QUALITY OF LIFE OF THE PEOPLE : A CASE STUDY IN LAOKHWAN DISTRICT, KANCHANABURI PROVINCE

Abstract

A study “Quality of Life of the People in Laokhwan district, Kanchanaburi Province.” The purposes of this research were to explore the level of quality of life of the people in Laokhwan district, Kanchanaburi Province and to compare quality of life of the people classifi ed according to personal factors consisting of gender, age, marital status, level of education,occupation, monthly income and number of family members. Data were collected from 379 subjects. The instrument for data collection was questionnaire. The statistics applied in the process were percentage arithmetic mean and standard deviation, t-test (Independent), F-test (One Way ANOVA), and content analysis.
The study found that most of the subjects were females, 36 - 45 years old, married (living together), with primary school education, Had a career in agriculture, 3 - 4 familymembers, and a monthly income between 5,001 - 15,000 Baht. Overall, the quality of life of people in Laokhwan district, Kanchanaburi Province was at a good level. ( = 3.46, SD.= 0.48)When considered each factor, it was found that the quality of life in terms of the mental health was with the highest mean ( = 3.56, SD. = 0.66) followed by environment ( = 3.43, SD. = 0.69), social relationship ( = 3.43, SD. = 0.69), and physical health ( = 3.35, SD. = 0.49), respectively. For comparison of quality of life of people in Laokhwan district, Kanchanaburi Province according to their personal factors, it was found that people who were different in gender, age, level of education, occupation and monthly income had different quality of life at a signifi cance level of .05 while people who were different in marital status and number of family members were not different in their quality of life.
Suggestions for study, the government should focus on physical development, psychological, social relationship and environment. It will be beneficial for people in the community to have a good quality of life. They can live happily.