Khon Kaen City Research Articles

Integrated Urban Transport and Land-Use Policies in Reducing CO2 Emissions and Energy Consumption: Case Study of a Medium-Sized City in Thailand

In developing cities, transport activities have become one of the primary sources of CO2 emissions and energy consumption owing to rapid economic growth, urbanization, and motorization. Khon Kaen City, Thailand, was chosen as a representative mid-sized city of a developing country to investigate the potential influences of transit-oriented development (TOD), light rail transit (LRT), and electric vehicle (EV) policy integration scenarios on CO2 emission and energy consumption reductions in 2016, 2026, and 2046. The TOD did not significantly reduce CO2 emissions or energy consumption because it was only applied in one area of the city. The LRT development also had a small effect because of the small proportion of modal shifts to LRT. However, EV utilization offered the greatest potential for reducing both CO2 emissions and energy consumption. In addition, the integrated scenario combining the three policies had a promising effect, diminishing both CO2 emissions and energy consumption, because it gathered the potential merits and benefits of each individual policy.

The Evolution and Institutionalisation of Business–Government Relations: Public–Private Partnerships in Khon Kaen, Thailand

How does the nature of business–government relations shape the capacity of local governments to accomplish their development objectives? How do different patterns of business–government interaction affect the quantity and quality of public services and the ability of citizens to hold policymakers accountable for their performance? This article attempts to answer these questions in the context of one municipality in Thailand, Khon Kaen City. We argue that the political economy of business–government relationships in Khon Kaen can be divided into three eras, each defined by a different model of business–government interaction: the government-led model, the contracting model, and the public–private partnership model. We describe how the character of business–government relationships has changed across these different models, focusing on three dimensions: (1) the degree to which ties are formalised or institutionalised, (2) the extent to which local businesses coordinate, cooperate, or collude amongst themselves, and (3) the distribution of power between the local government and businesses. We also analyse the drivers behind the shift from one model to another and consider the implications of each for local development and service provision, patterns of rent-seeking, and levels of accountability and participation.

Empowering Urban Public Transport Planning Process for Medium-Sized Cities in Developing Countries: Innovative Decision Support Framework for Sustainability

The challenges resulting from rapid economic growth, urbanization, and increased motorization in developing nations necessitate a comprehensive and sustainable approach to urban public transport planning. While sustainable urban public transport (SUPT) planning offers a solution, the complexity of choosing suitable policy measure options remains a challenge. This study first introduces a decision support framework (DSF) that integrates the sustainable urban public transport manual (SUPTM) adopted for generating the potential SUPT policy measure options, the KonSULT knowledge base applied for providing the performance scores of each measure option for all determined criteria, and the HMADM (including FAHP, FSM, and TOPSIS) technique to create, rank, and select SUPT policy measure options tailored to medium-sized urban areas in developing nations. A case study of Khon Kaen City, Thailand, illustrates the practical application of the framework, resulting in a set of 31 (91.2%) out of the total of 34 ranked policy measure options. Comparing these prioritizations with the city’s existing plan reveals a substantial agreement, which suggests the potential applicability of the DSF. Overall, the DSF marks a significant advancement in SUPT planning, which is crucial for shaping efficient, equitable, and environmentally conscious urban mobility in developing countries, which are undergoing transformative change.

Development of intensity–duration–frequency relationships in Khon Kaen City, Thailand under changing climate using GCMs and a simple scaling method

Abstract This study analyses the annual maximum (AM) rainfall series (1991–2022) in Khon Kaen City, Thailand. The AM rainfall series ranging from 3 to 24 h was best fitted to the Log-Pearson Type-III distribution. Notably, our findings reveal linear relationships between the moments of rainfall intensities and durations establishing the practicality of the simple scaling method for disaggregating 24-h AM rainfall data. Additionally, the results of this method are influenced by factors such as sample size, rainfall durations and the chosen probability distribution. Comparisons between intensity–duration–frequency (IDF) curves obtained through the simple scaling method and those derived from traditional frequency analysis provide valuable insights. Furthermore, this method was applied to bias-corrected rainfall data of 15 global climate models facilitating the generation of future IDF curves under SSP1-2.6, SSP2-4.5, SSP3-7.0 and SSP5-8.5 scenarios. Our results highlight that rainfall events in the SSP5-8.5 scenario are projected to exhibit higher intensities emphasizing the need to understand and prepare for increased rainfall extremes in the context of climate change. This research contributes valuable insights into rainfall analysis and prediction techniques, which are crucial for effective water resource management and climate adaptation strategies in the Khon Kaen region.

