Abstract:
To study the communication patterns among participants to informal conversational groups at morning cafe in Trang province and the opinion of community leaders on their potential in community development. The study applies a combination of qualitative research and ethnological methodologies with phenomenological framework as theoritical reference. Data collection was carried out by conducting focus group dicussion with a goup of public as well as in-depth interview with communitiy leaders in Trang province. The result show that patterns of morning cafe groups involve diversified communication roles play, strategic way of conversation and interaction among members of the conversant groups. In the morning cafe groups' conversation, several roles in communication become evident. They include the leading role in initiating the conversation, the supporting role and argument role when there is a debate, and simply a listener role. These different roles in communication among participants to the morning cafe groups effect patterns of communication. Among those are patterns such as initiating conversation by way of asking question, by way of making unintentional and non-committal statements, by way of making explanation or making justification to issues in debating on political, economic, social and environment situation. At the end of conversation each participant at the morning cafe conversational group makes his own conclusiion on the subject. As for the research on opinion of community leaders on the effects of influence on community development of these morning cafe conversation group, the community leaders regard them as an influent political discussion group which though their conversations can play important role in creating political awareness which will lead to political development as well as in economic and environment, and it is where regular exchange of information taken place. Similarly, the gathering of morning cafe groups in itself is in a way help in develop local social groups into a civil society the will be the leading force in movement for future community development.