THE PEOPLE’S PARTICIPATION IN URBAN ENVIRONMENTAL REHABILITATION IN CHUM PHAE MUNICIPALITY, CHUM PHAE DISTRICT, KHON KAEN PROVINCE

Abstract

The purposes of this research were: 1) to study the level of people's participation in urban environmental rehabilitation in Chum Phae Municipality; 2) to compare people's participation in urban environmental rehabilitation in Chum Phae Municipality; 3) to propose people's guidelines for rehabilitating the urban environment in Chum Phae Municipality according to the Seven Aparihāniyadhamma. This study was carried out by means of mixed-method research. The sample group consisted of 395 people and 10 key informants. The tools used for data collection were a questionnaire and an interview form. The statistics used in data analysis were: frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, t-test, and F-test. The research results were as follows: 1) The overall level of people's participation in urban environmental rehabilitation in Chum Phae Municipality, Chum Phae District, Khon Kaen Province was at the moderate level  (3.19). The highest mean was seen in the aspect of residential maintenance, followed by conservation of nature and the environment, improving the efficiency of the waste collection system, and encouraging people to participate in solving waste problems (3.44, 3.26, 3.06, and 2.89 respectively). 2) The comparative results of people's participation in urban environmental rehabilitation in Chum Phae Municipality suggested that people with different sex, age, education level, occupation, and monthly incomes participated in improving the urban environment in Chum Phae Municipality, differently at the statistical significance level of 0.05. 3) The people's guidelines for rehabilitating the urban environment in Chum Phae Municipality according to the Seven Aparihāniyadhamma were that (1) people should have consultations to solve problems and be able to exchange ideas with each other; (2) they should carry out assigned tasks according to the resolutions of the meeting in unison; (3) they should establish community criteria to achieve equality with the people; (4) they should respect and honor superiors; (5) they should allow women to have equal roles in administration; (6) they should promote and preserve a good culture and tradition to be stable and enduring; (7) they should promote Buddhism and moral people who are successors of Buddhism by offering four requisites.