Apparently, gambling seems to be valued as a leisure activity and a form of entertainment in many parts of the world. Public attitudes toward gambling have shifted from viewing it as a vice to treating it as an opportunity to exploit (Eadington 1997, 2000). Relaxation of constraints on existing commercial gaming activities and legislative change in authorising gambling has occurred extensively. The proliferation of casinos makes people perceive gambling as a legitimate activity and as an economic hope. According to Pizam and Pokela (1985), casino gambling however is a controversial tourism development strategy. Eadington (1986) also points out that legalised gambling causes economic and social changes in communities and changes their image. Thus, both the character and reputation of the community may be altered as a result of initiating casinos as a tourist attraction. The legalisation of gambling has been a subject of considerable debates in Thailand for a decade and it has been brought into the cabinet�s meeting from time to time. Some politicians and academic scholars suggest that casinos should be introduced as a tourism development strategy to combat the country�s economic and financial crisis. Many people are attached to strong belief that gambling is a sinful activity. It is inherently immoral and contrary to accepted family and social values. It is a voluntary regressive tax in which its effects fall most heavily on lower-income groups. It is morally wrong, and can cause an addiction that is often linked to personal and family tragedies. It also attracts criminal activities and political corruption (Piriyarangsan et al. 2003; Cornwel-Smith 2005). As social acceptance of casino gambling has globally increased, this research aims to gauge hospitality management perspectives on gambling and casino tourism. The focus of the paper is to investigate hospitality executives� attitudes towards relationship between Thai tourism and casino gambling; to explore their views on casino legalisation and regulation; as well as to examine their opinions about casino impacts, operation and management if casinos are legalised in Thailand. Mail questionnaires were carried out during September 2003 - February 2004, resulting in 212 returns of respondents. Then, 18 semi-structured interviews with hotel and tour executives, politicians, policemen, government officials, directors of social service organisations and religious leaders were undertaken in May - July 2005 to acquire more insights into the issues. A combination of quantitative and qualitative data indicates that Thai people have mixed feelings about casino tourism. Although quantitative findings show hospitality group welcome the idea, but they do not want it in their own backyard. Qualitative results are more in opposition. Majority of interviewees hold the differing views. The study concludes that casinos gambling may function simply as a value added or an enhancement to a destination in Thailand, not a main tourism attraction. It is strongly suggested that casino gambling and Thai tourism industry should not be connected. Instead, �Thai� hospitality and cultures should be promoted as a unique tourism product of Thailand.

Development communication studies originated in the U.S. It is understandable, therefore, that countries seeking to establish development communication studies of their own engaged in considerable borrowing of theories and methodologies from the U.S. However, it has ultimately become necessary to adapt these borrowed materials to make them more responsive to the specific needs of those countries. Thailand, which was until recently an underdeveloped country and only now is beginning to emerge as a Newly Industrialising Country, has gone through this borrowing process since the start of its development communication studies programs in the late 1970s. The direct borrowing stage lasted from that time until approximately the mid-1980s. Until then, teaching, research, and academic staff training in development communication in Thailand relied heavily on U.S. sources. After the mid-1980s, however, an indigenous development communication research agenda began to be established. Where the earlier programs, texts, and research basically reproduced mainstream U.S. approaches based on the development modernization paradigm, Thai programs have since begun to focus more clearly on the specific Thai experience. Although rural development research in the areas of agriculture, public health, and education remain in the forefront of Thai research, newer concerns reflecting contemporary social problems, such as women's issues, AIDS, the environment, and the uses of new information technologies, are becoming important research topics.

This research essay is intended to examine the link between privatization and development in Thailand . It found that privatization in Thailand can come in many forms. The government has tried to bring the private sector to participate in infrastructural development to help relieve the government's financial burdens. But it appeared that privatization still has a small role in national development through infrastructural development This is because the government does not have a clear policy to define the role of the private sector and the public sector in this issue. In addition , Thailand's experience in bringing the private sector to participate in infrastructural development through the methods such as BTO(build-transfer-operate) and BOT(build-operate-transfer) has caused many problems which have had an adverse effect on many projects. The paper found that the state still retains its role as the developmental state . This can be seen from the fact that the state has no intention to divest state enterprises which it considers as important. Furthermore, state enterprises will continue to play a major role in national development . However, the trend of state enterprises in Thailand will move towards corporatization and commercialization in which more state enterprises will change their status to state-owned companies and focus on commercialization with a view to increasing their efficiency through competition with the private sector.

