SAKON NAKHON, Oct 18 – In popular awareness, Tha Rae district in Thailand’s Northeast has been associated for the past century with the practice of eating dogs.
Local people react painfully with their notorious reputation, especially as they cannot rule out that the dog eating habit still exists.
A renewed attempt is spearheaded to erase the area’s “man eats dog” label. The Tha Rae municipality is launching a tourism campaign inviting visitors to see the district’s ancient attractions and its historic Catholic community.
Municipality chief Pairat Yongkamcha led a caravan of cyclists through the town to promote the campaign, which will be repeated in the town centre every weekend next month.
Tourists will be invited to visit the Catholic community, claimed as the biggest in Thailand, and other historic communities.
Mr Pairat said the public image of Tha Rae usually is connected to dog trading, an activity which is only a tiny part of the reality. He said local people want to show the world that they are dog lovers, not dog eaters.
