Urban environmental assessment and social impact assessment of tourism development policy: Thailand's Ayutthaya Historical Park

•Social and environmental impacts at Thailand's Ayutthaya Historical Park are studied.•The sample comprises 193 households from a total of 529 households.•Top-down policies benefit the State, but not local residents.•Failures of leadership account for this situation.

This research reports the results of research using an urban environmental assessment (UEA) and a social impact assessment (SIA) of tourism policies in Thailand's Ayutthaya Historical Park. The data were collected from a sample of 193 households from a total of 529 households dwelling inside a 1-km radius of the ancient city. While creating revenues for the State, the top-down approach is failing to contribute to the economic well-being of local residents. One reason is the lack of local festive activities and the prohibition of locals from active commercial participation. These deficiencies arise from a lack of leadership and cohesion in the community. To tackle these issues, policy recommendations are made at the individual, community, provincial and national levels.