The Community Attachment in Peri-Urban Context: The case of Tha Tum, Mahasarakham Province

Abstract

This research aims to study residents’ attachment to community in various dimensions. Also it aims to examine the influences of community attachment on community development. Tha Tum community, Mahasarakham province was selected as a case study. Documentary research, in-depth interviews were conducted to collect data. Key informants were 100 residents of Tha Tum. A thematic analysis was employed to analyze data.
Findings show that: Tha Tum residents’ attachment to community can be
conceptualized in various dimensions: 1) place: although Tha Tum is not recognized as an urban area but it is a suburb of Muang Mahasarakham. Hence, Tha Tum residents have a convenient transportation without relocating to the urban area; 2) sense of belonging: living in this community since they were born, most of the residents get engagement with this community. They perceive the community as a big family; 3) identity of the community: Tha Tum has his own local tradition called “The worship to Luang Phu Thaworn, Khanng Rue Yaw (boat racing) and Lai Rue Fai (The lighting boat flowing). Working together to inherit these traditions allows the residents to build sense of ownership of this community; 4) career: most of the people are farmers, particularly a rice farmer, which is a tradition career of Tha Tum. Hence they would like to preserve this career by being a rice farmer in their community rather than leaving this area; 5) social relationship: although Tha Tum seems to be more urbanized, the sense of family relationship among community members and the sense of group are still there, which create community attachment. Moreover, findings show that Tha Tum residents’ attachment to community has influences on community development. For instance, it allows people to be more engaged with community’s activities and to collaboratively work together in developing the directions for sustainable community development.