CULTURAL CHANGE AS A FUNCTION OF TOURISM
Tourism is often attacked as one cause of cultural decline in Thailand. Some rituals, ceremonies and cultural events have become commercialized and have turned into a kind of
show business where the focus is making money; this is perceived by some as being caused, or partially caused, by tourism. While it is undeniably true that the tastes of foreign tourists havean influence on the more tangible forms of culture,for example arts and
crafts manufacture in Chiang Mai Province, and that some cultural events are organized with the express purpose of attracting foreign tourists, it is not correct to say that foreign
tourists have a direct bearing on the evolution of Thai culture.