Roles of Community Leaders in Community Development based on the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy : A Case of Sam Roi Yot District, Prachuap Khiri Khan Province

Abstract

The purposes of this study were to ; assess the roles of community leaders in Sam Roi Yot District, Prachuap Khiri Khan Province in community development based on the sufficiency economy philosophy ; compare the roles of the community leaders in community development based on the sufficiency economy philosophy by area in Sam Roi Yot District, Prachuap Khiri Khan Province, and ; investigate problems and offer suggestions on community development based on the sufficiency economy philosophy to enhance the roles of the community leaders in Sam Roi Yot District, Prachuap Khiri Khan Province. This study employed a quantitative design. Based on the Yamane’s formula and an accidental sampling, the sample included 387 household representatives from five subdistricts of Sam Roi Yot District, Prachuap Khiri Khan Province. Data were collected through questionnaires and statistically analyzed using frequency, percentage, standard deviation, and F-test. Results revealed that ; the overall roles of community leaders in community development based on the sufficiency economy philosophy in Sam Roi Yot District, Prachuap Khiri Khan Province, was high level average at 3.09 ; the roles of the community leaders in community development based on the sufficiency economy philosophy by area in five subdistricts in Sam Roi Yot District were generally and dimensionally in different according to the F-test, where as Salalai Subdistrict received the highest overall mean score and Sam Roi Yot Subdistrict received the lowest over all mean score ; the primary problems included economic problems, especially the decreases of crop prices and debt problems among community members, while the offered suggestions for enhancement the community leaders’ roles through the use of sufficiency economy in community development were that the community leaders should encourage their community members to reduce costs by growing vegetables, farming animals, and producing fertilizer for household utilization, as well as collaborate with government agencies to seek knowledge extensions and training so that the community members can more actively undertake supplementary occupations and join group activities.