The Study and Development of a Community-Based Tourism Management Model Based on the Principles of the King’s Philosophy for Sustainability: A Case Study of Ban Muang Kham, Chiang Mai Province

Abstract

This study aimed to: 1) examine the potential and readiness of the internal (strengths/ weaknesses) and external (opportunities/ threats) environments of Ban Muang Khum community in relation to community-based tourism management; 2) investigate problems and obstacles affecting the development of Ban Muang Khum as a community-based tourism destination; and 3) propose sustainable models for community-based tourism development and management based on the Principles of the King’s Philosophy. A community-based participatory research approach was employed. The population consisted of two groups: Group 1 included 221 households in Ban Muang Khum, with data collected through unstructured interviews, both non-participant and participant observations, and in-depth interviews with 10 community leaders. Group 2 comprised 16 government and private sector personnel, from whom data were collected through focus group discussions. Additional methods included document review, interviews, observations, and focus groups. Data were analyzed using SWOT analysis and content analysis. The proposed models for sustainable community-based tourism development grounded in the Principles of the King’s Philosophy. were assessed for appropriateness and feasibility by experts, stakeholders, and community members, yielding mean scores of 4.50, 5.00, and 4.69 respectively.
The findings indicate that:
1. Ban Muang Khum community demonstrates strong capacity for community-based tourism development in terms of physical resources, tourism components, leadership, and human resource readiness for self-management. The community leverages its agricultural way of life to create agrotourism routes and advance community-based tourism development under the Principles of the King’s Philosophy, thereby strengthening participation and resilience, and receiving national recognition.
2. Internal challenges include limited cultural capital, partial lack of participation in tourism management, insufficient quality of local tourism information, discontinuity in online promotion, nascent service standardization, and a weak community-based tourism fund. External challenges involve competition from emerging tourist destinations in Mae Rim and Samoeng districts, along with cultural misunderstandings caused by the influx of outsiders.
3. The sustainable development and management of community-based tourism in Ban Muang Khum, grounded in the Principles of the King’s Philosophy, can be conceptualized into seven models: (a) community-based tourism, (b) homestay tourism, (c) educational tourism, (d) conservation tourism, (e) recreational and experiential tourism, (f) responsible tourism, and (g) business-oriented tourism.