Abstract:
This qualitative research attempts to explain how Community-Based Research (CBR)
had been conducted, and what were its impacts on local communities, under the supervision of
CBR Node of Thailand Research Fund in the central and western regions of Thailand from 2001
to 2006. The study analyzes factors and conditions of operation, management, implementation
process, and results.
Research findings state that CBR activities in the central and western regions stem from
6 major factors and conditions in the area: 1) Diversity in ecology, economy, society, custom,
culture and ethnicity 2) Strong community leadership 3) Supportive state, private and
community organizations to empower local communities 4) CBR Node having strong leadership
both in terms of academic status and civil society's acceptance 5) Strong network as basis of
operation, and 6) CBR supervision and support for community leaders, covering both concepts
and practices. Because CBR is a new trend of research, its factors and conditions are dynamic.
Research issues and problems were mostly shifted from development issues to research &
development issues. Such issues are shared interest between development facilitators, academics
and community people. CBR focuses on the learning process that is participated by the research
team and research counselors. The impacts of CBR node in the central and western regions on
community empowerment are as follows: 1) Development and revival of local knowledge and
wisdom 2) Community management mechanisms or organizations 3) Local learning process
strengthening local people, and 4) Research exploitations and networking with academic entities.
However, CBR node re-structuring had resulted in uncoordinated operations and lack of
regional strategy. Linkage between CBR projects was lost. Some major supervision and support
systems were not adequately developed, especially support from academics in the region.