Members' perspectives of good governance practice of Thailand's credit union cooperatives

Abstract

PurposeThis study explores the awareness (AWN) levels of good governance amongst Thai credit union cooperatives' (CUCs) members and the factors hindering good governance practice in Thai CUCs.Design/methodology/approachThis study used a survey questionnaire from 629 members of 36 selected CUCs in Thailand. This study analysed the determinants of governance AWN levels of Thai CUCs' members using the ordered probit model. The study also employs OLS estimation to investigate the factors hindering good governance practices.FindingsThe study shows that members of different CUC types and sizes have different levels of governance AWN. Members' characteristics, experiences, and perceptions significantly influence CUC members' AWN of governance issues. The findings also suggest that a lack of morality, transparency, participation, responsibility and accountability are key obstacles that hinder good governance practices of Thai CUCs.Originality/valueThis is the first study that attempts to assess the level of AWN amongst Thai CUCs' members in different CUC sizes and types. This is also the first research that identifies the factors that hinder good governance practice in Thai CUCs based on members' evaluations. The study's findings provide important reference and implications for Thai policy makers and CUCs' board of managers to enhance members' AWN and CUCs' governance performance, and thus increase income and living standard of CUCs' members in the long term.

Increase in Profit Based on Internal Capital and Business Volume in Cooperatives in Indonesia

“…Cooperatives are collections of people per person, not collections of capital like pure capitalists. Members' Active participation will impact cooperative good governance (Kumkit et al, 2023). Therefore, capital fertilization from members should be increased compared to capital sourced from outside the cooperative.…”

“…However, profits must also be set aside to benefit cooperative members economically. In cooperative management, transparency and accountability are needed so that the goals of the cooperative are well achieved (Kumkit et al, 2023;Ngo et al, 2023). In addition, members also get social benefits, including education and training, a social fund that can be used for the benefit of themself.…”