A STUDY ON WAT CHAENG GIANT’S IDENTITY FOR SOUVENIR PRODUCT DESIGN OF CULTURAL TOURISM

Abstract

This study aims to examine the identity of Wat Chaeng Giant for souvenir product design and development. The characteristics of Wat Chaeng Giant representing the uniqueness of Thai identity in Wat Arun Ratchawararam Temple (Temple of Dawn), one of the cultural tourism destinations in Thailand, was examined in comparison with the ones in Wat Phra Chetuphon (Wat Pho) and Temple of the Emerald Buddha (Wat Phra Kaew), respectively to explore a guideline how to develop the captioned souvenir products. Those products to be developed consist of action figure toys, t-shirts, caps and medical masks including their packages. Considering the characteristics in view of identity of those giants in each temple through a field survey, it was found that the giants in Wat Arun Ratchawararam Temple and Temple of the Emerald Buddha were similar in view of their body structure but different in decoration of costumes and skin colors. The giant’s body structure in What Phra Chetuphon was also different from the ones in the aforementioned temples and the color of costume accessories was mainly in gold color. The identity of the giants in the captioned temples were combined for product design by applying the giant’s body structure of Wat Arun Ratchawararam Temple and Temple of the Emerald Buddha whereas skin colors and costume style were applied from the ones in Wat Phra Chetuphon. For product design assessment, the identity development of Wat Arun Ratchawararam Temple’s giant into the captioned souvenir products was assessed through the sample group of 100 tourists visiting Bangkok from which the results showed their satisfaction at very good level. The process of souvenir product development was in accordance with the defined objectives.