Abstract:
The purposes of this research are (1) to study the general condition of culture awareness participation of ethnic groups in the western (2) to analyze the behavior of culture awareness participation of ethnic groups in the western, and (3) to present the process of culture awareness participation for peaceful coexistence of ethnic groups in the western. This research was a mix-method research, quantitative research using questionnaires as a tool for collecting data from 400 ethnic group people in the western region of Thailand in the context of Ratchaburi province (Chinese ethnicity, Yuan ethnicity, Mon ethnicity, Khmner ethnicity, Lao Wiang ethnicity,Lao Soong ethnicity, Karen ethnicity) and data were analyzed by using software packages for social sciences research. For qualitative research, there was an in-depth interview with key informants consisting of representatives of governing institutions, representatives of educational institutions and representatives of Buddhism institutions with outstanding roles in culture awareness and local wisdom in the western region of Thailand in the context of Ratchaburi province from random sampling 10 people and analyze the information obtained by analyzing the content by keeping the original idiomn and a specific group discussion with 8 experts from a specific random selection, data were analyzed by descriptive content analysis.
The results of the research showed that:
1. The general condition of culture awareness participation of ethnic groups in the western found that arts and cultural information was collected for an easy study and there as promotion awareness of the value of local arts and culture in order to preserve ethnic identity,there was public relations for the stakeholders to realize the importance of local arts and culture,exchange of knowledge and arts in each locality with the support of government agencies and educational institutions in the area, there was a dissemination of knowledge on the conservation of local arts and culture to the community by focusing on children and youth groups, and the
promotion of organizing activities and exhibitions of local arts and culture by integrating with the movement of the 5 Precepts village project.
2. The behavior of culture awareness participation of ethnic groups in the western found that in overall, it was in the high level with an average of 3.92, when considering in each aspect found that it was at the high level in all aspects, as followed: education or research aspect with an average of 3.91, promoting the people of all groups to realize the value with an average of 3.94, in expanding the scope of participation in culture had an average of 3.92, in the aspect of art and culture exchange promotion, the mean was 3.39, the creation of attitude, knowledge and understanding had an average of 3.98, and the establishment of the cultural information network had the mean of 3.89.
3. The process of culture awareness participation for peaceful coexistence of ethnic groups in the western found that by focusing on participation of stakeholders consisting of communities, sovemmnent agencies, private agencies, educational institutions, including tourists or outsiders, covering the components of the participation cycle, consisting of (1) participation in the search for problems of art and cultural preservation of ethnic groups, such as searching for problems, participating in the investigation of problems, sharing opinions/providing information about problems, brainstorming ideas to analyze problems, (2) participation in artistic conservation plans for ethnic groups such as public awareness of the policy, creating a plan, sharing opinions for improvement and publicizing or publicizing the plan, (3) participation in the operation of art and culture conservation of ethnic groups such as participating in operations, supporting materials, donating funds and solving problems occurring during the operation, (4) participation in the examination, monitoring and evaluation of ethnic arts and culture conservation such as determining the indicators used in the assessment, observing, evaluating the success, and disseminating or publicizing the performance, and (5) participation in receiving benefits such as receiving benefits in the form of economic benefits such as incomne, etc, receiving benefits in the way of life and living, participating in social and environmnental benefits, and equally receiving benefits arising from participation conserving art and culture. However, the model can be used as a model to strengthen the process of participation in the preservation of culture awareness participation for peaceful coexistence of ethnic groups in the western in a multicultural society.
Keyword: Participation, Culture Awareness, Peaceful Coexistence, Ethnic Groups