Participatory communication and sufficiency economy in Thailand Supadhiloke Boonlert, Associate Professor and Chairman Master of Arts In Communication Arts Program, Graduate School, Bangkok University, Rama 4 Road, Klong-Toey, Bangkok, 10110, Thailand. E-mail: boonlet@yahoo.com (Paper presented in the Participatory Communication Research Section, the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) Conference “Media and Global Divides.” Stockholm, Sweden, July 20-25, 2008). Abstract The study was designed to examine a participatory communication process inherent in the application of His Majesty the King’s Sufficiency Economy Philosophy at local communities in Thailand. The Philosophy addresses the way of living and practice of the general public in development and management of the country towards the middle path especially in developing the economy to keep up with the world in the era of globalization. At the two communities under this study, Ban Khao Din and Ban Trok Faimai at Thoong Kwai Kin Subdistrict, Klaeng District, Rayong Province, the participatory communication has taken place as a social learning process at various local learning centers within the context of folk cultures or in Thai “Pumpanya.” The communication process at the two communities was taken as the “empowerment” of local people to adopt the self-reliant mode of living within the globalization context. Based on the system framework, there is a need to plan systematically all components of communication system to achieve the sufficiency economy goals. In view of changing globalization and local cultural contexts, it is desirable to plan a long-term integrated multi-media campaign utilizing all media resources at national, regional, local and community levels to strengthen sufficiency economy practices, based on empirical data and existing natural, socio-cultural capitals. Top Key words Participatory communication, Philosophy, communities, economy, globalization and development. Top |