Unesco told the TPA that it could not consider the request because of a decision by the United States a year ago to withdraw all funding after Unesco admitted Palestine as a member.
The US was funding Unseco to the tune of at least US$80 million (B2.4 billion) a year – around 22 per cent of the organisation’s budget.
TPA President Dr Kosol Tang-Utai said that all documents had been prepared in Thai, and were ready to be translated into English, but Unesco initially said it would simply not consider the application.
After further pressure from the TPA, however, Unesco relented, and has requested more detailed information about Phuket culture and the network of Peranakan associations. These documents have now been prepared.
Early next month a representative of the Thai Ministry of Culture will arrive in Phuket to review the application, and the TPA expects to be ready to submit its bid to Unesco by January next year.
Dr Kosol explained that it will probably take another year before Unesco will be ablw to send its specialists to survey Phuket Town.
“Phuket food shops and restaurant must improve their hygiene and also their shop decoration to be ready for the Unesco survey,” Dr Kosol noted.
Unesco has so far awarded the Gastronomy title to just four cities worldwide. They are Popayán in Colombia, Chengdu in China, Östersund in Sweden and Jeonju in South Korea.