“Insight Wat Pho” an innovation for society by a Chula Architecture lecturer is a companion application that helps visitors plan and make the most out of their visit to Wat Pho. With helpful info on how to get there and points of interest, to fun features, such as AR (augmented reality) floor plan of Wat Pho and “Yak Wat Pho” hunt game to find the Wat Pho’s Giants, the app can help visitors have a trip that is more meaningful and enjoyable.
Highlights
- Wat Pho, a tourist attraction, and educational destination with high potential
- 7 features to try! Take a tour of Wat Pho with deep insight
- Did you know which is the real Wat Pho's Giant?
- The future of Insight Wat Pho
- Insight Wat Pho – Not Just a Travel App
- Chulalongkorn Architecture and the Community
Many popular period Thai series have created a trend of both Thai and foreign tourists flocking to ancient sites, such as “Wat Phra Chetuphon Wimon Mangkhalaram Rajwaramahawihan” or “Wat Pho”, one of the most popular tourist attractions in Bangkok and Thailand, attracting around 10,000 – 15,000 tourists each day!
Although the trend of dressing in Thai costumes and taking pictures in different archaeological sites is a form of soft power that helps boost the local economy, there are environmental impacts that should also be managed.
“Wat Pho is a place of worship that we must respect and an archaeological site that must be preserved, but we can see tourists climbing the structures without realizing their priceless value and the fact that these structures have existed for over a hundred years. Should there be any damage it is most difficult to repair,” said Dr. Wilasinee Suksawang, a lecturer at the Department of Landscape Architecture, Faculty of Architecture, Chulalongkorn University.
Inappropriate behavior that has been creating problems for this important tourist attraction pushed Dr. Wilasinee to initiate the social innovation project “Insight Wat Pho” to mitigate the impacts, which would be too late if not managed today. As an architecture professor who has been working tirelessly with the local community, professor Wilasinee believes that effective solutions to environmental problems should tackle their root cause by promoting environmental education.
“Nowadays, rather than solving environmental problems at the root cause, we often just treat the symptoms of those problems. For example, when the water is polluted, one develops many water treatment techniques. Ultimately, such an approach is unsustainable,” said Dr. Wilasinee.
“If people are knowledgeable about the environment, they will know what causes the problems and how to solve them. How can we, as part of the environment, contribute to mitigating, reducing, and not creating problems? Will this be a more sustainable approach than treating the problems at the results?”, explained the professor on the importance of applying the concept of Environmental Education and Environmental Ethics in solving the problems of Wat Pho.
Continue reading at https://www.chula.ac.th/en/highlight/128940/
