Communication Competency Development of Chief Executives of the Subdistrict Administration Organization in the Three Southern Border Provinces of Thailand

Abstract

This research aimed to study the forms of communication usage, compare the forms of communication usage and communication competency elements, and study the ways to develop communication competency of chief executives of the sub-district administration organizations in the three southern border provinces of Thailand. This research is a qualitative research. Major data are obtained from 82 persons: chief executives of the sub-district administration organizations, political executives, sub-district officers, stakeholders, and local people in Yala, Pattani, Narathiwat. In-depth interviews and group interviews were utilized. Data analysis was conducted through descriptive analysis method. The findings of the research are:

                 The forms of communication usage at work are communication for organizational management, openness to and search for information and news for decision making, information and news communication and publicity to community members, promotion of public participation in mission completion of the organizations, building up relationships between people and stakeholders in the communities, communications for relief of sufferings and happiness promotion for  the people, communication by work achievements, and communications to retain political grounds.  

                 The comparison of the forms of communication usage at work reveals that managerial experience, academic degrees, attitudes, communication knowledge, and individual communication skills enable chief executives of the sub-district administration organizations to exert six different communication strategies, namely mutual knowledge and technological awareness strategy; 24-hour understanding, accessible, and dependable strategy; morality communication to development strategy; teamwork power communication strategy; relationship strengthening communication strategy, and community harmonization communication strategy.  

                 The elements of communication competency are core competency related to speaking and presentation, listening, relationship and image building, communication channel building and new communication technology usage, and area-based work competency related to exemplary leadership in an Islamic way, as well as communication in multi-cultural societies.

                 The ways to develop communication competency are topics and contents of communication strategy development, image building, personality of local leaders in the new era, public speaking, communication in a crisis, digital technology awareness, and forms of competency development, namely operational trainings, experience sharing seminars, success story decoding, and learning from organizations with local leaders who possess high-level communication competency.