Abstract
This study involved qualitative research aimed at exploring a social movement for changing the
local tradition regarding alcohol consumption in the community. Its goal was to identify the community
capital which facilitated the social movement in order to illustrate the process of social movement and its impacts on the alcohol consumption behaviors in the community. The research setting was Ban Khokyai,
Namphong District, Khon Kaen Province. It was a qualitative research study, the main data for which
were collected from in-depth interviews, participation observation and document review.
Alcohol consumption, which formerly had been considered as a norm in the community, changed
over time in accord with changing community power and capital. Violence among youths who drank and
got out of control evoked a reaction in the community. A civic group was formed in the name of “So-Le.”
Its leader was a respected monk who possessed three dimensions of capital: (1) cultural capital – the belief
and the faith of the people in Buddhist monks, (2) social capital – his good relationships with the village
head and the School principal, and (3) moral capital – his virtue and kindness. However, the success in
controlling alcohol consumption in the temple was just the first step of the movement. It needed further
strong support to struggle against the resistance of a community group.
The investigator suggests that the social movement for solving alcohol-related behaviors, which was
deeply ingrained in the lifestyle and culture of the people, required actors who possess such capital and
the support of the community to empower them as health promoters.
