Thai Concept and Meaning of Nature

Abstract

This paper represents the outcome of a research entitled ‘Thai Concept and Meaning of Nature’. Objectives of this research were (1) to understand the Thais’ meaning of nature and environment; (2) to identify factors that influenced the Thais’ meaning of nature; (3) to conclude the Thais ’concept of nature, and lastly, (4) to suggest applications of Thai concepts of nature to promote natural conservation practices. The primary study method was questionnaires.
The findings were elaborated here. Eight Thai meanings of nature consisted of nature as the wilderness, nature as the functional, nature as the aesthetic, nature as the surrounded environment, nature as integrated and harmonious living, nature as the intellectual, nature as the science, and nature as composited elements. In addition, Thai meanings of environment could be grouped into eight groups of meanings: environment as the visible and invisible surrounding things which are both natural and artificial; environment as nature; environment as the landscape or scenery; environment as the man or the society; environment as the culture; environment as the artificial elements; environment as the factor of living; and environment as the situation we are living. Then, factors that influenced the Thai meanings of nature were demography, socioeconomic, sociocultural factors, environmental experience, and place attachment, which could be concluded as ten factors. These ten factors were gender, age, education, occupation, current residence, region, residential environments, length of stay at current residence, and homeland. Finally, there are six Thai concepts of nature: nature as the wilderness and inheritance; nature as the resource; nature serves for both use and maintenance; nature as the upholder; nature as the process; and nature as the philosophy, knowledge, and information.