THE DEVELOPMENT OF PARTICIPATORY VOLUNTEER TOURISM OF BAN PAMAK KAREN VILLAGE (PGA K’NYAU) IN PRACHUAP KHIRI KHAN PROVINCE

Abstract

The objectives of this research are to 1) Study the local context of Ban Pamak Village and the context of culture, tradition, and the way of lives of Karen tribe (Pga K’nyau) in Prachuap Kiri Khan Province 2) Study the factors that have influence on decision making of participatory volunteer tourists in the local areas of Ban Pamak Village in Prachuap Kiri Khan Province 3) Study The Development of Participatory Volunteer Tourism of Ban Pamak Karen Village (Pga K’nyau) in Prachuap Khiri Khan Province. This study is a mixed method research that uses 6 concepts chosen by the author, composing of the concept of tourism and tourism factors, voluntary tourism, integration and participation, the concept of travelling decision, theory and concept of identity maintenance, and theory and concept of cultural restoration as the research framework. In the meantime, research area was Ban Pamak Village in Prachuap Kiri Khan Province; additionally, the samples and Key Informants were 15 individuals who get involved with developing participatory volunteer tourism in Prachuap Kiri Khan Province. Meanwhile, Respondents volunteers test the tourism community volunteers Ban Pamak Village 38 people. Furthermore, three research tools composed of 1) a form of checklist on tourism resource in the tourism areas 2) structural interview 3) interview for analyzing data via quantitative research by using fundamental statistics whereas qualitative research depended on content analysis, followed by descriptive writing. According to research results, it was found that local context of Ban Pamak has natural environment, cultures, activities, and accessibility at good level. In addition, it was revealed that the factors that have influence on decision making of the tourists are the factor of willingness to share personal knowledge and assist others (31) 22.14 percent, while three of the most interesting activities to the tourists pay in descending orders are distributing items and contributing clothes to others at 36.38 percent, followed by treating children with foods at 18.18 percent. Accordingly, the research would like to propose development guidelines as follow: 1) The guideline for developing local identity to build attraction to convince the tourists to travel in the target destination 2)The guideline for developing physical infrastructure to give convenience to the volunteer tourists 3) The guideline for developing potential to accommodate volunteer tourists in the local community 4) The guideline for providing knowledge and understanding to local community in term of the difference in cultures and languages while maintaining identity and specific traditions of local community 5) The guideline for developing participatory volunteer tourism activities by making it diversified and virtually beneficial to the participatory tourists and community 6) The guideline for promoting public relation to local areas and activities in tourism sites at Ban Pamak Village, contributing to the international volunteers at global level 7) The guideline for promoting social activities of relevant agencies and organizations (CSR) to volunteer tourism.