Practical Guidelines for Improving Participatory Organization and Management: A Case Study of Chong Mek-Wangtao International Border Checkpoint (Thai-Laos PDR)

Abstract

The efficient administration and management are necessary for controlling the exports and imports, giving services to the customers and ensuring the security of international border checkpoint (Thai-Laos PDR). The purposes of the research were 1) to analyze the factors affecting participatory organization and management of Chong Mek-Wangtao International Border Checkpoint (Thai-Laos PDR), 2) to design practical guidelines for participatory organization and
management of this checkpoint, and 3) to evaluate the practical guidelines for participatory organization and management. The research samplings were 207 Thai and Lao officers of this research area for the 1st phase, 20 experts for the 2nd phase and 50 officers for the 3rd phase. Taro Yamane method was used for calculating the sample size and they were selected by proportional stratified random sampling and simple random sampling. In the first 1st phase, the data was collected from Thai and Lao officers at the checkpoint by a questionnaire. Structural Equation Modeling of LISREL program was employed for data analysis. In the 2nd phase, |the practical guidelines were designed and assessed by 25 stakeholders through workshop, brainstorming and assessment by the experts. In the 3rd phase, the practical guidelines were implemented with 50 Thai and Lao officers. The data was collected by a questionnaire and analyzed by MANOVA Repeated Measure. The research results indicated that 1) there were four major factors affecting participatory organization and management which were gender, age, educational level and work experience. 2) The practical guidelines for participatory organization and management consisted of six activities: self-awareness, role-plays, my paper, personnel development, participation in decision making, and participation in monitoring and evaluating. Finally, the research findings revealed that the four high rated participations in organization and management of the Thai-Lao officers were planning, decision making, implementation, performance and evaluation respectively. The average performance of the Thai-Lao officers before and after implementing the practical guidelines was significantly different at the .05 level. The Thai-Lao officers improved gradually their work performance after implementing the practical guidelines. In conclusion, the practical guidelines were efficient and appropriate for participatory organization and management of this area. Keywords : Practical Guidelines, Participatory Organization and Management, Chong Mek-Wangtao International Border Checkpoint