SPATIAL EVOLUTION OF SMART CITIES FOR SUSTAINABLE TOURISM: A CASE STUDY OF PHUKET PROVINCE, THAILAND

In this research, the objective is to study the Spatial Evolution of Smart Cities for Sustainable Tourism in Phuket Province, Thailand from 2005-2024, using the Geo-informatic Technique as information for decision-making in determining the direction of Smart City. The study results found that land use patterns such as Urban and built-up land, Waterbodies, and Forest land have had an increasing trend over the past 20 years. In 2005, Urban and built-up land was found to cover 132.19 km2 (24.10% of the total area). In 2024, it was found to have greatly increased, covering 165.91 km2 (30.25% of the total area), especially in Thalang District, which is north of Phuket. The area has a wide plain landscape, and beautiful wide beaches such as Bang Tao Beach. There has been a change from agricultural land to housing developments, residential areas, restaurants, hotels, resorts and homestays. The results of this study have been prepared as a spatial database for supporting decision-making in monitoring and planning the development of areas to support the expansion of sustainable tourism in the future to become a smart city.