Dan Chang’s Plow Karen People: Understanding Ethnic Group through Cultural and Ethnic Tourism

Abstract

This article aims to establish the appropriate mode of cultural and ethnic tourism with less impact to the community, of tourism management by community members, and how the tourists should conduct themselves. The author emphasizes understanding Dan Chang’s Plow Karen People through anthropology fieldwork and using cultural and ethnic tourism concepts as sources for developing a narrative and analysing the findings. The results have shown that appropriate cultural and ethnic tourism with minimal negative impact on the community is characterized by tourist cooperation and recognition that 1) the ethnic group need their personal space, 2) the tourists learn the similarities and differences between cultures, and 3) tourists ought to be permitted by the culture owner when it comes to tourism related to beliefs and rites. Whereas, other stakeholders have to be aware that; 1) the cultural and ethnic tourism development is not only to explore or renew the cultures for tourists’ needs, 2) learning of the similarity and differences within cultures is the true definition of cultural and ethnic tourism, and 3) any negative impact of the tourism must be properly managed and solved in a timely manner.