Enhancing Socioeconomic Monitoring to Support Conservation of Coral Reef and Near Shore Resources in Thailand

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The project intended to strengthen local capacity of communities in socioeconomic assessment and monitoring to improve coral reef management and the livelihoods and well-being of these coastal communities. The approach was to adapt socioeconomic assessment tools (SocMon SEA and SEM-Pasifika) with local stakeholders to be relevant to communities.

The project provided an opportunity to conduct socioeconomic assessments at two sites in Thailand, including Rawai Village, Rawai Sub-district, Muang District, Phuket and Ban Nua Village, Mai Khao Sub-district, Thalang District, Phuket. The trained participants will serve as future local trainers and implementers of socioeconomic monitoring.

The results of the socioeconomic assessments provide local baselines for future monitoring to plan, improve, and adapt local management, and they add to comparative analysis with other sites where the Chulalongkorn University Social Research Institute (CUSRI) has conducted similar training on socioeconomic assessment and monitoring, which has been ongoing through locally funded efforts. The lessons learned from the project processes provide an opportunity to adapt methods and approaches that reflect differences in coastal communities at other sites in Thailand. The lessons further provide comparisons with other SocMon regional networks and protected area networks internationally.

Citation: Arunotai, N. H., Anderson, C. L. (2015). Enhancing Socioeconomic Monitoring to Support Conservation of Coral Reef and Near Shore Resources in Thailand. University of Hawaii Social Science Research Institute, Honolulu HI. Prepared for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Ocean Service, Office for Coastal Management and for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Program Office. 75 p.