The Participation of Community to Develop the Potential of Sustainable Eco-Tourism of Nakhon Pathom Province

Abstract

This research aimed to 1) study the participation of local community on the potential of sustainable eco-tourism of Nakhon Pathom province. 2) analyze the SWOT and TOWS Matrix to establish proactive strategy to enhance the potential of the  eco-tourism and 3)

employ the strategy to develop the potential of the eco-tourism.Quantitative and qualitative methods were used in this research. For quantitative method, 316 people from 2 areas were sampled by accidental sampling and asked by a questionnaire. For qualitative method, focus group with 20 government officers and local entrepreneurs from Klong Jinda and Klong Mahasawas community, including in-depth interview community leaders and float market manager were conducted.

The result revealed that 1) the overall participation of local community on the potential of sustainable eco-tourism of Nakhon Pathom province was at a moderate level 2) the strength of the community was a short distance away from Bangkok and the convenience of public transport; the weakness of the community was the limited budget, the lack of business knowledge; thus, it had to be supported by government;  the opportunity of the community was the possibility in adopting IT system and modern communication to help in promotion and marketing, and the threat of the community was the weak management. The proactive strategy were the management of community tourism which went hand in hand with the community potential, promotion of local products to be widely-known by both Thais and foreigners and so on 3) the ways to develop the potential of sustainable eco-tourism for the community people of both Klongs were at a high level, and those were advising tourists not to do anything affected the community identity, supporting government budget and help in solving environment problems along both banks of the Klongs and so on.