Government special purpose vehicles for public-private partnerships: stuck on the slow train in Khon Kaen City

Government special purpose vehicles for public-private partnerships: stuck on the slow train in Khon Kaen City

Evaluation of the Transport Environmental Effects of an Urban Road Network in a Medium-Sized City in a Developing Country

A decision support model (DSM) involving a combination of five different prediction models for the environmental effects of transport and the powerful HMADM approach was introduced for the first time to assess the multiple criteria environmental effects of transport in an urban road network of the Khon Kaen Metropolitan Municipality (KKMM) in Khon Kaen City, Thailand. Five mathematical models were adopted to quantify the CO2 emissions (CO2Es), PM2.5 concentration (PM2.5C), CO concentrations (COCs), noise levels (NOLs), and pedestrian accident risk (PAR) values of all road segments in the study area. The FAHP, FSM, and TOPSIS were integrated into the HMADM to estimate the composite transport environmental effect scores (CTEESs) of each road segment. The FAHP was applied to determine the relative weights of each environmental criterion for three land use types, and the FSM was utilized to transform linguistic (fuzzy) scores into numerical (crisp) scores. Both the FAHP and FSM are principally used to deal with uncertain, incomplete, and ambiguous (fuzzy) information that appears during decision-making processes. Finally, TOPSIS was used to estimate the CTEESs of each road segment. An integrated DSM was applied to comprehend and evaluate each individual environmental criterion and the combined environmental criteria for each road segment in the study area. The DSM was employed to rank the problematic locations of all road segments. For instance, the ranking of the top 12 road segments with the greatest CTEESs was 75, 80, 48, 89, 76, 5, 64, 59, 60, 16, 65, and 62. In addition, this DSM can also be used to identify the possible causes of such locations and allocate limited government budgets for the implementation of appropriate remedial measures for resolving such environmental problems due to transport in an urban road network in the study area.

Prefabricated Shelter for Local Community in Khon Kaen, Thailand

Nowadays, rapid development and growth of the economic and social changed the ways of living in the community. For low-income people, they try to adjust themselves to survive in this changing world. One of the main problems for this group of people is lack of living places. A temporary shelter in a rural area as well as in an urban area is socially a direct solution in responding to their fundamental needs. Based on the study of temporary shelter in Khon Kaen, Thailand, the normal space within the shelter includes multipurpose area and sleeping area with size of 6 sq.m. for each area. This information is used for this study. The idea of the study is to make a low cost prefabricate temporary shelter. The process of the study began with transform the information from previous research to be a prototype one. An architectural drawing is made and discuss with local shop base on the requirement of using local materials, suitable for simple transportation, easy for construction and limited budget. The final prefabrication shelter has been built and installed for checking the problem of building. However, this study showed a few problems that have to be noted such as too many elements that need good organize process for example. Also, the study has found that the prefabricated shelter can be built to suit local need of Khon Kaen city and other parts of Thailand as well. Finally, this prototype can be applied for other function beside a shelter for living. It can be temporary site office, shop, or others.

Waste‐merit management: How adapting Buddhist environmental ethics can help – A qualitative case study of Buddhist temples in Khon Kaen, Thailand

AbstractThailand needs to manage trash disposal due to the country's growing urban community. This study argues that waste management in the city of Khon Kaen can benefit from adopting Buddhist environmental ethics. We conducted a qualitative case study with purposive sampling of 24 key informants for in‐depth interviews. We used the ATLAS.ti programme to apply content analysis techniques (theme, coding and quotation). Our case study argues for an optimistic practice of waste management in temples by integrating the Buddhist principle of merit‐making. This approach shapes waste management, such as donating waste, garbage‐free funerals and waste disposal. The waste merit‐making in the temples reinforces application of 3Rs (reuse, reduce and recycle). The study suggests that waste‐merit management model could be replicated in other communities but its success is not guaranteed due to variations in the level of support and collaboration between community and temple.

