CHIANG MAI UNIVERSITY JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE AND HUMANITIES Kunsiree Kowsuvon* A Case Study of Knowledge Development for Product and Ecology System Integration at Pa Pae Sub-District, Mae Taeng District, Chiang Mai Province, Thailand Faculty of Business Administration, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand. *Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected] 69 CMU. Journal of Soc. Sci. and Human. (2008) Vol. 2(2) Vol. (2008) Sci. and Human. of Soc. CMU. Journal ABSTRACT his case study is designed to (1) survey and collect data on the TPa Pae tea-growing community; (2) collect local wisdom on com- munity development based on the Sufficiency Economy concept; (3) provide the community with technical knowledge on management, marketing and community production development; (4) determine possible policy or strategy towards the progression of Pa Pae tea-growing community as an eco-tourism destination; and (5) provide the government with suggestions and determine guidelines to achieve the sustainable development phase for the community. Results from this study revealed the fact that tea is an original food of northern Thailand which contains beneficial nutrients. The byproducts of tea leaves are utilized as foods, energy drink and an item for guest greeting and ceremonies. Tea growing and producing are mentioned in the Sufficiency Economy concept as well as in the ninth and the tenth National Economic and Social Development Plans. Nonetheless, tea suppliers and entrepreneurs are facing marketing problems such as unpopularity of tea products, unsteadiness of the price, distance between tea farms and pro- duction sites, marketing communications, lack of distributors and lack of knowledge on business management. These problems ranked in severe degrees (3.50, 3.94, 3.63, 3.55 and 3.59 respectively). Suggestions from the study will lead to community sustainability which should result in their self-developing abilities to participate with local government institutes and bring forward better knowledge assessment and provision of counsel and guidance regarding development, transforma- tion, management, marketing, finance and basic infrastructure issues. All of these requirements have to be economical in order to allow the Pa Pae tea-growing community to be able to operate their business, based on the Sufficiency Economy concept. CMU. J. of Soc. Sci. and Human. 2008 Key words: Camellia sinensis L, Ecology System, Knowledge Management, Product Iintegration, the Sufficiency Economy INTRODUCTION Background amellia sinensis L. is a tea plant species whose leaves and leaf buds Care used in tea production. White tea, green tea, oolong and black tea are all Camellia sinensis L. byproducts, depending upon the processing 70 CMU. Journal of Soc. Sci. and Human. (2008) Vol. 2(2) Vol. (2008) Sci. and Human. of Soc. CMU. Journal method which leads to different levels of antioxidants (Tan-Kim–Yong, et al, 1994). The consumable tea products are also produced from tea leaves in Camellia sinensis L. family which grows in tropical and warm areas in the northern region of Thailand. The leaves are steamed and fermented by processes which have been inherited for generations. The byproduct is utilized as food and used in many ways such as an energy drink, item for greeting guests and ceremonies. A number of studies conclude that Camellia sinensis L. leaf contains as much stimulating substances as other tea species which can increase endurance of human’s working ability. Tea growing is considered a marketable agricultural career. Tea farm areas are widely spread in the northern region of Thailand where the plant can be grown in isolation after land deforesting. Tea plantations always move from one place to other abandoned areas where higher trees are growing. Such locations are ideal for tea farming because tea grows quicker under plant’s shade. The tea plant can be found on hills located by the rivers in very cold climates (Preechapanya, 1996). Tea-growing History: Tea-growing sites can be located in Chiang Mai, Lam Pang, Chiang Rai, Phrae and Nan Provinces. In Chiang Mai area, tea farms are located in Mae Taeng, Doi Saket, Chiang Dao and Fang Districts. Among these sites, the best and the most famous place is Pa Pae Sub-District in Mae Taeng, called “Historical Tea-growing Community”. Their tea is grown under other trees which were planted after deforesting. According to the ecology theory, tea growing is an important factor for generating revenue and saving forest environment because of its nature of thriving under other plant’s shade. Environment and Natural Resource Conservation: The Pa Pae tea-grower community is an agricultural community operating on natural resources. Their conservation concept which utilizes soil, water and forest is related to agro-forestry (Baver, 1995). Their tea grows on soil which contains only organic fertilizer with no chemicals employed. Organic CHIANG MAI UNIVERSITY JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE AND HUMANITIES fertilizer also saves the tea-farming cost. The