ROLE OF VILLAGE COMMITTEE IN PROMOTING DEMOCRACY: THE CASE STUDY OF KHLONG KOK VILLAGE, MOO 12, BANKUAN SUBDISTRICT, LANG SUAN DISTRICT, CHUMPHON PROVINCE

Abstract

Village committee holds an important role in promoting democracy within their respective village. This study was conducted in Khlong Kok village, which received the Chumphon’s master reward of excellency in democracy in 2022. This article aims to 1) Study the understanding of Khlong Kok village committee in the democratic government, 2) Study the method of promoting democracy of Khlong Kok village committee, and 3) Study the problems and solutions to democracy promotion of Khlong Kok village committee. This study is a qualitative study conducted with in-depth interviews and semi-structured interviews with ten key informants: six the village committee, three the public, and an administrative staff. This study also incorporated non-participant observation and individual and data source triangulation. The data collected was then analyzed using content analysis.

The result revealed that 1) the village committee understood the meaning of democracy as a main regime and a principle to lead to a strong and developed community. 2) The village committee promoted democracy by organizing meetings, discussions, and voting opportunities, as well as coordinating with external agencies for assistance in hosting democracy-promoting activities. 3) The operation saw very few issues, such as the lack of knowledge of new rules and regulations and incompetent paperwork capability. These issues can be resolved by online learning. In general, no major issue was found due to the nature of their work mostly comprised of meetings and listening to every party’s opinion. It also helps that Khlong Kok village is a small village, rarely have foreigners moved to live in the village. Where the people live together like a family who help each other, collaborate, and aim to develop their community together.