Designated Areas for Sustainable Tourism Administration (Public Organization)

DASTA sets a goal for 2027: to drive Pattaya to become a member of UCCN - City of Film

          Designated Areas for Sustainable Tourism Administration (Public Organization) or DASTA, in collaboration with Pattaya City, Ministry of Culture, and relevant stakeholders in both public and private sectors, joined hands to integrate and promote Pattaya City's economy in accordance to the policy of promoting citites in Thailand to be the hubs of international industries, the elevation of Pattaya City and Vicinity Designated Area for Sustainable Touism, and the goal of "driving Pattaya to become a UCCN's creative city of film in 2027."

          Gp. Capt. Athikun Kongmee, Director-General of DASTA, shared DASTA’s experiences in studying the potential and suitability of Pattaya City, and developing Pattaya City into a member of UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) since the year 2020, with the supports and joint collaborations of all stakeholders who perform their responsible duties for the same development direction and goal. 
          DASTA, along with all relevant stakeholders include Pattaya City, Chon Buri Provincial Cultural Office, Chonburi Provincial Office of Tourism and Sports, Department of Tourism, Eastern Economic Corridor Office of Thailand (EECO) Film Archive (Public Organization), Thailand Convention & Exhibition Bureau (Public Organization) or TCEB, Creative Economy Agency (Public Organization), National Federation of Motion Pictures and Contents Associations (MPC), Thai Entertainment Content Trade Association (TECA), Thai Animation and Computer Graphic Association (TACGA), other private organizations and educational institutions, are involved in the development of the action plan to drive Pattaya City to become a Creative City of Film of UCCN.  The roles and responsibilities of DASTA is to coordinate, promote, and support the shared mission with the aim to become the development model of tourism area according to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
          In early August 2024, DASTA hosted a field visit trip for the Committee for Promoting Pattaya Creative City in the Republic of Korea. Spearheaded by Dr. Chumpol Musiganont, Deputy Director-General of DASTA, the Committee met with the UNESCO Creative City of film Busan's Committee of the Republic of Korea to exchange knowledge and learn best practices on the preparation for UCCN Creative City of Film. Furthermore, the Committee from Thailand discussed the trends in film industry and relevant management procedure with the Busan Film Commission, the Centum City Visual Industry Center, Busan Cinema Studio, Busan Museum of Movie, and Busan Asian Film School.

          On 21-25 August 2024, Pattaya City is scheduled to host the Pattaya Film Festival 2024 with DASTA and Film Archive (Public Organization) as co-hosts. This event is an important step in raising awareness and preparing Pattaya City to become an UCCN Creative City of Film, with the aim to promote tourism in Pattaya City and vicinity, igniting tourism trends and creating participatory collaboration from all sectors for the concrete integration of cooperation. In the next step, DASTA will review the action plan to drive Pattaya City to become a Creative City of Film of UCCN with the relevant organizations and networks of stakeholders, and will incorporate results of the findings in the action plan of each responsible organization in accordance with the adjectives and goals set by the Government.