SOCIAL CAPITAL AND COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION CASE STUDY: COMMUNITY-BASED TOURISM AT PHA MON VILLAGE, DOI INTHANON NATIONAL PARK, CHIANG MAI PROVINCE

Abstract

          The purposes of this research were to study the level of social capital and community participation at Pha Mon village for proposing the recommendations of community-based tourism management. The methods of collecting data were focus group and in-depth interview from 15 community-based tourism committees and key figures in the community-based tourism development. Keeping formal writing and electronic records were used to collect data. Data collected between October and November 2016 were analyzed using thematic and content analysis.
          The results indicated that the level of social capital in Pha Mon village was at the high level (social and economic well-being from tourism development). The local community has a good relationship with related organizations, and ready to develop its own tourism. The level of community participation was at the partnership level, meaning that the local community and authorities were working as the collaborative planner and committee to achieve goals together. The recommendations for tourism development concern 1) emphasizing on knowledge transfer regarding local wisdoms to the young successor committees group and 2) creating cooperative networks with the neighboring villages around Doi Inthanon national park for preventing the negative impacts from tourists.