Abstract:
This qualitative research aims to explore the building and exercising of the financial power of Phra-Sri-AriyaTemple financial community. Studies were performed through field research during the period from January to December, 2012. The research results revealed that the building of local peoples financial power was influenced by the efforts of the community leaders in an effort to solve debt and land selling problems. The problems, however, were mitigated by the charisma of and faith towards the Venerable Phrakru Withitphattanasoph abbot of the Phra-Sri-Ariya Temple, the cultural center of the community. The fieldwork focused on the local community financial group established by Phra Subin Paneeto from Trat province as a basis for the implementation and management of the village funds. Eventually, the financial group became stronger so that it was able to set up a financial institute, welfare fund, and virtue fund, which were the main driving forces of the functionality of the communitys financial group. With regard to the exercising of financial power by the people, the results suggest that the community exercised power by setting up rules and measures based on the community culture through the good governance that was transparent, accountable, ethical, and moral, which represented the identity of the community. It was also found that if the government sector could distribute the financial administrative power to the community and provide the communities with regulations to establish a clear organization of financial structure, so that the communities would be able to exercise its own financial power for effectively solving problems.