Communication Process to Promote Public Participation in Anti-Corruption of People in Muang Chiang Mai District

Abstract

This research was a mixed-method research. The objectives were to study the situation, condition, problems, and communication process in promoting participation in anti-corruption of people in Muang District, Chiang Mai Province. The result was synthesized into a body of knowledge and a guide book, which was assessed the standard as the last step. The population and data sample were 400 people in Mueang Chiang Mai District, which were randomly randomized (Accidental Sampling) from 16 sub-districts aged between 18-80 years with the validity of the sample size at +95% and the errors at +5. The three-part questionnaire was used to collect the data. The second data group was the content analysis presented in 2017 of Chiang Mai News, Thai News, Rob Wiang Chiang Mai radio program, WE TV news, and Chiang Mai Mai Kong radio program. The media content was selected with multi-stage randomization, while the data collection tool was coding sheets. The third data sample group was the interview of 21 people who were directors, editors and journalists from the local mass media, local independent media, a group of academics in mass media, law and social sciences, the leader of public sectors, the community leaders, and officers in the Chiang Mai Office of the National Anti-Corruption Commission (ONACC) and Office of Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC). The semi-structured interview was conducted as the data collection tools. The data were analyzed for frequency, percentage, and standard deviation.  The research results revealed that people in Mueang Chiang Mai District were the middle class with urban lifestyle with slight involvement with local and the lower classes which had a rural lifestyle. The middle-aged and older were groups that had highly engagement with communities. The media usage and participation behaviors of Mueang Chiang Mai District residents found that most of them use Facebook, LINE, and Instagram. They participated with liking and sharing through social media, only 10.5 percent of them had ever participated in the social movement.  The results of the anti-corruption participation found that local media did not attach importance to presenting corruption news for fear of harm, while some had mutual benefits with local politicians. For the anti-corruption agencies such as the NACC and PACC emphasis, it was placed on the corruption combat training of local civil servants and officials. By this, the guideline suggested that the communication process should be divided into two groups: the middle class should use online media to communicate, and the lower-class should apply meetings, community media, and affordable online media as the tool, while the community leaders were the mainstay of communication. The anti-corruption organizations must primarily support the formation of groups with budget, knowledge, and safety.  An important aspect of participation is the safety of members and whistleblowers including avoiding conflicts igniting in the community. The communication strategy must provide knowledge and consequences of corruption, the inequality that leads to corruption, protection laws, and safety.