Paper Title
The Integration of The Mon Ethnic Knowledge and The Participation of Thai-Mon People in Community Strengthening: A Case Study of Mon Communities in Phra Pradaeng and Bang Kadi

Abstract
This research aims to study the integration of the Mon ethnic knowledge and the participation of Thai-Mon people in community strengthening. This research is a qualitative research which involves data collected from primary and secondary documents, in-depth interviews, and participatory observation and non-participatory observation in the Mon communities in Phra Pradaeng District, Samut Prakan Province, and in Bang Kradi in Bangkhuntien District, Bangkok. The findings revealed that the integration of the Mon ethnic knowledge and the participation of Thai-Mon people in terms of cultural heritage conservation to strengthen the community of the two communities are different. The Mon Community in Bang Kradi relied on informal relationships between people in the community and the institutions who managed the community�s cultural heritage conservation. The Mon people in Bang Kradi established a museum to pass on the Mon ethnic knowledge in the community; the museum is highly glorified by the community members. Moreover, they had managed the museum casually. On the other hand, the Mon Community in Phra Pradaeng had passed on the Mon ethnic knowledge based academically. They established a museum as a learning center for academic references. In terms of the public participation for conserving cultural heritage, people in Mon Community in Phra Pradaeng�s had the bond and cooperative intentions to conserve their cultural heritage in the area. This had strengthened the community regarding the conservation of the cultural heritage through the formal management within the community. Furthermore, they had systemically collected the Mon ethnic knowledge which allowed them to pass on the knowledge effectively. Index Terms� Mon ethnic knowledge, participation, Mon community in Phra Pradaeng, Mon community in Bang Kadi.