The Development of Rural Constitution for Sustainable Self-Governance of the Banyang Community, Wat Bot District, Phitsanulok

Abstract

The rural constitution is the community rule which issued from the general will and agreement among local people. It aims to seek a cooperation and participation in solving the problems of community. This research focuses on the development of rural constitution of Banyang community in Wat Bot district, Phitsanulok province, Thailand. The research method applied the participatory action research with the process of rural constitution. It found that the formation of rural constitution of Banyang Community occurred from the initiation of the local and community leaders. It started from the village rules and developed to the rural constitution at the sub-district level. Meanwhile, the implementation of rural constitution has been supported by the rural constitutional council of Banyang sub-district which is comprised of the local and community leaders, the representatives from the villages, social groups and local organizations. Therefore, the important factors that drives the sustainable development of rural constitution and self-governance of the Banyang community are: the strong of local and community leaders, and the social awareness in communities’ problems of local people.