PUBLIC WELFARE MANAGEMENT MODEL OF PHRAMETHEEWATCHARAPRACHATHORN (PRAYOON NANTHIYO), WAT INTHARAM, SAMUT SONGKHRAM PROVINCE

Abstract

Objectives of this research article were: 1. to study public welfare works, 2. to examine the management processes of public welfare activities, and 3. to present a model for managing public welfare activities. The study was conducted by qualitative research through in-depth interviewing 25 key informants. Data were analyzed descriptively and interpretively.

The research findings revealed that: 1. Public welfare works covered four areas: 1. assistance and mutual support, including setting up field kitchens, offering communal food, providing health services, establishing community funds, and conducting environmental conservation activities. 2. support for public affairs, such as setting up legal advisory centers, reviving cultural traditions, organizing floating markets, and developing local organizations. 3. care of public property, including mangrove and canal restoration, infrastructure development, and the creation of health-promoting public spaces; and 4. assistance for the general public, including disaster relief, caring for vulnerable groups, promoting occupations, and providing public health services. Wat Intharam has thus become a prototype of a community welfare state that integrated Buddhist principles with sustainable development. 2. The management process combined the 4M’s (manpower, money, materials, and management) with the Four Bhavana; physical, moral, mental, and intellectual development. This process instilled public consciousness, ensured transparent budgeting, maximized resource utilization, and applied planning and monitoring with good governance, while promoting physical development through public activities, moral development through training and role modeling, mental development through mindfulness, concentration, and loving-kindness meditation, and intellectual development through analytical thinking and applying Dhamma to problem-solving. 3. The management model was an integration of Buddhist principles with modern management, covering all four areas of public welfare work by employing the 4M’s alongside the Four Bhavana. This produced a clear structure that was transparent, participatory, and sustainable, distinguished by practical implementation, collaboration across all sectors, and moral-driven operations, ultimately becoming a prototype model for nationwide application.