The Evaluation of Highland Social Development Project According to the Royal Initiatives of Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn

Abstract

This study aims to evaluate the implementation of Highland Social Development Project According to the Royal Initiatives of Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn in the responsible area of Chiang Mai Highland People Development Center - located at Ban Pong Hai, Mae Sao Sub-district, Mae Ai District, Chiang Mai Province through the application of Stufflebeam's CIPP Model. This study is a mixed-method research. A sample of this research was selected from project staff, network and project participants. Inferential statistics and descriptive statistics were used for data analysis. Regarding the sample, the majority was female aged between 26 – 35 years old and most of them were married. The sample has differences in education levels. The overall project evaluation in 8 aspects of CIPP Model including context, input, process and product together with 4 subparts of product evaluation, namely impact, effectiveness, sustainability and transportability was at the high level. When analyzing 3 groups of the sample, it was found that the overall project evaluation by the project staff and project participants was at the high level while the overall project evaluation by the network was at the average level.

Recommendations were made to encourage all sectors to take part in thinking and decision process to develop capacity of target groups, promote private sector to be involved in the project in the form of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) or Social Enterprise (SE), promote income generation and occupation for target groups as well as enhance capacity of community leaders and members of the Committee of Social Welfare Promotion Center in Highland Community and network by providing them with proper knowledge and better understanding on social welfare and care for target groups. In addition, follow-up and evaluation of the project should be conducted appropriately in the context of the area and there should also be a forum to take lessons learned to be applied for the implementation of the project in a systematic way.