Thailand Pushes Pattaya Film City for UNESCO Creative Network
Thailand is pushing Pattaya to join UNESCO's Creative Cities Network as a Film City by 2027, leveraging cultural heritage and sustainable tourism development as the country aims to expand its nine existing UNESCO-designated creative cities.
The Special Purpose Areas Development Organization (SFTPO) is leveraging cultural capital to elevate city potential toward sustainable tourism. The organization is driving Pattaya's bid to join UNESCO's Creative Cities Network as a City of Film, addressing how local heritage—food, crafts, music, art, and traditional knowledge—can be preserved and create lasting value. The Creative City concept has become integral to the SFTPO's sustainable tourism development work.
Thailand currently has nine cities in the UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN). The SFTPO actively supports six of them: Sukhothai, Nan, Songkhla, Chiang Rai, Suphan Buri, and Phetchaburi. Recently, the SFTPO director revealed the organization's vision to advance Pattaya toward Film City status by 2027, in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture and Pattaya municipality.
Siripakorn Chiewsamutr, SFTPO director, announced that the organization recently hosted the "Thailand Creative Cities Network: TCCN Forum 2026" in partnership with Bangkok, bringing together 13 creative cities from Thailand and abroad. The forum served as a platform to share development approaches, exchange ideas on creative city development, and showcase how cultural and creative initiatives enhance livability and tourism appeal. The participating cities represented four creative categories: City of Gastronomy (Phuket, Phetchaburi, Songkhla); City of Crafts and Folk Art (Chiang Mai, Sukhothai, Nan); City of Design (Bangkok, Chiang Rai); and City of Music (Suphan Buri). International participants included Berlin and Cebu (Design), Jakarta (Literature), and Isesaki, Japan (Crafts and Folk Art). UNESCO's Creative Cities Network, launched in 2004, works alongside World Heritage designations to promote creative industry development globally.
