Duangporn Wongpaibool. A study of community enterprise at Ban-Khlong-Luang Amphaeng sub-district Ban-Phaeo district Samutsakhon province. Master's Degree(Rural Development Studies). Mahidol University. : Mahidol University, 2006.
A study of community enterprise at Ban-Khlong-Luang Amphaeng sub-district Ban-Phaeo district Samutsakhon province
Abstract:
Community Enterprises (CE) are organized project groups at the grassroots level
supported by the government community development policy aimed at fostering selfsufficiency
for Thai rural communities.
This field research comprises five objectives as follows: 1) To study the background,
formation and development of Ban-Khlong-Luang Community Enterprise; 2) To study the
said CEs organizational structure and the patterns of its operation; 3) To study the patterns of
local community participation in the activities of the said community enterprise; 4) To
investigate the factors affecting the operation of Ban-Khlong-Luang Community Enterprise;
5) To investigate the operational problems and limitations of the said community enterprise.
Data were collected by participant and non-participant field observations, field notes
and recordings compiled into detailed written accounts, in-depth interviews, with the
researcher as participant, and an exhaustive review of documentary literature on Ban-Khlong-
Luang Community Enterprise. The sample groups were purposively selected from the
members of Ban-Khlong-Luang Community Enterprise as well as members of the board of
directors local village headmen and local government officials involved with Ban-Khlong-
Luang Community Enterprise. The data were presented through detailed descriptive
accounts, analysis and interpretation, by the researcher.
The study found that: 1) Ban-Khlong-Luang Savings Group for Production Credit
was founded in 1988 as the first community enterprise in Ban-Khlong-Luang Village;
2) There were two categories of patterns of operation namely, The Area Networking and The
Activities Networking; 3) The process of Community participation consisted of five steps,
Conception, Planning, Implementation, Benefit Sharing, and Evaluation; 4) There were
various factors affecting the operation of Ban-Khlong-Luang Community Enterprise, such as,
community leadership, familiarity, self-reliance, self-discipline; 5) The problems and
Limitations of Ban-Khlong-Luang Community Enterprise are the lack of young generation
leadership and workers to continue their work, and the government community enterprise
policy is not clear so that it is difficult to work.
The study concluded that the following factors had been influential on the operation
of Ban-Khlong-Luang Savings Group for Production Credit: 1) The Ban-Khlong-Luang
Community Enterprise provided a learning process for its members; 2) Group members
participated voluntarily in the activities of the enterprise; 3) The leadership of the enterprise
was both knowledgeable about and committed to the needs of the Ban-Khlong-Luang
Community.
The study made the following recommendations: 1) Policy objectives ought to be
consistent with community needs; 2) Community action ought to be conceived at grassroots
level; 3) Community enterprise ought to be regarded as a process rather than an end in itself.