Toward Sociable City Park: The Relationship between Sociopetality of Seating Facilities Design and Communities’ Social Activity in Khon Kaen, Thailand

Green space in urban areas, including city parks, is one of the essential components and inseparable elements of the urban structure. Not only have environmental benefits, but city parks are also beneficial for the community in social improvement, as they become places for human interaction and integration. Khon Kaen City, one of the city centers in Thailand, continues to grow from what was originally only a small rural area. Thus the existence of city parks is fundamental. Since sitting is an activity that can open opportunities for social interaction and create the vitality of urban space, the importance of creating seating that can maximize the social interaction (sociopetal) of the community in the city park is needed. However, the seating facilities in Khon Kaen city parks are dominated by linear seating characteristics that can minimize social interaction (sociofugal). This study aims to investigate the relationship between the sociopetality of seating facilities design and communities' social activity. Data on seating facilities design characteristics and communities' social activity collected through behavioral mapping in three city parks in Khon Kaen were analyzed using chi-square and odd ratio. The results showed a significant relationship between the sociopetality of seating facilities design and communities' social activity. Sociopetal seats tend to be used 2.4 times more often for social activity than individual activity. This finding can be a reference for architects, planners, and designers to increase social activity in city parks.

Feeder Bus Reformation for an Urban Rail Project: The Case of Khon Kaen City, Thailand

The ability to use public transportation should be available throughout the whole service area and the public transportation network should be well connected. This research compared the potential coverage of a feeder bus network in support of urban rail transportation, as well as the impact of future transit network plans on public transportation accessibility in the city of Khoan Kaen, Thailand. The performance of the public transportation system was predicted based on multimodal transport and the completed urban rail public transportation plan, as projected in the year 2036, in order to fill gaps in the existing feeder bus network. The feasibility and characteristics of the route reformation policy concept should provide an effective feeder network for the urban rail system. A comparative study was conducted on stakeholder impact for a three-fold scenario: 1) separate individual lines for bus routes; 2) both forms of feeder bus networks (conventional and reformed); and 3) access to three designated utility areas from the entire feeder bus network. In this scenario, the most effective urban mobility support was provided by public facilities combined with a major roadway directly connecting to the designated positions. The time used on the extended bus route network increased by around 11% on average for the entire trip, while accessibility increased by approximately 67.75%, 47.9%, and 43.68% for the entire multimodal transport network. These analytical results make a significant contribution to future knowledge on urban transformation through urban mass transit projects. The contribution of land acquisition was significant. Also, the demand-responsive connection approach used in this study can be adopted to determine feeder bus reformation options, particularly in emerging economies.

Roles of policy brokers in collaborative governance: Evidence from Khon Kaen and Bueng Kan cities in Thailand

AbstractThis article examines the roles of policy brokers in different settings of collaboration in Khon Kaen and Bueng Kan Cities in Thailand. It integrates the advocacy coalition and multiple stream frameworks to view how a policy broker in different collaborative settings would manage their preferred urban transport initiatives by conducting qualitative research methodology based on an embedded multiple case study approach. The results showed Khon Kaen City revealed a horizontal setting of local collaboration where the Khon Kaen Think Tank and Khon Kaen Transit System were key policy brokers that strategized light rail transit initiatives. These policy brokers were proficient in negotiating, financing, and locally‐allied strategies. Bueng Kan City displayed a vertical collaboration where the Deputy Minister of Interior of Thailand was a crucial policy broker who held potential administrative and political powers to manage the desired policies. This study showed that several joint actors, as backing resources to policy brokers, were essential to horizontal collaboration, but they were less critical than the resources of the policy brokers in vertical collaboration.

