Local Wisdom in the Suburban World:Reframing Cultural Heritage through Knowledge-Power Relations and the Community Learning Process in Plai Bang, Thailand

Abstract

Background and objective (s): Studies of cultural heritage and local wisdom in Thailand have largely conceptualized heritage as a static object defined through state-led development frameworks and expert-driven knowledge systems. Such approaches prioritize external standards of value, while positioning local communities as passive recipients of interpretation. Under rapid urban expansion, peri-urban areas have become critical interface zones where competing knowledge regimes and power relations intersect. Existing studies have paid limited attention to the epistemological processes through which communities actively negotiate, legitimize and reclaim authority over cultural meanings. Addressing this gap, this present study aimed to 1) analyze the dynamics of knowledge-power relations in defining cultural heritage in a peri-urban context; 2) examine the Community Learning Process (CLP) as an epistemological mechanism mediating these relations; and 3) assess the CLP’s theoretical contribution to epistemological sovereignty in contemporary Thai society.

Methodology: This qualitative study adopted a non-participatory action research framework combined with an in-depth case study approach. Fieldwork was conducted in Plai Bang Subdistrict, Nonthaburi Province, a peri-urban agricultural community undergoing intensive urban transition driven by infrastructural development, land-use change and metropolitan expansion. The site was selected for its analytical value as a space where state, market, expert and community-based knowledge regimes intersect. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews with seven key informants involved in community learning and cultural practices, non-participant observation of everyday cultural activities, and document analysis of local records, development plans and community-produced materials. Data analysis employed thematic analysis and critical interpretation informed by perspectives on knowledge-power relations and practice-based knowledge, enabling an examination of how knowledge is produced, authorized and mobilized within everyday practices.

Main result: The findings demonstrate that the definition of cultural heritage in Plai Bang is not merely an outcome of urban development or policy in tervention, but an ongoing pistemological process shaped by unequal knowledge-power relations. Dominant external frameworks associated with state agencies, expert authority and tourism-oriented development tend to marginalize practice-based local knowledge by prioritizing standardized criteria of value. Local wisdom is thus often rendered invisible or reduced to raw material for external interpretation. However, this study reveals that the CLP functions as a critical epistemological space through which community members collectively organize, legitimize and mobilize practice-based knowledge. Through participatory learning and everyday cultural activities, the CLP enables community members to challenge hierarchical knowledge structures and renegotiate cultural meanings. Rather than rejecting external knowledge outright, local actors selectively edit and recontextualize such knowledge in accordance with locally defined values. As a result, community members shift from objects of heritage definition to active agents capable of meaningfully defining their cultural heritage, reflecting the emergence of epistemological sovereignty at the level of practice.

Relevance to Thai Studies: This study contributes to Thai Studies by reframing cultural heritage from a static resource or developmental outcome to a dynamic pistemological process embedded in power relations, learning practices and everyday life, and contemporary forms of community-based cultural knowledge negotiation. By foregrounding communitybased knowledge production and authorization, the findings extend debates that have largely emphasized structural domination or policy outcomes and highlight peri-urban spaces as critical analytical sites for nderstanding contemporary struggles over knowledge and cultural meaning in Thai society.

Conclusion: The article argues that the CLP should be understood as an epistemological intervention enabling communities to attain epistemological sovereignty in defining their cultural heritage. Rather than idealizing community knowledge, this perspective emphasizes the negotiated nature of epistemological authority under conditions of urban transition. By focusing on knowledge production and power negotiation, rather than fixed cultural representations, the study advances theoretical debates in Thai Studies and offers an analytical framework applicable to other peri-urban contexts in Thailand.