Debt Status: A Case Study of Non-Commissioned Officers in the Armed Forces Security Center, Royal Thai Armed Forces Headquarters

Abstract

          The objectives of this study are 1) to study personal factors affecting the debt status of non-commissioned officers (NCOs) in the Armed Forces Security Center (AFSC), Royal Thai Armed Forces (RTARF), 2) to study the relationship of economic factors affecting the debt status of NCOs in AFSC, RTARF, and 3) to study the relationship of consumer behaviors affecting the debt status of NCOs in AFSC, RTARF. The research uses questionnaire to collect data from a sample of 303 NCOs in AFSC, RTARF. The data are analyzed using descriptive statistics which are frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation to describe and summarize overall data. Analysis of variance (ANOVA t-Test, F-Test) is used to study the differences between independent variance and dependent variance. Multiple regression analysis is used for data analysis to find out and forecast the effect of the debt status of NCOs in AFSC, RTARF.

          The testing of hypotheses shows that personal factors such as age, years of service, ranks, accommodations, salary and spouse's income affect the debt status of NCOs in AFSC, RTARF. In predicting the relationship between economic factors and the debt status of NCOs in AFSC, RTARF, the results reveal that the type of debt affects the debt status of NCOs in AFSC, RTARF. According to the prediction of the relationship of consumer behaviors and the debt status of NCOs in AFSC, RTARF, it is found that consumption category and loan decisions affect the debt status of NCOs in AFSC, RTARF with the statistical significance level of 0.05.