Consumer experience co-creation in speciality coffee through social media sharing: its antecedents and consequences

PurposeThe present study aims to examine consumers’ happiness experiences for speciality coffee consumption in Thailand by considering the role of consumers’ active participation, sharing of experience and consumer experience co-creation.Design/methodology/approachA purposive survey was conducted in speciality coffee shops located in the largest commercial city and industrial development centre in the Northeastern Region of Thailand, Khon Kaen City, which yielded 271 usable and valid responses. The proposed model was evaluated by using a structural equation analysis with a partial least squares technique.FindingsThe results confirmed that consumers’ active participation and sharing of experience affected their experience co-creation, which in turn contributed to the consumers’ happiness experience at the speciality coffee shops.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the consumer experience co-creation and social media literature by proposing a conceptual model for the speciality coffee consumption experience. Furthermore, the study findings contribute to the existing literature by investigating new linkages, such as the role of consumer experience co-creation in a speciality coffee context as a mediating variable of consumer active participation and the sharing of experience with consumers’ happiness experience.

Advanced Operationalization Framework for Climate-Resilient Urban Public Health Care Services: Composite Indicators-Based Scenario Assessment of Khon Kaen City, Thailand.

Conventional local public health planning and monitoring are insufficiently addressing the conjugated impact of urban development change and climate change in the future. The existing checklist and index often ignore the spatial-network interaction determining urban public health services in forward-looking aspects. This study offers and demonstrates a climate-resilient operationalization framework for urban public health services considering the interaction between urban development change and climate change across scales. A combination of collaborative scenario planning and tailor-made composite indicators were applied based on the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report (AR5)’s climate risk concept to adhere to local realities and diverse sets of scenarios. The framework was contested in a medium-sized city with a universal health care coverage setting, Khon Kaen city, Thailand. The results show that the coupling of collaborative scenario planning and composite indicators allows local public health care to operationalize their potential impact and climate-resilient targets in the future(s) in multiple service operation aspects. The scenarios assessment outcomes prove that although public health devotion can be fail-safe, achieving climate-resilient targets requires sectoral integration with urban development and health determining domains. Further exploration and disputation of the framework with a wider scale and diversified settings are recommended to enhance their robustness and universality.

Risk analysis of PM2.5 and PM10: A case study at Khon Kaen City

Risk analysis of PM2.5 and PM10: A case study at Khon Kaen City

An Investigation of the Relationship Among Medical Center’s Image, Service Quality, and Patient Loyalty

This research aimed to study significant relationships among factors influencing customer satisfaction and loyalty in the health care service industry. In order to test the conceptual framework, structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to analyze the data from 252 respondents (outpatients) at four public and private hospitals in Khon Kaen City, Thailand. This empirical research determined how the health care service image, service quality, and behavioral intentions were interrelated using a scale adapted from Taiwan Customer Satisfaction and American Customer Satisfaction Indices, as the perceived quality variable was designated as a second-order construct. The findings showed that the significant factor impacting customer loyalty is customer satisfaction. Corporate image significantly enhanced both customer expectations (CEs) and perceived service quality. The researchers also observed that perceived service quality was positively related to tangibility, instrumental, and emotional supports in addition to customer satisfaction. In conclusion, this article proposed a thoughtful research scenario for management and corporate/public policymakers at the national level in Thailand. It was observed that a good image could directly enhance perceived service quality for businesses in the health service sector. Short Abstract We aimed to explore the relationship between image, service quality, and patient loyalty in the health service sector. A multivariate analysis (structural equation modeling) was employed to analyze the data from 252 outpatients in Khon Kaen City, Thailand. The conventional service quality model suggests that corporate image influences customer expectation, and then affects perceived service quality, then customer satisfaction, and finally, loyalty. However, this article found that, in the health service sector, a corporate image may directly influence perceived service quality without the customer expectation variable as a mediator.

Change in helmet use behavior enforced by CCTV cameras with automatic helmet use detection system on an urban arterial road

