COMMUNITY ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT TO ENHANCE THE LOCAL GRASSROOTS ECONOMY: A CASE STUDY OF NA MUEN SRI ANCIENT WOVEN FABRIC, TRANG PROVINCE

Abstract

This research aims to 1) analyze the level of community enterprise development,                2) develop and upgrade the grassroots economy, and 3) establish a network for community enterprise development to upgrade the grassroots economy. Na Muen Sri ancient woven fabric, Trang Province is a mixed - method research with contents in the areas of leadership and member participation, management, investment, production, marketing, and Buddhist community economic development. The researcher used the entire population of members of the Na Muen Sri ancient woven fabric community enterprise, totaling 131 people. Key informants included local leaders, community leaders, fabric experts, marketing scholars, and former senior members of the community enterprise, totaling 25 people. Data were collected through in-depth interviews and questionnaires. Data were analyzed using basic statistics, including percentages, means, and standard deviations. The research results found that 1) overall leadership development and member participation were at a high level, followed by marketing, investment, Buddhist community economic development, production, and management, respectively. 2) The guidelines for community enterprise development are to clearly define community enterprise standards, plan for sufficient reserve funds for group operations, establish networks to expand production and distribution bases, and constantly invent new methods for use in the production process. And there is continuous improvement in the quality of the products. Members of the group adhere to the principles of the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy. 3) Creating a development network. Able to create 6 networks: executives, weavers, distributors, academics, educational institutions, marketing academics, people doing business in OTOP community products and southern local woven cloth, training to provide knowledge to members.