University to Tambon (U2T) program and sustainable community development during COVID-19 pandemic in Thailand

ABSTRACT

The Thai government created proactive policies designed to mitigate the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic while it developed durable interventions after the crisis ended. One such intervention, the U2T program (‘University to Tambon”) used universities to partner with communities to create lasting changes in areas such as sustainable community development. Using Participatory Action Research (PAR) and Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD), one case study is presented that addresses income insecurity among community elders. Qualitative data was collected through participant observation, interviews of participants (N = 36) and focus group members (N = 30) and augmented by needs assessments and asset mapping. The income generating activities for the elderly germinated from using PAR and ABCD. Themes that emerge from the data involve buttressing bridging capital in the Tambons and developing linking capital to expand and create new networks outside the community. The results suggest that universities can facilitate community development via PAR and ABCD.

KEYWORDS:

• Covid-19 pandemic in Thailand
• community development
• the elderly
• participatory action research
• and social capital

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation, Thailand Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation .

Notes on contributors

Saifon Suindramedhi

Saifon Suindramedhi, Ph.D is an Associated professor at College of Interdisciplinary Studies at Thammasat University, Thailand. Her educational background is sociology and her research focus on rural development and sociology-cultural resources management. Dr.Saifon is currently studying on aging issues such as the development of mechanisms and measures for economic driving among Thai Elderly and The Study and Development of the Devolution Processes of the Health Station to Celebrate the 60th Birthday, Namintharajini and Sub-District Health Promoting Hospital (SDHPHs) to the Provincial Administrative Organization (PAO) and the Elderly Roles Model in driving primary health services: A Case Study of Lampang Province.

Rungnapa Thepparp

Rungnapa Thepparp, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of the College of Interdisciplinary Studies at Thammasat University, Lampang Campus, Thailand. Her educational background is social work and social welfare and her research focuses on community-based welfare and social policy formarginal persons. Dr. Thepparp is currently developing community-based social welfare and social protection for marginal persons such as migrant workers, human trafficking survivors, and older adults with difficult situations (e.g., poverty, abuse).

David Engstrom

David Engstrom, PhD, MA, is a Professor of Social Work at San Diego State University and the Bua Luang ASEAN Chair at the College of Interdisciplinary Studies, Thammasat University,Bangkok, Thailand. His research focuses on immigration policy and services to immigrants and refugees. Dr. Engstrom has written extensively on the plight of vulnerable immigrant populations, such as torture survivors, trafficked persons, and migrant workers, and has explored the role of bilingual social workers in service delivery. Dr. Engstrom co-developed the concept of vicarious resilience which recognises the positive effect of trauma work on therapists, and has co-authored six articles refining its conceptual development. He is presently developing a culturally reflexivetrauma assessment scale to better document the suffering of human trafficking survivors in Thailand. Dr. Engstrom has received several awards for his international work: CSWE’s Partners in Advancing Education for International Social Work (PIE) in 2017 and SDSU’s Outstanding International Scholar in 2016.