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The Perceptions of Members of the Karen and Hmong Hill Tribes of the Impacts Upon Their Communities Resulting from the Development of Tourism in Northern Thailand

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The Perceptions of Members of the Karen and Hmong Hill Tribes of the Impacts Upon Their Communities Resulting from the Development of Tourism in Northern Thailand THE PERCEPTIONS OF MEMBERS OF THE KAREN AND HMONG HILL TRIBES OF THE IMPACTS UPON THEIR COMMUNITIES RESULTING FROM THE DEVELOPMENT OF TOURISM IN NORTHERN THAILAND KANOKKARN KAEWNUCH A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of Bournemouth University for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy November 2010 Bournemouth University This copy of the thesis has been supplied on condition that anyone who consults it is understood to recognise that its copyright rests with its author and due acknowledgement must always be made of the use of any material contained in, or derived from, this thesis. 2 Abstract Kanokkarn Kaewnuch The perceptions of members of the Karen and Hmong hill tribes of the impacts upon their communities resulting from the development of tourism in Northern Thailand This research investigates the perceptions of hill tribe people in Northern Thailand of the socio- cultural impacts and changes in their communities resulting from the interaction between themselves, their communities and the incoming mainly Thai, origin, external tourism actors (ETAs), such as tourism authorities, tourism businessmen / investors and tour operators. In Thailand, most studies on the impacts of tourism have been limited to economic analyses, and the socio-cultural impacts of tourism on hill tribe people has been under-researched. Of the previous studies of the socio-cultural impacts of tourism, the majority have examined the impacts from host and guest interactions, emphasising the negative social impacts resulting from the influx of tourists in general. Specific research on the interaction of local hill tribe people with incoming ETAs has not been reported. To fill this gap, this research aims to compare the perceptions of two hill tribe peoples (the Karen and Hmong), both those working for ETAs and those who do not, in terms of their employment experiences and perceived socio-cultural impacts resulting from the arrival of ETAs. In order to achieve the research aim, a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods was used. A sequential approach was adopted incorporating a mixed methods design in order to better answer the research challenge of exploring the participants‟ views and perceptions. Building on a thorough literature review the first phase of primary data collection adopted a qualitative approach. Focus groups were used to explore the local hill tribe perceptions towards the interaction between ETAs and themselves, and their perceptions towards socio-cultural impacts upon themselves and changes in their community. Then semi-structure interviews were used to gain more in-depth details from selected participants. Themes from this qualitative phase were then used in the second stage of primary data collection to develop an essentially quantitative questionnaire, to measure, by means of a large scale survey, the perceptions of the selected population. 3 The findings suggest that exposure to the social and cultural characteristics of ETAs, have significantly influenced some of the values, beliefs and lives of tribal people. However, despite the impacts resulting from the arrival of ETAs, these hill tribe people tend to be in favour and perceive these impacts and changes as positive changes. Moreover, the findings also suggest that differences in ethnic background, working environment and gender can be factors that influence perceptions of these hill tribe people. However, each factor, ethnicity, working environment, gender, exerts differing degrees of influence upon the perceptions of these hill tribe people toward different issues regarding impacts from ETAs. In addition, individual‟s perceptions toward impacts from ETAs differ despite their having the same ethnic background. However, the evidence gathered suggests that ethnic background does still control, to a degree, these differences with the result that while people's perceptions do differ in many ways nevertheless those from the same ethnic background tend to show greater similarities in their perceptions and actions when compared to those of different ethnicities. To this end, this study has pointed out several recommendations for future research together with the implications of the findings from this research on tourism management and policy makers. 