Development and National Security of the Armed Forces Development Command: A Case Study of Mobile Development Unit 31

Abstract

The purposes of this research article were 1) to study the level of development and national security of Mobile Development Unit 31; and 2) to propose guidelines for the development and national security of Mobile Development Unit 31. This was a mixed-methods research. Quantitative research involved collecting data from 897,794 people across two provinces: 15 districts of Nan Province and 8 districts of Phrae Province. By using Taro Yamane's formula, the sample size was 400 people. Data was collected using questionnaires, and statistical analyses included frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation. Qualitative research involved in-depth interviews with 19 key informants, analyzed using descriptive content analysis. The research findings revealed that 1) the overall level of development and national security enhancement of the Armed Forces Development Command: A Case Study of Mobile Development Unit 31 according to the overall plan, had a high average score ( = 3.67, S.D. = 0.39), and the overall level of opinion regarding the development and national security enhancement of Mobile Development Unit 31 based on Aparihaniyadhamma 7 had a high average score
( = 3.62, S.D. = 0.32); and 2) the guidelines for the development and national security enhancement of Mobile Development Unit 31 consisted of four aspects, namely
(1) regarding transportation, there should be development and improvement of transportation routes in communities and agricultural areas to facilitate travel, product transportation, and increase safety during travel; (2) in terms of the provision of drinking water, there should be development and provision of water sources to address drought and flooding problems, as well as support for the provision of water for consumption and agricultural purposes to the people; (3) in the aspect of assistance and development of the people, assistance should be provided to disaster victims, and knowledge of agriculture and living according to the sufficiency economy principles should be promoted; (4) regarding the promotion of integrated farming, there should be support for agricultural occupations, the formation of occupational groups, and income generation to strengthen the resilience and sustainability of communities.