Participatory Management Process in Local Tourism Development: A Case Study on Fisherman Village on Samui Island, Thailand

This paper explores, assesses and discusses a community participation approach in local tourism development planning initiated by the small local community of Samui Island, southern Thailand, in order to understand the pattern of the participatory management process in local tourism development after tourist development has had a significant effect on the local community on the island. The research was conducted in Fisherman Village, Bo Phut Sub-district on Samui Island using both qualitative and quantitative data collection and analyses. This research successfully described the process of socio-ecological interaction on local tourism development. The results show the innovative approach of adapting the community participation concept to diversified local conditions. The process of community participation was assessed to understand the pattern and practice of local community for their tourism development. Factors associated with people's participation were also analyzed. The paper concludes that, along with the participatory management process, there was a significant role played by the local leader and by cooperation among tourism stakeholders in the planning and implementation that led the community to pursue local tourism development. Keywords: community participationlocal developmentSamui Islandtourism developmentThailand Acknowledgment I wish to acknowledge the respondents and other community members who have facilitated this study, and I also wish to acknowledge Drs Soparth Pongquan, Jayant Routray, Ganesh Shivakoti, Willi Zimmermann, Michael Parnwell and Ramesh Boonratana, and the anonymous reviewers for their comments.