Linear tourism, multiculturalism, creative district: The case of Charoenkrung creative district in Thailand

The paper examines the relationship between tourism and the creative district, a connection often assumed but undertheorized. While conventional wisdom appears to be that creative districts promote tourism, this paper shows that the reverse can also be true. In the case of the Charoenkrung Creative District in Bangkok, tourism has been deployed as a top-down initiative to popularize and publicize the district. This paper examines how walking tours-a particular kind of linear tourism-are used to weave disparate sites into a singular narrative that frames Charoenkrung as a multicultural district with much creative potential. In particular, it sheds light on the role of the tour guide in charting this entangled narrative of multiculturalism and creativity.& COPY; 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.