4 List of contents ABSTRACT 3 LIST OF CONTENTS 5 LIST OF TABLES 12 LIST OF FIGURES 16 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS 18 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 19 CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION TO THE THESIS 1.1 Introduction 20 1.2 Background of the research aspects 20 1.3 Background of the tourism industry in Thailand 21 1.4 The emergence of hill tribe tourism 23 1.5 Need/Rationale of the research 24 1.6 Focus of the research 27 1.7 Research aim 28 1.7.1 Research objectives 28 1.8 Contribution to Knowledge 29 1.9 Thesis structure 30 1.10 Conclusion 32 CHAPTER 2 – LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction 33 2.2 Terms used in the study 33 2.3 Ambiguity in defining hosts and guests 34 2.3.1 Definition of a host 34 2.3.2 Definition of a guest 34 2.3.3 Definition of ETAs 35 2.3.3.1 Roles of ETAs 35 2.4 Perception 36 2.4.1 Definitions of perception 36 2.4.2 Influences of perception 37 2.5 Culture 38 2.5.1 Definitions of culture 38 2.5.2 Concept of culture 39 2.5.3 Hofstede‟s cultural dimensions 39 2.6 Community 40 2.6.1 Definitions of community 40 2.6.2 The function of a community 42 2.6.3 Hill tribe communities 42 2.7 Social changes 43 2.7.1 Characteristics of society 43 2.7.2 Definitions of social change 44 2.8 Impacts 46 2.8.1 Socio-cultural impacts of tourism 47 Negative socio-cultural impacts from tourism 47 Positive socio-cultural impacts from tourism 50 2.9 Interaction 52 5 2.9.1 Interaction between hosts and guests of different cultural backgrounds 52 2.9.2 Reasons behind the interaction of hosts and outsiders 52 2.9.3 Impacts result from the interaction of host and guests 55 2.10 Cross-cultural work groups 59 2.10.1 Cause of cultural diversities in the workplace 60 2.10.2 Outcome of cross-cultural interactions in the workplace 62 2.11 Conflict in the workplace 62 2.11.1 Cause of conflict in the workplace 63 2.12 Employment in tourism 64 2.12.1 Image of tourism employment 65 2.13 Conceptual framework 66 2.14 Conclusion 77 CHAPTER 3 – OVERVIEW OF HILL TRIBE IN THAILAND 3.1 Introduction 78 3.2 Characteristics of hill tribes 78 3.2.1 General information on hill tribes in Thailand 79 3.2.2 Relations of hill tribe people in Thai society 80 3.3 The characteristics of the Karen and Hmong tribes 81 3.3.1 The Karen 81 3.3.2 The Hmong 88 3.3.3 Similarities and differences: an overview 96 3.4 Hill tribe tourism in Thailand 98 3.4.1 The evolution and development of hill tribe tourism 98 3.4.2 Role of external tourism actors and hill tribe tourism ownership 100 3.4.3 Thai hill tribe tourism products 102 3.5 Doi Inthanon 103 3.5.1 Reasons for choosing the Karen and Hmong communities on Doi Inthanon as a study area 103 3.5.2 Location and its environment 104 3.5.3 Population and hill tribe groups on Doi Inthanon 106 3.5.4 Tourism in Doi Inthanon 107 3.6 Conclusion 108 CHAPTER 4 – METHODOLOGY 4.1 Introduction 109 4.2 Research approach 109 4.2.1 A combination of qualitative and quantitative methods 109 4.2.2 Benefits and criticism of a combination of qualitative and quantitative approach 110 4.2.3 Reason for choosing a sequential exploratory approach 111 4.3 Research methods of data collection 112 4.3.1 Secondary research 112 4.3.2 Primary research 112 4.4 Representative sample 113 4.5 Ethnical considerations 114 4.6 Health, safety and risk issues 115 4.7 Stage one: Data collection 115 4.8 Focus group 116 4.8.1 Reasons for using focus groups 116 4.8.2 Respondents for the focus groups 117 4.8.3 Sample size of the focus groups 118 4.8.4 Focus group design 119 6 4.8.5 Focus group process 120 4.8.6 Limitations of the focus groups 121 4.9 Data preparation 122 4.10 Data analysis 122 4.10.1 Data analysis approach 124 4.10.2 Limitations of the content analysis 126 4.11 Semi-structure interview 126 4.11.1 Reason for using semi-structured interviews 126 4.11.2 Respondents for the semi-structured interviews 127 4.11.3 Interview design 129 4.11.4 Interview process 129 4.11.5 Limitations of the interviews 129 4.12 Data analysis 130 4.13 Stage two: Data collection 130 4.13.1 Questionnaire 130 4.13.2 Questionnaire design 131 4.13.3 Pilot test 132 4.13.4 Sample group for the questionnaire 133 4.13.5 Sample size of the questionnaire 133 4.13.6 Questionnaire sampling technique 134 4.13.7 Limitations of the quantitative data collection 136 4.14 Data analysis 137 4.15 Conclusion 138 CHAPTER 5 – MAIN FINDINGS OF EMPLOYMENT 5.1 Introduction 139 5.2 Demographic profile of respondents 139 5.2.1 Gender 140 5.2.2 Age groups 141 5.2.3 Monthly income 142 5.2.4 Education levels achieved 143 5.3 Employment types and patterns 144 5.3.1 Types of employment 144 5.3.2 Patterns of employment 145 5.3.3 Types of jobs for Karen and Hmong not working with ETAs 146 5.4 Reasons for working with ETAs 149 5.4.1 Similarities in reasons for working with ETAs given by the Karen and Hmong 149 5.4.2 Differences in reasons for working with ETAs given by the Karen and Hmong 150 5.5 Reasons for not working with ETAs 157 5.6 Perceived conflicts 160 5.6.1 Similarities in perceived conflicts between the Karen and Hmong 161 5.6.2 Differences in perceived conflicts between the Karen and Hmong 161 5.6.3 Intra-tribal perceived conflicts by gender 162 5.6.4 Inter-tribal perceived conflicts by gender 163 5.7 Proposed solutions for perceived conflicts 164 5.8 Perceptions of impacts arising from working with ETAs 165
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