Chang Moi Subdistrict is in Chiang Mai Province, Thailand. It is a subdistrict characterized by cultural heritage and everyday community life. The study pursued three objectives: (1) to explore the tourism context of Chang Moi together with tourist attitudes and behaviors; (2) to develop creative tourism routes and evaluate their carbon implications; and (3) to propose appropriate routes and activities for low-carbon creative tourism development. A mixed-method design was employed, comprising qualitative interviews with key stakeholders, a quantitative tourist survey (n = 408), route development, an LCA-informed greenhouse gas assessment, route testing, and synthesis of findings. Three representative route programs were developed: a one-day walking route for international tourists, a one-day private-car route for Thai tourists, and a two-day mixed route. The carbon-footprint results showed that the one-day routes generated substantially lower greenhouse gas emissions (Program 1 = 10.58 kg CO2 eq; Program 2 = 10.82 kg CO2 eq) than the two-day overnight route (Program 3 = 31.52 kg CO2 eq). Waste management was the largest contributor in the one-day routes, whereas Program 3 showed a more distributed emission profile across waste management, creative activities, food and beverage services, and accommodation. Among the assessed activities, flower arranging generated the highest carbon footprint. Overall, the findings indicate that low-carbon creative tourism development in Chang Moi should emphasize compact and walkable route structures, lower-impact creative activities, sustainability-oriented interpretation, and community-based implementation. The study provides an evidence-based basis for tourism planning in Chang Moi and offers implications for other compact creative districts pursuing low-carbon tourism transition.
Jiarakul et al. (Mon,) studied this question.