A SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT MODEL OF KAREN MINORITIES IN KAENGKRACHAN DISTRICT PHETCHABURI PROVINCE

Abstract

The purposes of this study were ; to assess the solid waste management of the Karen minorities in KaengKrachan District Phetchaburi Province; to compare the opinions of the sample group by demographics on the solid waste management of the Karen minorities in KaengKrachan District Phetchaburi Province, to explain the relationship between influencing factors of solid waste management and the solid waste management of the Karen minorities in KaengKrachan District Phetchaburi Province ; to construct a solid waste management model of the Karen minorities in KaengKrachan District Phetchaburi Province. This study employed a mixed-methods design. Qualitative data were collected through in-depth interviews and non-participant observations. Eleven key informants included community leaders, public administrators in environmental management agencies, and heads of households. The data were analyzed with a thematic analysis. Quantitative data were collected through questionnaires. The sample included 181 local Karen minorities in KaengKrachan District, Phetchaburi Province. Statistical software was employed to analyze the data using percentage, mean, standard deviation, t-test, One Way ANOVA, Pearson correlation, and multiple regression. Findings revealed that the solid waste management of the Karen minorities in KaengKrachan District Phetchaburi Province was at a high level (3.36), the opinions of the sample group by demographics towards the solid waste management of the minorities were indistinctive, the influencing factors of the solid waste management of the Karen minorities KaengKrachan DistrictPhetchaburi Province were positively correlated with the solid waste management at the 0.01 statistical significance level, and the solid waste management model of the Karen minorities based on prediction, included the awareness of waste management, waste was separated as a villagers’ duty, the waste separation was conducted appropriately from the beginning, waste incineration was discouraged as a waste-management approach, and the villagers were asked not to dispose their waste randomly outside the houses.