Zugl.: Freiburg (Breisgau), Univ., Diss., 2006

<p>Date:</p><p>2010-05-25</p><p>Program:</p><p>International Marketing</p><p>Course</p><p>Master Thesis International Marketing (EFO705)</p><p>Authors</p><p>Ms. RongPan</p><p>Mr. Sitthiphon Panto</p><p>Teacher</p><p>Tobias Eltebrandt</p><p>Title</p><p>A study of Swedish tourist going on vacation in Thailand</p><p>Research question</p><p>Which factors affect Swedish travelers’ decision making in choosing Thailand as a traveling destination?</p><p>Target audience</p><p>This report could be beneficial for Tourism Authority of Thailand. The target audiences including Government sector who responsible in promoting Thailand tourism.</p><p>Conclusion</p><p>With the help of consumer decision making theory, factors were being investigated. An additional questionnaire was being distributed to collect primary data. The secondary data from reliable sources was used to have a better understanding of Swedish travelling behaviour. It showed that <em>among eight factors </em>“motivation or energizers factor” has the most influence or effect on Swedish traveler’s decision making in choosing Thailand as a traveling destination.</p><p>However, we can summarize their level of influence into three broaden group: High Influence Factor (motivation or energizers factor, socio-economic factor, (personality / attitude factor), Medium Influence Factor (perception factor, learning factor, cultural factor, family influence factor) and Low Influence Factor (reference group influence Factor)</p>

Graduation date: 1994

Date: 2010-05-25 Program: International Marketing Course Master Thesis International Marketing (EFO705) Authors Ms. RongPan Mr. Sitthiphon Panto Teacher Tobias Eltebrandt Title A study of Swedish tourist going on vacation in Thailand Research question Which factors affect Swedish travelers’ decision making in choosing Thailand as a traveling destination? Target audience This report could be beneficial for Tourism Authority of Thailand. The target audiences including Government sector who responsible in promoting Thailand tourism. Conclusion With the help of consumer decision making theory, factors were being investigated. An additional questionnaire was being distributed to collect primary data. The secondary data from reliable sources was used to have a better understanding of Swedish travelling behaviour. It showed that among eight factors “motivation or energizers factor” has the most influence or effect on Swedish traveler’s decision making in choosing Thailand as a traveling destination. However, we can summarize their level of influence into three broaden group: High Influence Factor (motivation or energizers factor, socio-economic factor, (personality / attitude factor), Medium Influence Factor (perception factor, learning factor, cultural factor, family influence factor) and Low Influence Factor (reference group influence Factor)

The purpose of the study was to develop an effective plan for teacher education in Thailand. Rationale for the study was based upon apparent existing weaknesses in the current program for teacher education in Thailand, with the assumption that a stronger teacher preparation program would produce a stronger educational system as a whole. Emphasis in development of the teacher preparation plan was directed toward making the plan attractive enough to insure consideration by Thai educational authorities.A review of related literature was conducted with emphasis on six- major areas believed to be significant to the construction of an effective teacher preparation program. The six major areas were:1. curricular content in teacher education;2. micro-teaching and laboratory experience in student teacher preparation;change;3. student teaching and student teacher attitude change4. supervision and supervisory roles in student teaching;5. evaluation procedures for student teacher performance; and6. in-service programs in teacher education.Each of the six major areas pertaining to the effectiveness of teacher preparation programs was examined for key concepts to provide direction for adequate change and growth in the area of teacher education in Thailand.Three major components in teacher education emerged from the six major areas examined in the related literature: general education, specialized education and professional education. Utilizing the review of the related literature coupled with observation of practices and experiences of the researcher while studying in the United States, a proposed plan for teacher preparation programs in Thailand was developed with an initial set of recommendations.In the proposed plan, the three major components in teacher education were programmed throughout all four years of undergraduate work with opportunity for further study during the fifth year. Throughout the total five year program, the time distribution of the three major components was proportionately proposed as twenty-eight percent for general education, fifty percent for specialized education, and twenty-two percent for professional education. Specific steps for implementation of the plan were recommended.The proposed plan for teacher preparation programs was designed to provide guidelines for teacher education institutions in Thailand. The proposed plan, if adopted for implementation in Thailand, is expected to lead to a more effective program for teacher preparation.

