Community Capitals Management for Household Well-being: Case Studies in Two Communities in Surin and Buriram Provinces, Thailand

Itthirit Suwannakam and Josefina T. Dizon

Abstract

This study was conducted in two villages in Thailand, Nongtakhem in Buriram province and Somboon in Surin province. It analyzed the community capitals management for household well- being. Data were gathered through household survey, key informant interviews, field observation, and review of related data. For the survey, 64 households were selected from Nongtakhem and 54 households from Somboon through simple random sampling. Descriptive statistics and t-test were used in the data analysis. Findings show that both villages practiced all the community capitals management strategies (group membership, family planning, sufficiency economy, savings plan, household accounting, and secondary occupation) except family forest management, which was practiced only in Somboon. The benefits acquired from group membership were diverse, but majority of the households in both villages accessed financial assistance from membership groups. Meanwhile, the t-test results show that the households who had members in the Buffalo and Cow Bank in Nongtakhem earned high-average monthly income than the households who did not. The households who were non-members of the Consumer Cooperative in Somboon earned higher monthly income than those who were members. For the difference in household debt, the households in Nongtakhem who were members of the groups had higher mean debt than those who were not because they were able to access sources of credit. For the other strategies, the secondary occupation practiced in Nongtakhem enabled the members to increase household income. For the difference in the household debt, the sufficiency economy strategy was effective in both villages, and the family planning strategy was effective only in Nongtakhem.