Creation of a 100-year-old Javanese Muslim Food Culture Network Storytelling for Food Tourism Value Added: Jakkraphong, Haroon, Suan Luang, and Yawa communities, Bangkok Creation of a 100-year-old Javanese Muslim Food Culture Network Storytelling for Food Tourism Value Added: Jakkraphong, Haroon, Suan Luang, and Yawa communities, Bangkok

Abstract

This research is a qualitative research project that aims to analyze the stories of a 100-year-old network of Javanese Muslim food culture in order to increase the value of food tourism. It is a case study of the Chakkraphong, Haroon, Suan Luang, and Yawa communities, Bangkok. The “Java” culture is a high culture that has been integrated into Thai society uniformly among both the common people and the royal court. Even though “Java” is a small group of the Muslim minority in Thailand, the Javanese are the majority ethnic group, and Javanese culture is the main culture of Indonesia, a country with the largest Muslim population in the world. Even though Halal food is a religious requirement, it does not cover the meaning of food culture. Findings from the study are as follows: food contains historical stories, maintaining ethnicity, traditions, rituals, and cultural exchange. Creating cultural networks through food culture capital increases the value of food tourism with local identity through stories, besides creating bargaining power. It also brings income and builds a strong community, reproducing food history through stories, increasing the market value of food products, and is therefore an important goal of the government to be a leader in the production and export of food products and agricultural products with Halal standards to new target markets, Muslim countries of 2,000 million people around the world. This is in line with the policy of “12 Festivals, 12 Months” which specifies that April is the month of “Halal Food Festival After Sunset” in Bangkok. It reflects the goal of opening up to a large new market, both as a source of Halal food production and as a Halal food tourism destination. Creating knowledge through research in the form of Muslim food culture in Bangkok is therefore important as a national and international food culture network.