Power Dynamics and The Development of Quality of Life for The Local Fishermen a Case Study of the Local Fishing Community of Pak Nam Laem Sing, Laem Sing District, Chanthaburi Province

Abstract

This research article aims to examine the lifestyle, problems, obstacles, and approaches to developing quality of life under the sufficiency economy philosophy and King Bhumibol’s Science among the local fishermen of Pak Nam Laem Sing, Laem Sing District, Chanthaburi Province. The study employed qualitative research methodology through documentary research, in-depth interviews, and focus group discussions. The study findings reveal that the traditional livelihoods of small-scale fishers are confronting multi-dimensional power dynamics of transformation across economic, social, political, and environmental spheres. These changes result from unequal power structures where large-scale industrial fishing capital groups can determine prices and control markets, rendering small-scale fishers with low bargaining power. Middlemen exercise monopolistic power over trade transactions, while local government officials often formulate policies without listening to grassroots voices. The lack of fisher participation in decision-making processes results in policies that do not genuinely align with the needs of local fishing communities. This creates structural problems that reinforce vulnerability conditions and makes sustainable quality of life improvement difficult to achieve. The proposed approaches for livelihood development have been synthesized through the application of sufficiency economy philosophy and King Bhumibol’s Science, demonstrating complex power dynamics. These are not merely developmental conceptual frameworks, but have become discursive resources that fishing communities utilize as tools for political struggle. Approaches that appear to emphasize supplementary occupation creation, social capital restoration, and sustainable resource management are, in reality, strategies for rebalancing power dynamics to challenge the coastal political-economic structures dominated by industrial fishing capital groups, middlemen, and local government officials. This elevation to resistance discourse is not a technical problem-solving approach, but rather the creation of legitimacy for demanding fair access to resources and income rights for local fishing communities