Thai Canal 9A : Socio-Culture Impact Studies, Case Study of Trang Province

Abstract

The objectives of this research were 1) to study the problems leading to the causes of social impacts on the implementation of the Thai Canal 9A project; 2) to study the impacts on society, culture and way of life due to the excavation of the Thai Canal 9A, a case study in Trang province. This study was conducted using the qualitative research methodology from relevant documents and in-depth interviews with eleven key informants selected with purposive sampling consisting of three academics, six civil servants in the area, a former civil servant and a person from tourism business via focus groups held twice and concluded using descriptive analysis.The results revealed that with reference to the problems contributing to the cause of social impacts on the Thai Canal 9A project, there were five phenomena consisting of PM 2.5 caused by the construction of the project; the impacts of geographic changes caused by the construction of deep water port and the excavation of the Thai Canal; the excavation of the Thai Canal across the Trang River; waste of agricultural land owing to the excavation of the Thai Canal 9A; and noise exceeding the level of noise standards caused by digging the Thai Canal by using bombs and large machinery.  Moreover, according to the impacts on society, culture and way of life due to the excavation of the Thai Canal 9A, a case study in Trang province, the results showed that there were two aspects consisting of cultural impacts and impacts on the way of life.