Participation of Impoverished People in Community Financial Institutes in Sakaeo Province

Abstract

This research study concerning the participation of impoverished people in community financial institutes was conducted in Sakaeo province with the following objectives; 1) to examine individual, economic, and social factors as well as social capital of the impoverished members of community financial institutes in Sakaeo province, 2) to examine their levels of participation, and 3) to make a comparison of participation levels within the sampling of impoverished members of community financial institutes in Sakaeo province.

This qualitative research employed questionnaire inquiries as the main instrument to obtain data derived from a sample of 340 impoverished people in Sakaeo. Data analysis was conducted by an examination of the following statistics; frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, T-test, and F-test, with .05 level of significance. The results of this study can be concluded as follows;

                      (1) 51.5 % of impoverished members of the community financial institutes in Sakaeo were male, 38.8% aged 41 – 50 years old, 82.6% received primary education, 45.9% were freelancers, 34.7% were living in a family consisting of 5 people or more.

                      (2) 83.8% earned an average income of 1,501 – 2,000 baht per capita; in addition, 76.8% earned less than 4,000 baht per month, 88.5% had less than 35,000 baht monthly debt, 68.8% had not obtained title deeds to their land, 90.8% rented the land, and 85% did not possess the factors of production themselves.

                      (3) 60% belonged to occupational groups comprised of less than 50 members, 46.5% had lived in the community less than 10 years, 74.7% lived within 30 kilometers from the community financial institutes, 37.9% received information about the community financial institutes through other members.

                      (4) 70.6% appeared to often communicate with family members, e.g. between parents and children, 85% appeared to often communicate with groups of friends in the village, 73.8% complied with the rules and regulations of society, 55.9% had not tried networking, and 78.5% appeared to trust friends, family, and relatives

                      (5) The participation of impoverished people in community financial institutes was found to be at a low level ( x̄ = 1.02 and S.D. = 0.59). Regarding the mean of each aspect, the aspect with the lowest mean was participation in evaluating and following up, planning and organizing the activities, and in operation, respectively.

                      (6) Regarding the comparative study on levels of participation in community financial institutes of impoverished people in Sakaeo, it can be concluded as follows;

Individual factors: It was found that gender did not affect the level of participation while age affected the level of participation in every aspect. Different levels of education and different occupations affected the level of participation in the following aspects; investigating problems and reasons, activity planning, and operation. The individual factors concerning number of people in the family affected the level of participation in operation.

Economic factors: It was found that economic factors concerning average income per month and debt per capita affected the level of participation in every aspect whereas differences in land rental accounted for the level of participation in problem investigation, organization and planning and operation. In addition, ownership of factors of production were found to affect levels of participation in operation.

Social factors: The size of the group, duration of time living in the community, distance from home to community financial institute, and information reception were found to affect the level of participation in every aspect.

Social capital: It has been found that social capital factors concerning communication within the families, communication with friends in the villages, rule and regulation compliance, networking, trust between friends, family and relatives can affect levels of participation in every aspect.

It could be concluded that major factors accounting for levels of participation in community financial institutes of impoverished people in Sakaeo were comprised of four factors as follows;

• Individual factors including age, education, occupation, and number of people in family


• Economic factors including income, expenditure, debt, hire of property, and ownership of factors of production


• Social factors including size of the groups, duration of time living in the community, distance from home to community financial institute, and information reception


• Social capital including family bonds, communication and interaction within neighborhoods, good relationships, rule and regulation compliance, networking, trust in friends, family, and relatives, and reliability

The results also indicate that individual factors, economic factors, social factors and social capital have significantly influenced the participation of impoverished people in community financial institutes. It can be seen in the results that social capital allows impoverished people to access information concerning benefits they can get from the institute.