Abstract:
This mixed-method research was conducted by gathering qualitative and quantitative
data. The purposes of this research were to survey the tourism readiness of core resources and
attractors as well as tourism supporting factors, and to study attitudes of the local people towards
the tourism in Ban Laem Ma-kham community. Qualitative data collection was carried out by
interviewing community leaders. 16 representatives from tourism business, governmental sector,
private sector, and anyone who knows the community very well were interviewed. Then, in the
same area, a comparative survey was conducted in the actual stage. For this stage, a
questionnaire was used to collect quantitative data from 126 cases including a household leader
and/or any members of the household aged over 20 years old. Such cases were from 183
households as population. Frequency, percentage, means and standard deviation were used to
analyse data.
The results revealed that on the whole, the core tourism resources and attractors, as
well as tourism supporting factors were ready to be a tourist attraction. In terms of attitudes, local
people's attitudes towards the tourism of the community were in the highest level. Additionally,
the local people considered that tourism could bring them popularity and they were proud of their
local traditions and culture as the most satisfactory aspect. Based on results from two parts, the
conclusion showed readiness of Ban Laem Ma-kham community to be a tourist attraction in terms
of tourism resources and local people's attitudes. However, the people in the community lack of
knowledge of tourism services, management, and entrepreneurship that they need to be trained
and developed.