BLUEPRINT FOR A BETTER FUTURE

Pakk Taii Design Week 2025 is using creativity to promote well-being and a new model for economic progress

- STORY: SUWITCHA CHAIYONG

In an era of polycrisis, from climate disruption and geopolitical instability to increasing mental and emotional strain, people, especially younger generations, are searching for ways to achieve happiness and well-being.

WGSN, a global trend forecasting and data analytics company, reported that 84% of people aged 16 to 24 are actively seeking spaces for genuine mental and emotional renewal. As a result, happiness and Gross Well-Being are rapidly emerging as powerful new metrics for economic progress.

The “De-Stress Economy”, which is a new economic model that focuses on well-being and emotional comfort, is now set to be piloted at Pakk Taii Design Week 2025 (PTDW2025), southern Thailand’s annual creative festival. Organised by the Creative Economy Agency in collaboration with public and private partners, it runs until Sunday across Songkhla Old Town and Hat Yai under the theme “South Paradise”.

PTDW2025 serves as a policy sandbox, a testing ground for an economic model which has a goal of establishing a health and wellness economy that investors, entrepreneurs and creative people across the region should be aware of. For this new model, the 14 southern provinces have been grouped into four clusters — Calming, Relaxing, Energising and Worry-Free — based on their suitability for living, investment and tourism. Here are the exhibition highlights.

SOUTH DE-STRESS

Songkhla Old Town Public Parking

The “De-Stress Economy” exhibition provides information about stress among Thais and what businesses are appropriate for the 14 provinces in the South. In 2022, Kisi, a US based technology company, ranked Bangkok fifth out of 100 global cities for overworking, with over 15% of full-time employees clocking more than 48 overtime hours per week. Among Thai people aged 23 to 25, 66% had financial stress regarding their families and 67% struggled with pressure from study and/or work.