Community Adaptation Using Social and Cultural Capital in Water Resource Management in the Upper Siew Yai River Basin

Abstract

This academic article aimed to study community adaptation using social and cultural capital in water resource management in the upper Siew Yai River Basin. Data were collected from documents and field data, interviews, and focus group discussions with 35 key informants. The results showed that the content of community adaptation using social and cultural capital in water resource management in the upper Siew Yai River Basin consisted of 6 aspects: 1) Social adaptation, which was social capital, included family capital and relative capital; 2) in terms of economic adaptation, it relied on the Siew Yai River Basin as a place for making a living, namely the agricultural and non-agricultural sectors; 3) in the aspect of Intellectual adaptation, it tuaght people to respect and rely on nature, to pay respect to the sacred and to the deceased ancestors; 4) in terms of belief adaptation, there was beliefs about mystical things in the Siew Yai River Basin, including tree spirits, ghosts, and the sacred area of ​​Don Pu Ta; 5) in terms of resource adaptation, there was clearly defined the areas for livelihood, i.e., no cutting down of trees and no catching of aquatic animals during spawning season; and 6) in terms of the ritual traditions adaptation,  for making villagers aware of the importance of taking care of the headwater forests and help take care of the natural resources in the forests, not cutting down trees, collecting forest products, and not hunting animals during the prohibited season in the upper Siew Yai River Basin had an impact on the lives of people in the society, including the way of life in managing water resources of communities in the upper Siew Yai River Basin, which reflected the relationship between people and nature, people and sacred things, and was the conservation of the Siew Yai River Basin for eternity.