Factors Influencing Community Participation in Sustainable Development: A Case Study of Kero Subdistrict, Raman District, Yala Province

Abstract

This article aimed to study (1) To examine the level of participatory factors in community development planning and the level of sustainable development goals (SDGs) in Ko Ro Subdistrict, Raman District, Yala Province; and (2) To investigate the participatory factors in community development that influence the achievement of sustainable development goals in Ko Ro Subdistrict, Raman District, Yala Province. This study adopts the concept of community participation in development as proposed by Cohen, J.M., and Uphoff, N.T. (1981), and applies the framework of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) based on the guidelines of the International Institute for Trade and Development (2016) as the theoretical framework for the research. The research area for this study is Keroh Subdistrict, Raman District, Yala Province.

The sample group consists of 378 residents living in the Keroh Subdistrict, selected through accidental sampling. The primary research instrument employed was a questionnaire. Data analysis was conducted using frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation. In addition, regression analysis and multiple regression analysis were applied to examine the relationships between variables, with statistical significance set at the 0.05 level. The research results were found as follows;

1  The overall level of community development planning participation among residents was found to be high, with a mean score of 3.92. The highest level of participation was observed in the aspect of decision-making, followed by participation in evaluation, participation in receiving benefits, and participation in implementation, respectively. The overall level of achievement in sustainable development goals in Keroh Subdistrict, Raman District, Yala Province, was also rated high, with a mean score of 4.07. The environmental dimension ranked the highest, followed by the dimensions of peace and justice, economic prosperity, partnership for development, and human development, respectively.

2 The factors related to community participation—namely participation in evaluation, benefit-sharing, implementation, and decision-making—were found to have a significant impact on the achievement of sustainable development goals in Keroh Subdistrict, Raman District, Yala Province, respectively. Collectively, these variables demonstrated a high predictive accuracy, explaining 83% of the variance in sustainable development goal attainment, as indicated by an adjusted R-squared (Adj. R²) value of 0.830.

A novel contribution of this research lies in the finding that citizen participation in evaluation exerts a significantly greater influence on the achievement of local sustainable development goals than other forms of participation, such as decision-making or implementation. These challenges prevailing assumptions in previous studies, which have traditionally emphasized decision-making as the most critical participatory factor. The discovery highlights that enabling community members to actively engage in systematic project evaluation not only enhances accountability and transparency but also fosters collective learning and the co-creation of context-specific strategies. Such an inclusive evaluative process ultimately contributes to more authentic and enduring forms of sustainability at the local leve