Nostalgia-motivated Thai domestic tourism at Amphawa, Thailand

Amphawa is the site of a large floating market dating from the eighteenth century. After three decades of dormancy, Amphawa has experienced a revival of tourism development since 2004, and has become a popular weekend destination and a site in an emerging trend of nostalgia-motivated tourism among Thai domestic travellers. Based on interviews with 33 domestic Thai tourists, the paper discusses the role of nostalgia as a motivating factor for Thai visitors to Amphawa, and seeks to understand the elements and aspects of the site that evoke nostalgic emotions. The paper draws on the distinction between restorative nostalgia, which affirms narratives of shared identity, and reflective nostalgia, which draws on individual memories of one’s personal past. This article seeks to contribute to an understanding of the nostalgia-motivated tourism trend within the sociocultural context of contemporary Thailand, and to explore the motivation of Thai domestic tourists at a cultural destination.