| บทคัดย่อ(English) |
This investigation was to study the existence of workers in the informal sector; Thai traditional massagers attourist seaside resorts. These workers were able to adopt the cultural capital of massage in the past to develop acareer and make profit from tourism. This is an important example of one way in which Thai people are usingtraditional idea to help make a living in the contemporary global environament. The studies engulfed personalbackgrounds, necessary competency and approaches to improve competency of the Thai traditional massagersat the tourist seaside resorts. The total sample size was 219 people. The main areas studied were Patong, Phuket Province; Koh, Samed,Rayong Province; and Na Jomtien beach, Muang Pattaya, Chonburi Province. It was found that 87.2% of theThai massagers were female and 12.8% were male. There were 40.7% lived in the eastern region, and 32.4% inthe northeast. The recent careers of 47.9% of respondents before becoming Thai traditional massagers werefarmer, trader, beauty consultant, and housewife. The longest duration in the massage career was 30 years withthe lowest income per head per month during the high season equal to 3,000 Baht; and the highest was 120,000 Baht.The lowest income during the low season was 800 Baht and the highest was 36,000 Baht. There were 46.6%of the sample who obtained their massage knowledge from their parents, teachers, and cousins; and 88.6% whoowned no license to practice medicine. Motivation to enter this career was to be richer to support their familiesand to have a permanent career. The competencies that the massagers thought were important were cleanliness,attentiveness, massage expertise, communication skills, additional service from massage, and good service. Factorsrelating to "attitude" were smiling, endurance, honesty, diligence, career-oriented. The approaches used toimprove competency were training organized by the government (50.7%) and.informal development byself-training from information from recipients (53.9%) observing the experts (39.3%) and inquires fromcolleagues, including from documents (3.6%). Factors indentified as supporting success in the career were thenature of the service environment: the service, which included generosity, courtesy, and being service-minded:and offering a reasonable price compared to other kinds of massage service. It is recommended that for the Thai traditional massagers at tourist seaside resorts to be developed intoprofessionals, the government sectors should allocate budgets for training to consistently improve competency,English use and professional ethics. A skills test should be organized in order to upgrade to the national massagestandards of the Thai traditional massagers at tourist seaside resorts who retains the existence of the culturalcapital of Thai traditional massage. |
