COMMUNITY ADAPTATION PROCESS FOR SURVIVAL IN TOURIST AREAS : CASE STUDY OF AMPHAWA COMMUNITY, AMPHAWA SUB-DISTRICT AMPHAWA DISTRICT, SAMUT SONGKHRAM PROVINCE

Abstract

The main objectives of this research were 1) to study the way of life, impacts and methods of community adaptation for survival in tourist areas: A case study of Amphawa community, Amphawa sub-district, Amphawa district, Samut Songkhram province, and
2) to study the process of community adaptation for survival in tourist areas: A case study of Amphawa Community, Amphawa Sub-district, Amphawa District, Samut Songkhram Province. The qualitative research method was carried out in this study. Key informants included experts, community leaders and people living in the Amphawa market community were interviewed for data collection. Content Analysis technique was used for data analysis.

The results of the study found that:

1. Ways of life, impacts and ways of adaptation of the community indicated that the recent changes of the Amphawa floating market In the past like a group of investors came to buy the business from almost all the people in the area. But it still was difficult to solve this problem. Because ordinary villagers would have no way to fight against capital groups. Money is the key to change. Because money is accepted by society as a medium of exchange and plays an important role in daily life. The economic system is good or not depends on the money circulation system in which all human beings must use money to buy and sell goods or services to meet the needs of survival within society.
2. Community adaptation process for survival in tourist areas: A case study of Amphawa Community, Amphawa Sub-district, Amphawa District, Samut Songkhram Province revealed that the benefit of the Amphawa community is that the community earns income from occupations directly related to community-based tourism, such as restaurant business, souvenir business, travel business, accommodation business, also indirectly distribute benefits to fishing and shrimp fishing, previously wholesale to middlemen, now changed to sell directly to tourists. Most of the income generated from the tourism of the Amphawa floating market often falls to business operators outside the area rather than business operators of people in the community. Because people in the community tend to run small businesses. It does not require a lot of money to invest together with a traditional way of life. It's a simple way of life. They don't like competition, lack of sufficient knowledge of the market. These make them become workers for investors.
3. There should provide training to educate mutual understanding in matter of travelling and allow the community to participate in the administration managed by taking into account the potential and needs of the community as important things like product, packaging, creating new products as in foreign countries or developed professional groups. There should be public relations, responsible agencies in the area should plan to encourage villagers to learn how to be self-reliant development, management and the Amphawa community may organize a conservation group or a survival counseling group in a tourist area by giving everyone an opportunity to come together to think, plan, express their opinions, decide what is best and the most accurate for the Amphawa community both now and in the future to be the foundation of a good tourist area today and in the future to be sustainable forever.