Bird-watching Leader’s Desired Characteristics in Thailand

Abstract

The objective of this research was to study the bird-watching leader’s desired characteristics in Thailand. This is a qualitative research that collected data from the documents and the interviews with 2 groups of samples: (1) 4 Thai people who work as the bird-watching leader/guide in Thailand and (2) 1 organization related to the conservation and promotion of bird watching in Thailand. Purposive sampling was selected for both research populations. The research tool was a interview form. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews.  So that when the information obtained from the interviews reaches the theoretical saturation, the data collection was stopped. The data is analyzed by content analysis. The results of the research found that the bird-watching leader’s desired characteristics according to the standards for bird-watching activities of the Department of Tourism which classified into 3 levels: local-level bird-watching leader; General-level bird-watching leader and high-level bird- watching leader were differences in the important issues; regarding to the areas for bird- watching leading, the ability to identify and explain the detail of birds, the ability to manage accommodation and travel and the ability to communicate in a variety of foreign languages. In this regard, bird-watching leader at all 3 levels should have the basic first aid knowledge.  While general and high-level bird-watching leader have the same desirable characteristics in some respects, including: can take bird-watching leading all over Thailand, know the important bird-watching spots in Thailand, know the area where will go bird-watching very well, have the ability to manage accommodation and travel very well, have the network with local-level bird-watching leader and have the knowledge and ability to introduce principles of bird- watching and bird photography at a high level.