Residents’ Participation in Local Developments of Tambon Namkham Municipality in Muang District, Si Sa Ket Province

Abstract

The purposes of this research were: 1) to study residents’ participation in local developments of Tambon Namkham Municipality in Muang district of Si Sa Ket province, 2) to compare their participations in its local development to variables of their genders, ages, educational levels and occupations, and 3) examine their suggestions for intensifying their participation in local developments of the above municipality. The sampling group employed for conducting the quantitative research comprised residents selected as village community representatives such as village headmen, municipality council members, village committees, the occupation group, the farming group, the housewife group, village volunteers, civil volunteers for disaster prevention and village residents, numbering 225 individuals by setting through Taro Yamane’s table. The tool used for the research was the five-rating scale questionnaire, in which each of questions had its reliability at 0.94. Statistical units utilized for data analyses embraced: frequency, mean, standard deviation, t-test and F-test (One-way ANOVA). In respect of conducting the qualitative research, it was an in-depth interview through key informants. The group of purposive selection was comprised of 15 members, which were: mayor, chief municipality clerk, deputy municipality clerk, headman chiefs, village headmen, occupation group representatives. The tool used for conducting the interview was the handout with semi-structured or guided interviews, one camera and one recorder.

            Results of the research have found the following findings: 1) Residents’ participation in local developments of Tambon Namkham Municipality in Muang district of Si Sa Ket province have been rated at the moderate scale in the overall aspect, as has each of four aspects taken into account. All aspects placed in the descending order of each mean are: participation in decision making, collaborative effort of thoughts, problems and requirements, operational, collaborative planning, collaborative follow-up and assessment respectively. 2) The hypothesis testing results have confirmed that variables of their genders, ages, educational levels and occupations show no significant differences in their participation in its local developments in both the overall aspect and each one, thereby being not conducive to the established research hypotheses. 3) Residents’ suggestions in the descending order of first three frequencies as guidelines on participating in local developments of the above municipality are that it should widely open up much more opportunities to residents to: i) scrutinize and assess the expenditures of the budget for local developments and various projects, ii) participate in following up local development plans and various projects on the successive basis, iii) take part in carrying out operations of local developments with planning committees for developing the municipality