The People’s Satisfaction with The Sangha Community in Pak Nam Sub-District, Mueang District, Samut Prakan Province in Epidemic of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19)

Abstract

This academic article was a part of thesis entitled ‘The People’s Satisfaction with The Sangha Community in Pak Nam Sub-District, Mueang District, Samut Prakan Province in Epidemic of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19)’ contains 3 objectives; (1) to study the satisfaction of the people towards the Sangha in Pak Nam sub-district, (2) to compare the level of people’s satisfaction towards the Sangha in alleviating the suffering of people in Pak Nam sub-district, and (3) to study the suggestion of people in Pak Nam sub-district, Mueang district, Samut Prakan regarding to the situation of coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic. This research was quantitative type. The results of the investigation revealed that in the current epidemic coronavirus (COVID-19), many people in Pak Nam sub-district, Mueang Samut Prakan district, has been affected in terms of economy, occupation, unemployment, tourism, agricultural sector, health problems, so people are in poverty condition, reflecting the increasing severity of social problems. Sangha plays an important role as spiritual leaders in alleviating pains through counseling and reliving physical pains. The Bhikkhus in Pak Nam sub-district provided compassionate helps by distributing basic needed things for life, and visits those who are in trouble such as the elderly, bedridden patient and disabled. Attitudes of the people in Pak Nam sub-district, Mueang district, Samut Prakan during the coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic revealed that Sangha are physical and mental shelter when their commune are in troubles. The compassionate Sangha as a community refuge helped the helpless people by distributing the basic life needs such as meal boxes, dried food, drinking water, cloths, soaps, toothpaste, cleaning products, pampers, masks, bedding, money, medicines to relieve suffering, so Sangha performed both physical and mental charity for the residents. For comparing the level of people’s satisfaction towards the Sangha alleviating the people’s suffering in Pak Nam sub-district, an analysis of differences between variables classified by gender, age, occupation and income, shown that it was in a high level of satisfaction. There found no statistically significant difference at 0.05, hence it could be concluded that the temple and Sangha were recognized as the faithful centers for those who were in troubles, and a pubic unit for various philanthropic activities, so temples appear as the part of the community.