The thesis analyzes the determinants of Singaporean foreign direct investment in Thailand during the years 1981-2009, taking into account the relevant previous studies. The research comprises of analyzing the patterns of Singapore’s OFDI to Thailand, literature reviews of theories and empirical studies of Singaporean OFDI in general, and also an econometric analysis of the determinants of Singapore’s total FDI in Thailand. Singapore is the largest overseas investors in Thailand when compare to other countries in ASEAN. More specifically, Singaporean investors make the decision to invest abroad, in this case is Thailand, base on home country factors and host country factors. In terms of home country factors, Singaporean FDI in Thailand is caused by the limited Singapore’s domestic market and also rapid changing in the comparative advantages of Singapore. While, for host country factors, the econometric approach is utilized to observe in this study. In form of econometric analysis, the two regression models with time series data between the years 1981 and 2009 are employed to analyze. To be exact, in the first regression model, the Singaporean FDI in Thailand (RFDI) is treated as the dependent variable, while the growth rate of Thai domestic market (GRGDP), the Thai real wage rate (RWAGE), the relative price of Thailand and Singapore (PTS), the nominal relative exchange rate (EXR) and the dummy variable of the Asian crisis (AC) are treated as dependent variables. While, in the second model, RFDI is also the dependent variable but PTS and EXR are combined to be the real relative exchange rate of Thailand and Singapore or RER (PTS*EXR). However, in order to reach the conclusion of observing the determinants of Singaporean FDI in Thailand, OLS technique is utilized in two regression models. The OLS results present that GRGDP, PTS and RER have an influence on RFDI. Further, the long run relationship between the variables is also observed in this study by using the Johansen cointegration test. The results of the test indicate that there are conintegrating equations or the long-run relationships among the variables in model 1 and model 2. Apart from that, the Error Correction Mechanism (ECM) is also employed with the purpose of illustrating that when RFDI of two models deviate from their long- run equilibrium, an adjustment to pull the actual RFDI to the long-run equilibrium will take place. However, empirical evidences present that the speed of adjustment is rather rapid in both of models.

Tourism in the rural areas of developing countries is expanding at a rapid pace and is often a primary means of income in these areas. While the WTO (World Tourism Organization) and local developers encourage the expansion of this industry, others criticize tourism’s use as a tool for development in poor regions. Critics frequently use the core-periphery framework to examine how external control and high external leakages often result in the destination area remaining underdeveloped despite the large expenditures by tourists. Several studies have used the dependency framework to examine the core-periphery relationship on the international scale, but due to dependency’s traditional confinement to the international scale, the dependency framework has not been employed on smaller spatial scales. This study will examine the utility of the dependency framework on a regional scale in a rural area of a developing country by examining the distribution of income between the core and periphery. Additionally, while this economic problem of leakage, a major symptom of dependency, is well documented, there is a paucity of research on the methods to reduce leakage out of peripheral areas. Strategies that can be employed on the village level may be especially useful, as they do not require the cooperation of outside stakeholders who may profit from the leakages. By conducting informal interviews with key stakeholders, consulting informants, and surveying tourism businesses, this study seeks to understand the issue of dependency in Northern Thailand's rural tourism industry as well as to identify and evaluate the strategies currently employed in these villages to reduce leakages. The four case studies of rural villages determined that in all cases, the urban areas profited more from rural tourism than the villages; however, the amount of leakage out of the villages was highly varied. This variation appears to be largely due to the different strategies that each village employed. The villages, which employed a proactive economic strategy, had more success in reducing leakages than other villages. These findings support the unorthodox dependency framework.