Foundation of Founding, Structure, Traits, Operational System and Working role of Existing Community Councils in Thailand

Abstract

The qualitative study aimed to investigate foundation of founding, structure, traits, operational system and working role of existing community councils in Thailand. Data were collected through documentary review and in-dept interview conducted with 15 key informants. Obtained data were analyzed by using content analysis for making principled conclusion.
Results of the study revealed that: The foundation of founding arised from the concept of togetherness leading to a central area of consultation creating. The community council structure was divided based on the following criteria: 1) working link i.e. simple structured community council and complex one; 2) a level of working link i.e. the village level leading to the sub-district one and the sub-district level leading to the national one. The community council trait was divided based on the following criteria: founding trait i.e. formal and informal community council; community trait structured, non-structured and semi-structured community councils. The management based on diversity of the community council comprising the following: 1) operational planning; 2) rules and regulations; 3) communication within the community council; 4) learning skill development of the community leaders and members; 5) administration that facilitates the operation of the community council; and 6) operational control of the community council. Working role of the community council consisting of the following: 1) being a consultation area; 2) coordination; 3) proposing solutions for joint management; 4) data dissemination for creating knowledge and understanding about the community council operation; 5) strengthening the community organization; 6) creating ruler and agreements to work together; and 7) creating cooperation in management, care, and sustainable utilization of community resources.