Social participation of rural family heads in community activities in Maeramart Tak, Thailand
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Date
1988
Authors
Paakpoom Intawong
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Abstract
This study was conducted primarily to determine the nature and level of the rural family heads' social participation in community activities in Maeramart district, Tak province, lower northern part of Thailand.
A total of 126 sample family heads from four (4) sample tambons of Maeramart district was drawn using multi stage sampling procedure. Data were gathered using a structured interview schedule and were analyzed using descriptive statistics and the chi square test.
Results showed that the family heads were generally males, married and Buddhists. They had a mean age of 48.90 years with low educational attainments and have stayed in their respective villages for 40.31 years on the average. They had small families (x = 4.63) and their membership in organizations was low.
Their mean annual family income is 38,520.20 baht and are mostly farmers.
The highest percentage of respondents (73.81%) were members of organizations. Their nature of involvement was high, with a mean of three positions in community organizations.
Their level of participation in community activities was generally low, with 56.90% claiming to have never participated in either of the activities: identifying problems/needs of the community, program planning, implementation and evaluation.
Educational attainment, membership in organizations and occupation were found to be significantly related with nature of participation in community activities, implying that farmers who were more learned member of organization and were government officials tended to heve more positions in their respective organizations.
Level of participation in community activities was significantly related to age, length of residence and membership in social groups. This implies that family heads who were relatively old, have stayed in the village for some time, and are members of social groups generally have a higher level of participation in community activities. Age was likewise found to be related to level of participation in the implementation stage and length of residence was related to respondents' level of participation in evaluation.
Foremost among the problems mentioned by the farmers was that some people did not participate in the activities. To this, it was suggested that the people should be made aware of such activities, their objectives and schedules.