Guidelines for Community–Based Tourism Development: A Case Study of Baan Nam Khem, Village No. 2, Bang Muang Sub-district, Takua Pa District, Phang-nga Province

Abstract

This research aimed to explore the condition of community-based tourism,  and analyze the guidelines for developing the community–based tourism of Ban Nam Khem. This case study research used qualitative method in which the data were collected from documents, in-depth interviews, and group discussions.

The findings revealed that Ban Nam Khem community was a semi-urban society. Most villagers earned their living by fishing, trading, working for wages, and working as hotel employees. There were several tourist attractions in Ban Nam Khem community, yet the earning method for their living in this area was affected by external factors, and the villagers were constrained to adapt to the new challenges, and to encounter the changes and the decreased income due to the decline of tourists. The guidelines for developing community-based tourism were given as follows: 1) to raise awareness of conserving the community’s natural resources in order to achieve economic sustainability, 2) to promote the involvement of the public sectors in solving and developing the community’s walk of life, and 3) to encourage the villagers to rehabilitate and develop their own businesses to improve their earnings by retaining their own traditional walks of life, which were fishing and trading, in order to preserve the existence of the past, which must be maintained and cherished by the children in the community.