On 22 March 2024, the ASEAN Municipal Solid Waste Management Enhancement (AMUSE) Project, together with the Project Management Unit (PMU), comprising the Pollution Control Department (PCD), the Department of Climate Change and Environment (DCCE) and the Department of Tourism (DOT) as well as the project consulting team from the Environmental Research Institute of Chulalongkorn University, met with Surapol Thiansut, Mayor of Nan Town Municipality, and relevant municipal officials, to introduce the AMUSE Project and formally invite Nan Municipality to serve as a model city for municipal waste management in the tourism sector.
Surapol Thiansut expressed his support for Nan Municipality to become one of the project’s model cities: “Nan Municipality warmly welcomes the AMUSE Project team. We are pleased to adopt approaches that bring tangible benefits and are honoured to have the opportunity to collaborate as a model city under this project. We believe it is important to explore new ways of working. If we continue to follow the same approach, we may face the same risks and achieve the same outcomes. Therefore, change must begin with people in order to transform the city and create opportunities for scaling up successful practices.”
Alvaro Zurita, Director of the AMUSE Project at GIZ, further highlighted the importance of Nan Town Municipality’s role within the project: “Nan Municipality will not only serve as a model city for the AMUSE Project in Thailand but also as an example for other ASEAN member states. The good practices in municipal solid waste management in the tourism sector developed in Nan will be documented and shared through the ASEAN online learning platform. In addition, the AMUSE Project has developed a capacity development curriculum for government officials, private sector actors and stakeholders in the tourism sector at both policy and operational levels, with the aim of strengthening human capacity for sustainable waste management in the tourism sector.”
Following the visit, the AMUSE Project team and partners conducted field visits to better understand the local context. The team visited various tourism-related establishments, including hotels, shops, restaurants and cafés, and collected insights from these visits. The lessons learned will contribute to the development of good practices in waste management for the tourism sector in medium-sized cities, which can serve as models for other ASEAN member states.
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