. These are only techniques of photography and do not reflect any drastic change in atmosphere and environment. We try to take photos from many perspectives to show attractive\ differences so that many people might want to visit again.
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Actually, there are plenty of professional photographers who can take very beautiful and valuable photos. Comparing their pictures with some of mine, it is clear that their pictures are superior in all respects but at least my pictures can create the motivation to travel to the actual place. They might tell their relatives and friends to visit those place too. I am just happy that my photos are seen by many and remain useful.
JY: Please tell more about yourself.
GW: I was born, grew up and studied from kindergarten to university in Songkla Province. I also choose to work in Songkla, my hometown, and this is quite pleasing to me. Working with TAT in marketing and public relations and taking photos of various places in Songkla, I look at this work as my favorite activity. I cooperate with TAT branches in Malaysia and Singapore and sometimes travel with the press or entrepreneurs to these countries. I am an English expert for translating documents and corresponding in English postal mail and email.
JY: In your view, what has changed in Songkla including the level of satisfaction with such change?
GW: At present, due to the global change towards more high technology, Songkla has an ever increasing flow of visitors. However, though there are all kinds of development, the area retains its character and beauty, at least for now. Convenient transportation and good economy bring more cars on the road than before and lots of construction projects. Changes in the society, environment, quality of life and other things affect everyone. Songkla is becoming a larger society and many cultures appear from around the world. In my view, Songkla is still the same city because people in Songkla prefer to preserve the traditional way of life, but they accept the larger economic and technology changes and make use of these changes wisely for everyone's benefits. The government sectors listen to the voices of people, try to find ways to compromise and implement good strategies, to create satisfactory solutions to solve occurring problems in Songkla.
As an officer, I look at the mutual agreements from both government and people's sides as well as conclusions from these decisions. When the decisions and solutions are finally determined, I will use this information to plan the marketing. Although Songkla may change, people in Songkla never forget their roots. This means they will not leave or throw away essential Thai culture and traditions. Songkla maintains confirmation of its traceable identity such as history, old documents, ancient architecture, and relics as well as knowledge and wisdom. All of these are rather difficult to describe so you should come here and see it for yourself so that you will truly understand Songkla and its importance.
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JY: Can you tell me how Songkla is developing?.
GW: Comparing the past to the present, Songkla is severely affected by the environment. Although technology is more advanced, we are still unable to heal or save the damaged environment. People in the big city still live in harmony with nature. For development, it depends on which strategy we can use for the best benefit. It is unavoidable that development always hurts Nature. We may choose a strategy to make the city better but the outcome too often has a devastating effect. Alternatively, a sound conservation strategy is another good choice to save more of our forest and is more sustainable but we have to trade it off for a slower pace of development. On the bright side, I think visionary leaders will definitely choose this second path.
Photos: ©Copyright 2013 Grit Wattanapruek
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