process runs according to an agricultural system of multi-plant species. Although tea steaming requires burned wood as fuel, not much fuel is needed. As a result, tea-growing farms are considered to be environmentally-safe and -friendly (Preecha- panya, 2001). Society and Culture: In Thailand, tea has been a part of social life as a product is consumed daily for a long time. Tea growing connects people. For example, local community people are all involved in the farm business through economic and social relations as suppliers, vendors and consumers. A tea farm can be a working and also a living place for 71 CMU. Journal of Soc. Sci. and Human. (2008) Vol. 2(2) Vol. (2008) Sci. and Human. of Soc. CMU. Journal farmers. The tea products are also used as food and are often involved in local ceremonies. Economics: Tea is an economic plant which creates relationships between hill tribes and metropolitan inhabitants via trading. Furthermore, the tea-manufacturing process can also link the farm workers with their entrepreneurs. Response to the Political, Economical and Social Change: The northern Thailand agriculture system has become more commercial, in turn, affecting the forest conservations. The tea-growing business generates labor flow of hill tribes to nearby cities. Recently, hill tribe workers are decreasing because they moved and became city laborers. Economic expansion and commercial plant growing changed the tea-growing into family-industry business (Wongweerapant, 1997). Govern- ment policy in B.E. 2518 enforced land management and water resource conservation by planting more forest together with developing economics and society for people living near rivers. A plan for the promotion of plant replacement serves the purpose of land utilization and commercial-related plant growing. The community members have a variety of land use interests. Tea farms cannot be expanded because some areas were transformed into fruit or other tea species fields. Some tea entrepreneurs sold their tea fields to accommodate their investors because the law offers opportunity to develop conserved forest areas into tourism destinations. These issues are very crucial. They decrease the amount of local suppliers. If the community loses their natural resources, their valuable history will disappear. CMU. J. of Soc. Sci. and Human. 2008 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK his study is designed to find the guidelines to manage an original tea Tcommunity, based on an ecological approach in an area with high altitude. Knowledge development emphasizing on product management can increase economic value by following the existing concept. This can generate revenue and extend the market to a new generation by finding the way to develop the tea product, improve the tea-growing community to be an eco-tourism destination, promote the culture, grow substituted plants which save the ecological system and manage households and com- 72 munity. There are 5 important tea-growing districts in Chiang Mai: Mae CMU. Journal of Soc. Sci. and Human. (2008) Vol. 2(2) Vol. (2008) Sci. and Human. of Soc. CMU. Journal Taeng, Chiang Dao, Fang, Doi Saket and Mae On. However, this study concentrates on Pa Pae Sub-District, Mae Taeng District and uses data analysis based on Philip Kotler’s marketing mix Theory (Kotler, 2003). The rating method developed by Rensis Likert’s rating scales is divided into 5 degrees and scoring criteria is defined as follows (Zikmund, 2003): Problem and threat degree Strongly Agree scoring criteria equivalent 5 Agree scoring criteria equivalent 4 Uncertain scoring criteria equivalent 3 Disagree scoring criteria equivalent 2 Strongly Disagree scoring criteria equivalent 1 To group score by class interval method (Vanichbuncha, 2004) C = Maximum Score – Minimum Score Interval Interval = 5 - 1 5 = 0.80 Average Score Conversion Criteria Average Score between 4.21 – 5.00 is Strongly Agree Average Score between 3.41 – 4.20 is Agree Average Score between 2.61 – 3.40 is Uncertain Average Score between 1.81 – 2.60 is Disagree Average Score between 1.00 – 1.80 is Strongly Disagree Study method: 1. Literature on documents and research reports about business management, production technology development, tea-production know- ledges. 2. Survey the area’s condition and utilization in Chiang Mai Pro- vince. CHIANG MAI UNIVERSITY JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE AND HUMANITIES 3. Create Geographic Information Systems (GIS) data to work out the situations. 4. Define guidelines and strategies for tea-community develop- ment. 5. Brainstorming through the community forum for ideas and sug- gestions including strategy training. 6. Presentation of the study and research results to the government sectors such as local organizations and provinces. 73 CMU. Journal of Soc. Sci. and Human. (2008) Vol. 2(2) Vol. (2008) Sci. and Human. of Soc. CMU. Journal MATERIALS AND METHODS Timeframe his study was conducted in 2006 at Pa Pae Sub-District, Mae Taeng TDistrict, Chiang Mai Province, Thailand. Sample People of interest are categorized into 2 groups: 1.