Development of Local Wisdom Utilization Procedure for Economic Security of Communities in Rural Areas of Chiang Rai Province.

Abstract

     The objectives of this study were: to investigate local wisdom utilization for economic security of communities in rural areas of Chiang Rai Province; to study the procedure in utilizing local wisdom for economic security of communities with the best practice in rural areas of Chiang Rai Province; to develop the procedure in utilizing local wisdom for economic security of communities in rural areas of Chiang Rai Province; and to examine the procedure in utilizing local wisdom for economic security of communities in rural areas of Chiang Rai Province.

     The study was qualitative analysis based on questionnaire which was administered to collect the data from 400 community leaders, leaders and members of career group, and local wisdom experts by multi-stage random sampling technique covering every district in Chiang Rai Province; its data was analyzed using percentage, mean, and standard deviation. Field work was performed in order to collect the data from three communities in utilizing local wisdom procedure for economic security of communities, and the best practice in rural areas of Chiang Rai Province. Purposive selection was applied to identify 8-10 key informants per each community for in-depth interview. The data was analyzed by using topological analysis. In addition, 15 experts were purposively selected for the focus group discussion to formulate the procedure in utilizing local wisdom for economic security of communities in rural areas in Chiang Rai Province; its data was analyzed using content analysis. Last but not least, the 12 scholars were purposively selected for examining the local wisdom utilization procedure for economic security of communities in rural areas of Chiang Rai Province; its data was analyzed using mean and standard deviation. The findings were as follows.

     Regarding the local wisdom utilization for economic security of communities in rural areas of Chiang Rai Province, the findings indicated that utilizing local wisdom for economic security of communities were found at the moderate level. For the procedure in utilizing local wisdom for economic security of communities with the best practice in rural areas of Chiang Rai Province, the results revealed that three communities under investigation illustrated the local wisdom utilization procedure for community economic security. The procedure started from investigating the problems in the community and examining local wisdom and resources in the communities which aimed to assemble the career development group and ways to generate income; to operate the assembled group by setting up the career development group that hold the same purposes and goals; designate group administration structure; to design action plan and designate mutual agreements for operation; to manage assembled group; to raise manufacturing capital; to allocate tools and equipment; to manage manufacturing, distribution, public relations, knowledge exchange, and networking; to equally share the benefits based on agreement among the members; and to monitor evaluation process for consistent improvement and development. For the development of local wisdom utilization procedure for economic security of communities in rural areas of Chiang Rai Province, the findings showed that the procedure involved six processes: 1) Group Initiation; 2) Group Operation; 3) Group Management; 4) Benefits Sharing; 5) Group Strengthening, Wealth Building, and Sustainability; and 6) Monitoring and Evaluation. Regarding evaluation of local wisdom utilization procedure for economic security of communities in rural areas of Chiang Rai Province, the findings indicated that all processes in the local wisdom utilization procedure were appropriate, feasible, and beneficial at the highest level.