Experiences and Factors Affecting Sensory Perception in the Old Town Area Thung Yang – Laplae

Abstract

            The current cultural heritage preservation mainly focuses on conserving tangible culture, while intangible culture and related environment receive little consideration. There is also a lack of integration of these elements through the dimension of perception that affects the atmosphere and sense of place, even though all five senses play a crucial role in perceiving the environment, creating a sense of place, and promoting cultural tourism. Therefore, this research aims to study the experience of perceiving cultural components through the senses, as well as factors related to the perception of culture that reflect the characteristics of the old town area of Thung Yang–Laplae in Laplae District, Uttaradit Province. This historical community features diverse cultures from the amalgamation of multiple ethnicities and cultures, with both tangible and intangible cultural heritage distributed throughout the area. The study employed a mixed-methods research approach combining qualitative and quantitative methods, using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) with a sample of 204 participants aged 18 years and above who are local residents with various experiences and involvement with the old town area of Thung Yang–Laplae. The research tools used were checklist questionnaires and open-ended questions.

The research findings reveal that all five senses, namely sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch, play a crucial role in perceiving culture and cultural components in the Thung Yang–Laplae historic area, leading to understanding, appreciation of value, and connection to the place. Furthermore, the EFA results identified four main groups of factors related to perception: (1) stimulus-specific characteristics, (2) personal characteristics, (3) relationship factors, and (4) need factors. These four factors interact with all five senses to create complex and unique perceptual experiences of the Thung Yang–Laplae historic area. The stimulus-specific characteristics factors, with the highest factor loadings, reflect the influence of physical stimuli that create shared impressions among area users. Meanwhile, personal characteristics factors demonstrate the diversity of perception based on gender, age, occupation, and experience, showing how individual differences affect cultural perception and interpretation. Moreover, the results align with the concept that all five senses play a significant role in perceiving cultural values in the environment of old towns. They enable people to understand, appreciate, connect with past stories, create shared memories, emotions, and imagination related to the place, which helps create identity and enhance the sense of place of cultural heritage sites. These findings can be applied to planning and conservation of historic towns in the context of Thai cultural heritage conservation through sensory perception. This approach can guide cultural planning that considers differences in personal factors, promotes participation of those with connections to the area, and emphasizes the conservation of physical characteristics that stimulate the senses, leading to comprehensive cultural heritage conservation appropriate to the specific context of each historic district.