NAN: Residents at a village in Pua district are demanding the Community Development Department take back all items supplied to promote a tourism project for local communities.
Jiranthanin Uttarachon, a community leader in charge of tourism for Ban Rong Ngae, and other residents on Wednesday told the department the materials were substandard and did not match their needs.
The department under the Interior Ministry has handed over bedding -- including nets, sheets and mattresses -- for 10 houses to be used as guesthouses for tourists. Other items included almost 10,000 posters and another 10,000 pamphlets, woven clothing, t-shirts, and caps to promote the village.
Mr Jiranthanin said all the goods were poor-quality and the villagers could have made them themselves. The nets were made of thick cotton which could pose breathing problems while sleeping, he gave as an example.
"The project never asked what people here needed," he said, adding he and other villagers also called for the department to look into the issue.
There was no immediate reaction from provincial authorities.
Ban Rong Ngae, about 60 kilometres from Muang district, has only 239 households. The community leader said residents had no idea where to distribute all the posters and pamphlets. (continues below)
Villagers display a net they said was made of poor-quality materials for the homestay project. (Photo by Rarinthorn Petcharoen)
Otop stands for One Tambon One Product, a project initiated by then-prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra in 2001. The government of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has continued the initiative by creating the homestay project at Otop villages, with the goal of generating revenue from tourists for local communities.
The Interior Ministry selected 3,273 villages across the country to join the scheme and the 2018 budget for the project was 9 billion baht, according to department documents.
In Nan, Bang Rong Ngae is one of 63 villages picked to participate and the province received a budget of 126 million baht in the last fiscal year.
The department has authorised provincial governors to handle the budget allocated to their provinces on its behalf.