CULTURAL CAPITAL AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE COMMUNITY THROUGH THE AGES: A CASE STUDY OF WAT THA KHANUN MORAL COMMUNITY, THONG PHAPHUM SUBDISTRICT, THONG PHAPHUM DISTRICT, KANCHANABURI PROVINCE

Abstract

The objectives of this research were 1) to synthesize the cultural capital of Tha Khanun Community, and 2) to identify the characteristics of the inherited cultural capital of Tha Khanun Community, Thong Pha Phum Subdistrict, Kanchanaburi Province, through the ages using applied historical research method. This qualitative research used a purposive sampling method to select a sample group. The key informants were 1) community leaders, 2) community member representatives, and 3) government organizations. The research instruments used were semi-structured in-depth interviews, participant observations and non-participant observations, and focus group discussions. The data were analyzed using content analysis and an overall summary. The study found that Wat Tha Khanun Moral Community consists of 3 communities: 1) Phatthana Thong Phaphum Community, 2) Rim Fang Khuae Noi Community, and 3) Wang Tha Khanun Community, with Wat Tha Khanun as the center of the communities. Evidence was found that this community has existed since historical times. The cultural capital in this community comprises 1) embodied cultural capital, 2) objectified cultural capital, and 3) institutionalized cultural capital. The Tha Khanun communities have utilized cultural capital to create economic and social value with natural resources and the environment in the communities. All these components of cultural capital are changing in the direction of focusing on using value to drive the community into the future. The inherited cultural capital of the community has changed with the community’s socioeconomic and political context. This has resulted in changes in some parts of the cultural capital in the context of the new generation. However, the world views and cultural paradigms of the older generations still preserve Tha Khanun community’s outstanding self-identities remarkably and remain as cultural capital that forms the foundation that enhances the value, power, and happiness of the evolving Tha Khanun Moral Community.