Wanna Prayukvong, Amporn Sornprasith and Morris John Foster
This paper aims to study parental expectations of and satisfaction with overall services of preschool centres and to determine the factors which affect parents’ satisfaction in a…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to study parental expectations of and satisfaction with overall services of preschool centres and to determine the factors which affect parents’ satisfaction in a part of one of Thailand’s southern provinces.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected using a structured questionnaire from parents of children attending 29 day-care or preschool centres in Songkhla Province, South Thailand, over a two-month period in the Spring 2014. The data were analysed mainly using descriptive statistics and some correlation analyses with subsequent logical interpretation.
Findings
Given the location and non-compulsory nature of the childcare provision being assessed, it would seem fair to say that the answer to the overarching objective was fairly positive. Expectations were non-trivial; parents looked for more than “baby-minding” and expected there to be some appropriately qualified staff. The perceived satisfaction levels indicate that there is nevertheless scope for improvement.
Research limitations/implications
The sample studied is from a limited geographical region of Thailand; hence, there must be some caution in making recommendations for the whole country.
Practical implications
As the outcomes being delivered are seen to be mainly positive by parents and guardians, the policy implication for the Thai Government is that they should continue to promote, and ideally enhance, this kind of early years provision. Results suggest that Thai parents would be well advised to make use of childcare centres to promote the socialisation and development of their children.
Originality/value
The originality of the work derives from the lack of similar systematic studies in Thailand and, in particular, for the rural southern provinces.
Details
Keywords
Gordon Boyce, Wanna Prayukvong and Apichai Puntasen
Social and environmental accounting research manifests varying levels of awareness of critical global problems and the need to develop alternative approaches to dealing with…
Abstract
Social and environmental accounting research manifests varying levels of awareness of critical global problems and the need to develop alternative approaches to dealing with economy and society. This paper explores Buddhist thought and, specifically, Buddhist economics as a means to informing this debate. We draw on and expand Schumacher's ideas about ‘Buddhist economics’, first articulated in the 1960s. Our analysis centres on Buddhism's Four Noble Truths, the Noble Eightfold Path and associated Buddhist teachings. The examination includes assumptions, means and ends of Buddhist approaches to economics; these are compared and contrasted with conventional economics.To consider how thought and practice may be bridged, we examine a practical application of Buddhism's Middle Way, in the form of Thailand's current work with ‘Sufficiency Economy’.Throughout the paper, we explore the implications for the development of social accounting, looking for mutual interactions between Buddhism and social accounting thought and practice.
Wanna Prayukvong, Nara Huttasin and Morris John Foster
The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that both leisure and sustainability objectives can be achieved via Buddhist economics informed agritourism. Buddhist economics differs…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that both leisure and sustainability objectives can be achieved via Buddhist economics informed agritourism. Buddhist economics differs significantly from mainstream (neoclassical) economics in its ontological underpinning. This means that assumptions about human nature are different: the core values of mainstream economics are self-interest and competition in the pursuit of maximum welfare or utility; while in Buddhist economics, “self” includes oneself, society and nature, which are all simultaneously interconnected. The core values of Buddhist economics are compassion and collaboration through which well-being is achieved, leading to higher wisdom (pañña). Because of this, the interconnectedness of activities and relationships, even those not initially obviously so linked, is crucial.
Design/methodology/approach
The theoretical argument is illustrated by a pilot study of an agritourism, package tour to visit the properties of Thai farmers involved with a project known as “running a one rai farm to gain a one hundred thousand baht return”. The research is exploratory in character.
Findings
A result of this study is to reveal agritourism as a significant market channel to promote sustainable agriculture.
Originality/value
Agritourism can be considered an instrument for rural development with its contribution to positive economic impacts, providing economic opportunities to sustain financial security for the farming family, maintaining viability of the agricultural sector and local communities and creating jobs for rural residents together with sustainable agriculture.
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Gordon Boyce, is a senior lecturer in the Macquarie University Department of Accounting and Finance, where he is a member of the Social and Critical Research in Accounting and…
Abstract
Gordon Boyce, is a senior lecturer in the Macquarie University Department of Accounting and Finance, where he is a member of the Social and Critical Research in Accounting and Accountability Group. His interdisciplinary research encompasses social, critical and interpretive perspectives on accounting. Previous publications include research on environmental and social accounting; public administration, ethics and accountability; interactions between globalisation and accounting; and accounting education. Gordon presently teaches subjects in accounting information systems, accounting and society, social and critical perspectives on accounting and contemporary developments in accounting research.