Chiang Mai is famous for being scenic with all the mountain ranges, valleys, flora and fauna. It is also popular because of the Lanna Tai's unique culture, locally made products and handicrafts.
However, today it is known for their Karen long neck settlement, Lanna Cultural Centre Night Bazaar, handicraft boutiques, Chiang Mai Night Safari which is modelled after Singapore's Night Safari, elephant rides, Khantoke Dinner, temples.
Khantoke Evenings
"Arguably the best way to enjoy Northern Thai culture is to spend an evening at a Khantoke dinner. Increasingly popular with tourists, these events have evolved into a superb display of the best of Thai culture; including a sumptuous spread of Northern Thai food (served in traditional-style at floor level), classical Thai dancing from exquisitely dressed dancers, and traditional Northern and other Thai music played on unique Asian instruments. Several of these venues are now situated out in the suburbs and take place in beautifully constructed traditional pavilions. Your hotel or guesthouse can organise this activity for you. There is also a free cultural show every evening at the Night Market." -quoted from http://www.1stopchiangmai.com/culture/festivals/
The whole experience has become very commercialised, just like Disney's themepark. From the extract above, we can see that the performance is not similar to what it traditionally was due to the word evolved.
There might be several performances occurring at the same time at different locations sometimes just next to each other while in the past, it was only performed to entertain businessmen at parties for VIPS. There is no more significance of the traditional dances performed as it becomes a daily ritual for the performers. Emotional labour is found here in the performances. Although they give their all in performing for the tourists, the authentic traditional feel is gone. When the performers give their all in performing, the tourist might feel that the performer is not actually working but taking pride in their tradition. Therefore, they are encouraged to spend more due to the smiling and helpful demeanour of the performers.
You can take photos with the performers after the performances or participate in the rituals for a small fee. This feels almost as if you are taking pictures with the mascots at Disney. And the tourists also would not understand the history of the dance or what story it has to tell as there is no such information given during the performance. The whole experience is packaged. For example, you go for the dinner but you feel compelled to participate in the photo taking or the rituals as it seems only natural to do so.
Watching a cultural Lanna Tai performance while eating your dinner is what makes the whole experience unique. This is constructed history, such as the performances. Like the performances each have their own story but it is infused together so that the tourists could feast their eyes on all kinds. And plus there is good service because it was meant to entertain VIPs in the past, therefore it makes it possible for the prices of the Khantoke dinner to constantly fetch a higher price. And there is unlimited refills of food therefore it will constantly attract tourists to take part in an Khantoke dinner as it is satisfying in all sense.
Night Bazaar
You basically go there and enjoy yourselves but you will inevitably buy countless of souvenirs while being at Chiang Mai. This is where disneyization comes in due to dedifferentiation of consumption. Firstly, these type of markets provides a site for selling local products related to the Lanna culture that has accumulated over the years. And sales from such local products actually makes up for most of the profits earned from tourists in Chiang Mai.
More and more hotels are built and handicraft boutiques are set up to cater to the surge of tourists. And there is only a fine line between really consuming culture tourism or buying the products linked to their culture. Markets as such are carefully designed to make tourists purchase their products. For example, you can purchase the neck rings for a few hundred bahts. And there is cross promotion of goods which are the experience of culture and the products of culture.
The experience of being at Chiang Mai used to be visiting the hill tribes and looking at their way of life. But now people go to Chiang Mai to watch commoditised festive dances or to buy their handicraft which they used to make for keepsakes. These tourists have the impression that they are visiting the local hill tribes and understanding their way of life. But what they do not know is that they are actually encouraged to buy the commodities.
Chiang Mai Night Safari
Chiang Mai's Night Safari is a government nature theme park which is built to promote Chiang Mai tourism regarding to the government's policy apart from arts, cultures, traditions, and the beauty of nature which are the main fascinating tourist attractions.
For example, the Chiang Mai Night Safari pollutes Chiang Mai's water sources and it brings about more construction as tourists always want top-notch attractions and facilities. But it was still constructed because Thailand's sports and tourism minister wanted to up their competitive edge. More construction such as the Night Safari's new playground, which is a musical fountain to entertain kids. Places that focus more on entertainment tend to exploit the locals and degrade the environment, making the experience less authentic. It is ironic that while promoting a natural experience, all the facilities are built with high quality materials and the Night Safari does not blend in with the natural environment. Also, the animals at the Night Safari are either trafficked from Kenya or Australia with reference to Ecoterra.
This is Disneyization as the experience is themed. It is built to rival Singapore's Night Safari and the actual Disneyland itself. The facade of the Night Safari is very high class and yet it has cultural elements such as the elephant or animals found in Chiang Mai.
References:
http://www.ecoterra.net/sites/background-info.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuVav8zPCQ4&feature=related
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