Performance of Local Leadership Roles in the Thailand 4.0 Era in Khao Kho District of Phetchabun Province

Abstract

            This current quantitative research aimed to 1) discover the general conditions of the local leaders of the sub-district administrative organizations and sub-district municipality in Khao Kho district of Phetchabun province and 2) examine the local leaders’ opinions toward the efficiency of local leadership roles in the Thailand 4.0 Era in Khao Kho district of Phetchabun province. The population used for the research was 144 council members of 4 sub-district administrative organizations and 1 sub-district municipality undertaking 72 villages in Khao Kho district of Phetchabun province. In addition to sampling, the purposive method was applied by selecting at least one council member of the sub-district administrative organizations and the sub-district municipality from each village; as a result, the sample size is 100 people, or two-thirds of the total population. The instrument created to collect data was a 5-points scale questionnaire; then, the collected data was analyzed through descriptive statistics which were frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation. The results showed that the majority of the 100 respondents were male (59%), were in a range of 41-50 years old (60%), graduated from lower secondary school (43%), worked as local political officials (65%), earned a monthly income of 10,001-15,000 baht (64%), and performed the duty as local leaders in Khao Kho Sub-district Administrative Organization (34%); meanwhile, the overall level of the performance of local leadership roles in the Thailand 4.0 Era in Khao Kho District of Phetchabun Province was highest (= 4.53, S.D.= .17). The local leaders in Thailand's 4.0 era must use leadership in management to suit the nature of the organization and the problems that arise in the local area, as well as apply good governance principles to instill values in the leaders.