The Readiness of Tambol Administration Organization Members in Community Forest Management, Wapi Pathum District, Maha Sarakham Province

Abstract

Objectives of the study were to determine the socio-economic condition, opinion level  on readiness and factors relating to the opinions on the readiness of Tambol  Administration Organization Members in community forest management in Wapi Pathum  District, Maha Sarakham Province. The designed  questionnaires were employed as a tool for interviewing 111 respondents. The statistical analysis  methods used were percent, mean and Chi-square. Results of the study indicated that the most respondents were male, with their average  age of 40 years. Their educational level were at pre-university, the average of the duration of  the membership was 3.50 years and the average of the resettled duration was 35 years. Most  of them were village committee members. Paddy cultivation was their main  occupation, with the average annual household income, of 285,000 baht and the average member of household  member of 3. Most of them used to attend the training course in community forest and  received the information about community forest from the village leader. They used to utilize  the community forest and have comprehension about community forest at a high level. Factors relating to the opinions on the readiness in community forest management  were educational level, duration of Tambol Administration Membership, community  forest training course attendance, community forest information receipt, frequency of the  contact with foresters, the benefits from community forest and comprehension and  understading about community forest, and with the significance level at p<0.05.

Key words: readiness, Tambol administration organization, community forest, Maha Sarakham province