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“ประเทศไทยในอนาคต Future Thailand : มิติที่ 2 สังคม ชนบท ท้องถิ่น” โดย สถาบันพระปกเกล้า

religious institutions, it is found that there has been an increase in the tendency for temples
to be left empty without religious practice, while rural people are now less likely to be

ordained in the village temple and local religious practices and traditions have begun to
fade as rural people become more materialistic.
Internal factors

The internal factors that affect social quality include political factors, state policy,
national strategy, the national constitution, national reform plan, and the National Economic
and Social Development Plan. These factors have also affected the quality of rural society.

The important political factors are political movements behind different ideologies
which influence the beliefs and ideology of rural people, creating community polarization
and divisions which limit cooperation and can result in conflict at the family level.
The state policies that have significant impacted rural people include populist

policies which shifted rural attitudes and values from originally being focused on self-
reliance and self-management to reliance on state aid.
In terms of national strategy, several measures were implemented to strengthen rural
communities to improve economic and social quality. However, there is a risk that national

strategic has been unable to implement as the main mechanism relies on the public. These
include bureaucratic factors, in which the target population had no sense of ownership or
participation with the strategy. If the state could adjust its ideas and seek to work
cooperatively, the national strategy would benefit and result in better social quality in rural

communities.
Factors of the national constitution resulted in some positive effects on the quality
of society but this has not yet been thoroughly covered. In particular, the national

constitution has helped to strengthen the community's role in environmental management,
such as forest management based on community rights. Many rural communities actively
participate and feel ownership of natural resources. If the state can open wider
opportunities, it will result in social cohesion, social inclusion, and social empowerment.
The National Reform Plan has similar risks as the national strategic factor. It is

operated solely by the state and people have a limited role and are simply receivers of any
benefits. If community participation is allowed and people can develop a sense of
ownership, the quality of rural society would improve.

The past national economic and social development plan affected the economic
quality of rural people since it improved infrastructure and public services. Nonetheless,
negative impacts were also caused which decreased social quality.

External factors
External factors include global climate change, technological change and digital
transformation, and globalization. Although this factor is derived from the outside the state,

it still affects the quality of rural society. In particular, global climate change impacts

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