Religious tourism and heritage knowledge at Phra Pathom Chedi, Thailand

Abstract

© 2019 Cognizant, LLC. This study aimed to use Phra Pathom Chedi, a popular religious site for Thai pilgrims, to measure visitors' level of knowledge on Thai history and Buddhist artistic features. To the best of our knowledge, no research has been conducted to measure the knowledge of Thai visitors to a heritage site. We use a quantitative research methodology that involves asking respondents to answer 10 questions related to the historic and artistic features of the Chedi. Although the site is popular among the respondents, the findings indicate that the respondents do not have sufficient knowledge of the site irrespective of their level of education. No difference in knowledge level was observed between local and nonlocal visitors to the Chedi. We offer suggestions for providing information to visitors to help enhance their knowledge.