PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT IN BANG KAO SUBDISTRICT MUNICIPALITY, CHA-AM DISTRICT, PHETCHABURI PROVINCE

Abstract

This mixed-method research aimed to 1) study the level of public participation in community development of Bang Kao Subdistrict Municipality, Cha-Am District, Phetchaburi Province; 2) study the correlation between personal characteristics and public participation in community development;
3) study the relationship between factors affecting public participation and the community participation, and 4) study guidelines to promote public participation in community development. The quantitative research consisted of 370 residents living in Bang Kao Municipality. Data was collected through a questionnaire and was analyzed by using descriptive and Inferential Statistics methods, which were frequency percentage, mean, standard deviation, Chi-square test, and Multiple Regression Analysis. The qualitative research consisted of 13 key informants. Data was collected through in-depth interviews and was analyzed by using content analysis.

Findings: 1) the level of public participation in community development as a whole was at a high level, 2) the personal characteristics in terms of occupation had a correlation with public participation at the statistically significant level of 0.05,  3) there were casual relationships between factors affecting public participation in terms of benefits from participating, community binding, and community network strengths at the statistical significance of 0.001 and at the level of 0.05 for  the leadership influence, and 4) guidelines for promoting public participation in community development were revealed that the municipality should have policies and encourage people to participate in the preparation of community development plans, and provide more opportunities for the public to participate in evaluating the performance of work.