Community Participation in Conservation and Traditional Inheritance of Lak Phra Tang Num in Wat Pattasema Thadee Subdistrict, Lansaka District, Nakhon Si Thammarat Province

Abstract

This research aimed to study community participation in the conservation and traditional inheritance of the Lak Phra Tang Nam (pulling a religious boat along the waterway) tradition at Patthasema Temple, Thadee Subdistrict, Lansaka District, Nakhon Si Thammarat Province, the problems and obstacles of community participation, and guidelines for promoting the community participation. This mixed-method research collected data from 381 people; and for the qualitative target group, data were gathered from 40 people. The research tools used were a questionnaire, interview, document analysis form, participation and non-participation observation. Data were analyzed using frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, and content analysis. The research showed that: 1) overall, community participation in the conservation and traditional inheritance of the Lak Phra Tang Nam tradition at Patthasema Temple was at an average level. The aspect with the highest level of participation was Participation in Receiving Benefits, followed by Participation in Operation, Participation in Thinking and Making Decisions, and Participation in Monitoring and Evaluating. 2) Problems and obstacles of community participation in conservation and traditional inheritance of Lak Phra Tang Nam found in this research were that it lacked the network to join in organizing the activities, it needed a lot of budget to organize the activities, most religious boat building artisans were elderly, there was no agency to collect the knowledge, it lacked the public relations for the traditional information, the new generation was less involved in the tradition, unity and harmony should be built in the community, and participation in receiving the benefits was not equal. 3) Guidelines for promoting the community participation in conservation and traditional inheritance of Lak Phra Tang Nam were as follows: awareness should be built among people in the community to realize the importance of this tradition, it should promote and create a cooperation network from all sectors, the network in organizing the activities should be increased and the budget should be contributed, the activities in communicating the knowledge of making religious boat should be organized, local curriculum about Lak Phra Tang Nam tradition must be created, and there should be the monitor and evaluation of this tradition.