Managing Community Sports and Recreation in Local Administrative Organizations in Thailand

Abstract

The objectives of this research are 1) to analyze administration context and problems in subdistrict administrative organization (SAO) pertaining to community sports and recreation management; 2) to analyze behavioral context and needs to receive sports and recreation services in a community; and 3) to propose guidelines to improve the management of a community sports and recreation in local administrative organizations (LAO) in Thailand. The research was conducted by mixed methods using both qualitative and quantitative methods. The qualitative data was collected through in-depth interview with 20 key informants who are the stakeholders in the community from 4 regions of Thailand. The qualitative data was analyzed by content analysis method. The quantitative data was collected through questionnaire from 906 samples who received sports and recreation services in their local communities. The qualitative data was analyzed by using frequency distribution, percentage, means and standard deviation. The result shows that LAO, especially for SAO, should devise these managerial approaches to improve community sports and recreation center i.e. 1) place an emphasis on community sports and recreation which reflects vision of executives and results in effective resources management for local sports and recreation; 2) apply marketing mix concept concerning demand in sports and recreation services; 3) develop management processes comprising planning, organizing, leading, controlling and evaluating; 4) treat output as indicators for organizing health and well-being activities for better quality of life of people in the community, enhancing inclusive services and creating good governance; and 5) analyze the context of national policy and national strategy concerning community sports and recreation, socio-cultural aspect, technology, economy and local politics.