Objective Many developing countries experience a high death toll among motorcycle users (both drivers and passengers), primarily due to a relatively low rate of helmet use resulting from ineffective helmet law enforcement. The objectives of this study are to explore the change in helmet use behavior due to helmet use enforcement by closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera technology with an automatic helmet use detection system and to identify the factors associated with helmet use along an urban arterial road in the city of Khon Kaen, Thailand. Methods Data collection was carried out on 49,128 samples by video cameras installed at 5 signalized intersections during 2 periods, namely, before and during the CCTV camera enforcement. The study applied logistic regression analysis to determine factors associated with helmet use and to compare the ratio of helmet use for each variable according to the odds ratio. Results The study found that CCTV camera enforcement could increase helmet usage at all study intersections by 5.3%. The results imply that 4 factors, including riding status, number of passengers, day of week, and traffic conditions, significantly affected helmet use both before and during the CCTV camera enforcement. Remarkably, 2 more variables, age and police inspection, significantly affected helmet use during the CCTV camera enforcement period. Conclusions This study confirms that CCTV camera enforcement can be an important driving force for changing helmet use behavior, particularly for child passengers. Moreover, CCTV camera enforcement can support enforcement by extending coverage to a 24-h period and to intersections without police inspection.

Investigating the perceived quality of a special event and its influence on perceived value and behavioural intentions in a special event in Thailand

PurposeThe aim of this study is to examine the impact of perceived special event quality on perceived value and behavioural intentions. Specifically, it was proposed that attendees' perceived special event quality has direct and indirect effects on behavioural intentions through the mediating role of social value, economic value and emotional value.Design/methodology/approachA self-administered, onsite survey was deployed to gather the data to formulate the hypothesised relationships in this study. Data collection also included event-intercepted panel surveys, conducted with actual consumers who attended the Agricultural and Cultural Fair. The surveys were distributed and conducted during the afternoon and early evenings at the event area and exit point of the event. In total, 250 questionnaires were distributed to domestic visitors and 176 respondents completed the survey.FindingsThe study found the perceived quality of the special event directly impacted social value, economic value, emotional value and behavioural intentions. The results also indicated that social value and emotional value had significant effects on behavioural intentions. Further, this study found that both social value and emotional value components mediated the relationship between perceived quality of the special event and behavioural intentions. These results confirmed the existence of a perceived-quality-value-behavioural intentions chain.Research limitations/implicationsThere are some key limitations including the sample size in this study was relatively small and all the respondents were domestic attendees, providing findings specific to one culture only. In term of implications, the results offer event organisers holistic insights into elements to be adopted as the foundation for special event consumption. It helps event organisers to build upon customer choice behaviour, which can be employed to effectively cultivate more attendees for the special events.Originality/valueThis is the first study that examined the extent to which attendees' perceived quality of a special event influenced their perceived values in Agricultural and Cultural Fair which is a special event held each year in the major city of Khon Kaen in the northeast region in Thailand.

Government Special Purpose Vehicles for Public-Private Partnerships: Stuck on the Slow Train in Khon Kaen City

Government Special Purpose Vehicles for Public-Private Partnerships: Stuck on the Slow Train in Khon Kaen City

Inclusive Smart City Development: A Lesson Learned from Thailand

This paper aims to analyze how smart cities can deal with the idea of inclusivity. This study would like to present the concept and the practical approach that can drive the concept of the smart city into action in a case study of Thailand. This study would like to portray the implementation of the idea of inclusivity in smart city development in Khon Khen city municipality. The study will use the critical discourse analysis to describe the smart city issued by the Thailand government, especially in Khon Kaen city municipal. This paper will use critical discourse analysis to unpack the development of inclusiveness in smart city projects based on involving parties in the project from the beginning to the end of the event. This study found that there are nine steps of actions that Khon Kaen city municipality applied to mobilize those aspects to be advanced satisfactorily. This study found that the success of the smart city development operations of Khon Kaen city municipality, as shown in the finding, depends on the three crucial adjustments of the city, such as adjust of thinking, method, and practice.

The Role of Paratransit to Support Sustainable Transportation: Case Study of Khon Kaen City, Thailand

Considering the transport system in Thailand, there are various transport modes including paratransit. Especially, Songtaew or a modified pick-up truck in Thailand operates as a predominant public transport mode in many medium-sized cities. However, there is a lack of empirical study regarding the role of Songtaew service to support the sustainable transportation. Therefore, the primary goal of this study is to motivate a modal shift to public transit towards the sustainable transport system. The policy deliberation is based on an evaluation of the Songtaew service regarding the institutional side, supply side, and demand side. Implications of this study would also be useful for providing a data of developing countries’ paratransit issues for the further research on paratransit as well as for contributing to sustainable transportation.