Towards Sustainable Living: The Evaluation of Livelihood Assets on the Well-Being of Tha Chin Riverine Elderly

Abstract

Following the The Sustainable Development Goals, this research aims to answer three questions which are: 1) Do ‘livelihood assets’ (natural, human, financial, physical, and social) have an effect on the level of well-being of reverine elderly?; and 2) What measure can be used to increase the well-being of riverine elderly. The research employed a quantitative method. It collected data from 186 elderly respondents living in Lumphaya Municipality which is located in part of the Tha Chin River of Nakhonpathom. The result revealed that only four of the five aspects are able to predict the well-being of the riverine elderly. The independent variables which show a positive coefficient with the level of elderly well-being at a significant level of 0.05 are ‘social capital’, ‘natural capital’, ‘physical capital’, and ‘financial capital’ with the coefficient values of .646, .375, .201, and .169 consecutively. This indicates that ‘social capital’, ‘natural capital’, ‘physical capital’, and ‘financial capital’ are factors which predict the outcome of the response variable, in this case, the level of elderly well-being. This research found no significant relationship between human assets and livelihood outcomes. Human capital refers to job-related abilities and skills, and it is presumed that these skills may be less relevant to the well-being of the riverine elderly, who are less engaged in the workforce. Therefore, to promote the well-being of riverine elderly and increase individual resiliency, the authority must focus on enhancing the livelihood assets relevant to the dependent variables. This could be achieved through the development of a stakeholder engagement plan, a prototype of which is presented at the conclusion of the article.