The perspective of the cultural capital of community: A case study of Phra That King Kaeng Subdistrict, Chun District, Phayao Province

Abstract

The aim of this research is to survey the culture capital of a small community with a long history of their own namely Phra That King Kaeng District, Amphur Muang, Phayao Province. The outcome of this research resulted in a collection as well dissemination of the data from the survey in a systematic manner in accordance to an academic standard.  This study used a semi-structured interview to collect data with respect to local culture and wisdom. Key informants divided in 2 groups: religious leaders consisted of 2 monks and knowledgeable people including local wise-men/women and an official from the Cultural Office, Phayao (who was assigned to Phra That King Kaeng District) resulted in 13 people in total. The result showed that there were 8 unique cultural aspects classified into 6 categories (according to a guideline for cultural survey published by the Cultural Office). These cultural aspects include a traditional Northern Thailand dance troupe of Phra That King Kaeng; making of a signaling device, “Kalow”; crafting a cart wheel, “Low-Wern”; a handmade textile, “Mae Wang Chang”; a toy, “Lor Hring”; a Bhudha’s relic cleaning ceremony of Phra That King Kaeng,  a gigantic Iron wood-dominated forest. In the past, a local cultural data was recorded in a form of a story-telling and relied heavily on the listeners’ memories. This approach causes a risk of losing a large proportion of information.  In contrast, this research seeks to record the data in a systematic way and subsequently describe the data based on an academic methodology. Ultimately, the analyzed data was returned to the community in the form of a well-designed pamphlet which is perfect to use as a mean to promote Phra That King Kaeng District. SWOT analysis suggested that the community has several strong points to sustainably maintain their local cultural capital. These include the long-history stupa, Phra That King Kaeng which acts as a spiritual center of the community and the religious leaders who were also important local wisemen.