Thai Hai stilt house village is located in Thinh Duc district in the northern city of Thai Nguyen. Covering an area of about 25 hectares, surrounded by mountains, trees, flowers, and lakes, the village is home to 30 houses on stilts of hundreds of years old. The houses were bought from Dinh Hoa of Thai Nguyen Province, and transported and restored to become the residences of 30 families of four generations.
 
These families have together preserved traditional cultural features such as language, customs, rituals and costumes. They have turned local cultural potential to form unique tourism products such as traditional spiritual festivals and use of local residents with cultural knowledge and language skills as tour guides.

In Thai Hai village, tourists stay in stilt houses with local people to learn about cuisine, culture and agriculture, livestock and handicraft activities of the Tay ethnic group.

In 2022, 136 villages of 57 UNWTO member countries were nominated for this title. Of these, 32 villages from 18 countries have been awarded the title. 

They are chosen based on criteria on cultural and natural resources; resources for cultural preservation and promotion; economic, social and environmental sustainability; tourism development and value chain linkage; tourism management and priorities; infrastructure and connectivity; and health, safety and security.

Besides these 32 villages, 20 other villages have been included in UNWTO’s assistance program, and they will be helped to meet the criteria to become a best tourism village. 

The 52 villages will form part of UNWTO's Global Network of Best Tourist Villages. This network was established in 2021 and so far has had 115 member villages from five continents.

The awards ceremony will be held in Saudi Arabia on February 27-28, 2023.

Linh Trang