GUIDELINES FOR MANAGEMENT OF COMMUNITY CAPITAL CONSISTENT WITH THE 20-YEAR NATIONAL STRATEGY AT BUENG CHAM-O SUB-DISTRICT, NONG SUEA DISTRICT, PATHUM THANI PROVINCE

Abstract

The purposes of this research were (1) to study the community context, (2) to analyze the community capital, (3) to analyze the competitive ability of the community, and (4) to propose guidelines for management of community capital consistent with the 20-year National Strategy of Thailand. This study was a qualitative research using the community participation-based research process.  Research data were collected through in-depth interviews, focus Group discussions, and related document studies.  The study area was the Bueng Cham-O sub-district, Nong Suea district, Pathum Thani province, consisted of 12 villages. The purposively selected key informants totaling 43 persons included a sub-district headman, village headmen and committees of Village No. 1 – Village No. 12, the President of Bueng Cham-O Sub-district Administrative Organization, the community development officers in the area, the District Agricultural Officer, and local wisdom persons with at least five years of experience. The research tools consisted of interview forms, survey forms, a form containing focus group discussion issues, and a voice recorder. The researchers had verified data by using the data triangulation procedure. The research data were analyzed with the content interpretation based on the interpretative theory of the community capital and the analysis of main competitive ability. The research findings showed that (1) the original settlers of this community were Mon descent immigrants who had settled in this area since 1659; the area included 12 villages under jurisdiction of Nong Suea district, Pathum Thani province; the terrain was a lowland plain; the climate was generally hot and humid typical of Central Region of Thailand; the population based on the 2019 population consensus comprised 9,134 people divided into 4,523 men and 4,611 women, with the total number of 2,549 households; regarding the infrastructure, there were two main rural highways, i.e. No. 4001 and No. 3045, and some rural roads connecting among villages; as for the economy, most of the people earned their living by being hired laborers, farmers, and doing other jobs, respectively; in terms of society, they formed into occupation groups, community enterprises, with established community welfare funds; their important traditions were the candle parade in Buddhist Lent festival, Loi Krathong festival, and Songkran festival; (2) the results of by-aspect analysis of community capital showed that the human capital of the community comprised local wisdom on bamboo handicraft, herbal medicine, voluntary soil doctor, and community leader who was a prototype on creating fruit orchards with water storage canals; the social capital of the community was the existence of professional groups, community enterprises, savings groups, Queen Sirikit village fund, health insurance fund, and cremation assistance group; and the tangible cultural capital of the community comprised three Buddhist temples, i.e. Sukpuntharikaram Temple or Wat Cham-0, Srikhakkhanang Temple or Wat Hua Chang, and Sorndee Sricharoen Temple; and the important sacred objects, i.e. the imitated Phra Buddha Chinnarat Image and Phra Sri Ariyamettrai (Wat Sukpuntharikaram), Luang Pho Daeng (Wat Si Khakkhanang), and the Mara Vijaya posture Buddha image and Phra Sri Ariyamettrai. (Sorndee Sricharoen Temple); the intangible cultural capital comprised the Mon dresses culture, food culture, the Poeng Songkran Khao Chae tradition, the Saba playing tradition on Songkran Day, and the burning of biceps for cremation at the crematorium; (3) regarding the analysis of important competitive ability of Bueng Cham-O Community, it was found that an internal environment factor having a competitive advantage was the production factor, which consisted of human capital, social capital, and cultural capital, while the positive external environment factors were the industry concerning and supporting agriculture; and (4) regarding the guidelines for management of community capital consistent with the 20-year National Strategy of Thailand, it was proposed that the management should start from the development of human capital of the community; the human capital with the increased ability and skills would lead to the having of potential social capital that could manage the local cultural capital with the emphasis on added value and the creation of economic value for the community until it could become self-reliance to support the  development of Thailand towards security, prosperity and sustainability.  As such, being a strong community is an important factor in the supports of the effective and efficient implementation of the national development policy consistent with the aims of the 20-year National Strategy of Thailand.