COMMUNICATION MANAGEMENT OF PROVINCIAL ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANIZATION FOR ENHANCING LOCAL FESTIVALS IN NORTHERN THAILAND TO NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL LEVELS

Abstract

This research aims to: 1) Policy communication, 2) The communication management process, and 3) Policy recommendations for the communication management of Provincial Administrative Organizations for enhancing local festivals to national and international levels. Employing a concurrent parallel mixed-methods design, the study integrates qualitative and quantitative approaches. The qualitative component involved in-depth interviews and focus groups with a semi-structured protocol to collect data from 44 key informants across 6 groups, including PAO policymakers and communication practitioners, key partner organizations, communication experts, media professionals, and the audience, with data analyzed through summary creation. The quantitative component utilized a survey with a questionnaire to gather data from 400 residents in four provinces: Lamphun, Nan, Phayao, and Mae Hong Son, with data analyzed using descriptive statistics. The findings revealed that policy communication, analyzed based on communication components, consists of senders team, comprising two parts: the Provincial Administrative Organizations and communication partner networks; message, which focuses on creating accurate, complete, and consistent content for public dissemination; channels, encompassing traditional, online, and interpersonal media; audience, targeting local residents, tourists, and partner organizations; and expected outcomes, which include stimulating the economy and tourism, building identity and pride, preserving and inheriting culture, and achieving international recognition. Furthermore, the communication management process involves 4 steps include: studying the communication problems and needs of the public, planning communication strategies that address communication gaps, implementing communication actions, and evaluating effectiveness by gathering feedback from all audiences and partner networks.