Village Philosophers’ Roles in Social Development: A Case Study of Mrs. Kittinan Asawapoom of Ban Non Than, Ban Bak Subdistrict, Si Somdet District, Roi Et Province

Abstract

              Local wisemen refers to local individuals who originate, utilize, and dissiminate wisdom in living life until the wisdom is successful and recognized. This wisdom is developed through accumulating experiences  and transferred from geretaion to generation to suit the present ways of life. The research aimed 1) to study village philosophers’ roles in social development: a case study of Mrs. Kittinan Asawapoom, 2) to examine the case study’s methods in transferring roles in social development in connection with the present society,  and 3) to suggest guidelines for revising village philosophers’ roles in social development in a sustainable way. The study ontained 17 participants including 1) 1 village headman, 2) 2 assistant village headmen,
3) 3 village committees, 4) 10 villagers, and 5) the case study philosopher. The research instrument was
an in-depth interview developed by the researcher. The data was analyized through qualitative methods.

The findings were as follows:

              1) For social development, the main roles of the case study were administration and management of the community. She built knowledge and understandings for  the community and society. She was able
to analyze the current problems which the community and society were facing. After analyzing those problems, she created a learning process for the community. 2) For local wisdom transfer,  the main role was promoting Thai traditional massage. This local wisdom is regarded elixir. It increases the flow of blood
and lymph throughout the body. It helps tissues of various organs get better nutrition and detoxification. 
3) For guidelines for revising village philosophers’ roles, the main revised role was that they should request for more support for Thai traditional massage from the government sector. They should be provided with more comfortable massage equipment. This support also contributes to tradition preservation for next generations.