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Asian Journal of Agriculture and Development (AJAD) - Call for papers!

Participation of Tambon Council in Tambon Development Planning in Northeast Thailand

(Thailand), Doctor of Philosophy in Community Development (University of the Philippines Los Baños)

Abstract:

 

The study attempted to determine the level of partieipation of the Tam bon Council in Tam bon Development Planning (TOP) in Northeast Thailand. It also studied the relationships between selected factors such as sociodemographic, sociophysiological, organizational and community condition factors. and level of participation of the Tambon Council in TOP. The study also determined the problems encountered by Tambon Council members in their participation in TOP.

A total of 192 Tambon Council members served as respondents of the study. Data were gathered by a questionnaire and analyzed using measures of central tendency, chi-square test, Pearson Correlation Coefficient, multiple regression, F-test and Bonferroni test. All Tambon Council members were male and 47 years old, on the average. Most had reached primary education (pratom 1-6), were residing in the study area, and had been members of the Tam bon Council for about six years. The majority had frequent contact with the change agent and had attended training programs on participation in TDP. They were not members of organizations in the community. They had favorable attitude toward change agents and participation. but unfavorable toward Tam bon Council activities. Most had low aspirations for themselves and for the community.

The majority were members of the Tam bon Council. which had less than 25 members. They claimed that the quality of contribution of the national government to Tambon CounciI was poor, but they perceived as effective the quality of leadership of Tambon Council members. Most of the leaders in the Tambon Council had a democratic leadership style. The respondents said that the community condition was not a serious problem.

The participation level of Tambon Council members varied across the different stages of the planning process. Participation was high only in the plan preparation stage: it was low in the other stages, namely: plan formulation, review/presentation, submission, and in the overall process of planning. The Tambon headman showed significantly the highest level of participation in every stage of TDP, but there was no significant difference in level of participation in every stage of planning among village headman, knowledgeable person. and Tambon doctor.

The Tambon Council members' educational attainment, position held in the community, contact with change agents. and attendance in training programs were significantly related with the level of participation in every stage of TDP. Their attitude toward the Council's activities and participation. aspirations for themselves and for their community were also significantly related to the level of participation in every stage of TDP. Likewise. the quality of contribution of the national government to the Tambon Council was significantly related with the level of participation in every stage of TDP.

The variables that contributed to the level of participation of the Tambon Council in all processes of planning were attendance in training programs, aspiration for community, quality of contribution of national government, leadership style, and perception of community condition in terms of the resource situation. The problems frequently encountered by Tambon Council members were lack of budgetary support and limited time for planning.