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I was my second time on an "International Exposure to Israeli Dance, Music and Theatre" trip. This annual programme was co-organised by the Israeli ministries of foreign affairs and culture. Among the guests were foreign media, cultural attaches and officers, as well as performing arts organisers and presenters from cities around the globe who are interested in establishing connections with Israeli artists and exposing their own audiences back home to the richness and diversity of dance, music and theatre in Israel. In other words, the whole idea behind this was obviously not to encourage us to organise a group tour there to watch these performances.

From late morning to late evening, we watched a wide variety of performances by professional troupes. When the spoken language wasn't English, English subtitles were screened for better understanding and enjoyment. At the end of many performances, we were given DVDs of what we had just watched, and of previous works. Also included in the same package was technical information about bookings. Mostly, these are small- to medium-sized troupes that can easily travel without a lot of funding.

In between performances, guests also had time to attend lectures on Israeli performing arts and to chat with the participating troupes, as well as to exchange opinions. Now, almost a month after the festival, the dialogues continue as I still receive e-mails from the troupes' marketing and PR staffs asking me what I think of their performances, when my reviews will be published, and whether there is any possibility of them coming to Thailand.

With such efficiency in cultural management, it is no surprise that many Israeli music, dance and theatre troupes, of various levels of skill and reputation, are now performing all over the world at festivals and performing arts centres - doing their cultural and diplomatic duties.

Shamefully, I was so busy enjoying the performing arts that I forgot to follow the news on what was happening about 200 kilometres south of Tel Aviv. In fact, the whole experience made me think more about my own country. I wasn't homesick, though.

A recent trend in Thailand is that tourists spend less time in Bangkok, and some even bypass it for other destinations like Chiang Mai, Phuket or Krabi, using the capital city as a transit point. However, the fact of the matter is that Bangkok - whose governing body advertises it as a "City of Culture" everywhere - has more cultural activities than most tourists realise. In other words, there are many more options for tourists than shopping or watching Thai boxing or transvestite cabaret performances.

Once in a while I run into foreign tourists with a copy of Daily Xpress or BK magazine in hand. After talking to them, I find that many want to get off the tourist tracks and watch what local audiences are watching, rather than what is created exclusively for tourists and listed in guidebooks or tourism websites. Frequently they note that is a lot more to experience than what they had heard about prior to arrival. Often this attitude applies for the choice of restaurant as well: if a certain Thai restaurant is packed and the customers are all Thais, the place is definitely worth trying.

This weekend, for instance, there are two dance and theatre productions that tourists can attend and enjoy as much as local audiences. The first is internationally renowned Pichet Klunchuen's solo work, a deconstruction of classical masked dance entitled "I Am a Demon", which was last seen at a dance festival in Germany. Also running is a new play on cross-cultural romance, "Water Time" by Life Theatre, performed in Thai, Japanese and English with subtitles - a recent trend in Thai theatre, which shows its interest in expanding the audience group. The problem is whether tourists know about such events in advance so that they can make plans before arriving here.

True, "I Am a Demon" has been seen all around the world, and that is part of the reason why Pichet was given the Silpathorn Award by the Culture Ministry. However, his foreign exposure has been through his personal connections and, as in the case of many other Thai artists, our government has not had much of a supporting role. Actually, when Pichet performs overseas, people there know more about him than people here - and that's thanks in part to our media's arts and culture coverage, which centres more on mass entertainment.

Maybe it is time our Culture Ministry joined with the foreign affairs and the tourism and sports ministries to organise the aforementioned kind of "exposure" trips for foreign media, cultural attaches and arts organisers and presenters - to show them what they have not seen.

The advantage would probably be twofold. First, names like Patravadi Theatre, Dreambox, Scenario, Makhampom, Crescent Moon, B-Floor, NUNi and Kor Phai - rather than only the National Theatre and the Thailand Cultural Centre, both of which are less prolific anyway - would be added to Bangkok guidebooks and tourist websites. These "unseen Thailand" arts events could be further supported by the Culture Ministry's long overdue website and/or monthly English-language publications that could provide complete contact information for arts troupes and list all ongoing arts and cultural events in the country.

Second, international arts organisers and presenters would have more to choose from - in accordance with budget and characteristics of centres and festivals - the next time they think about inviting a performing arts troupe from Thailand.

If this new cultural, diplomatic and economic plan is realised - which, given the track record, I seriously doubt - the next time I meet foreign artists and journalists, they will ask me, "What's Manop Meejamrat working on now?" instead of "Where's Thaksin?" or "What's the next move of the red shirts?"

It seems that we have great cultural resources in both the traditional and contemporary sphere. We just do not know how to manage them - yet.