Phetchaburi province on the Gulf of Thailand coast just south of Bangkok has joined the UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) in the gastronomy category.

Phetchaburi is the fifth province in Thailand to gain UCCN recognition, after Phuket named Creative City of Gastronomy in 2015, the Chiang Mai  Creative City of Crafts and Folk Arts in 2017, Bangkok Creative City of Design in 2019 and Sukhothai Creative City of Crafts and Folk Arts in 2019.

Confirming the accreditation Tourism Authority of Thailand’s governor Yuthasak Supasorn said: “The addition of Phetchaburi to the UNESCO Creative Cities Network as a Creative City of Gastronomy is much welcomed and could not have come at a better time, with gastronomy featuring as a key element of the ‘Visit Thailand Year 2022’ new tourism marketing campaign.”

Located around 160 km south of Bangkok, Phetchaburi is known for the production of high-quality sea salt and the cultivation of limes, palm sugar, rose apples, pineapples and bananas giving it the nickname ‘City of Three Tastes’ (salty, sweet and sour). The farm-to-fork practice is also in use in the province, where farmers deliver fresh produce and seafood direct to food outlets and manufacturers as well as local households.

The UCCN was launched in 2004 to promote cooperation among cities that have identified creativity as a strategic factor for sustainable urban development. There are seven categories of membership in the network – Crafts and Folk Arts, Media Arts, Film, Design, Gastronomy, Literature and Music – which currently numbers around 250 cities worldwide. These cities work together toward a common objective – placing creativity and cultural industries at the heart of their development plans at the local level and cooperating actively at the international level.