Social Network Analysis and Network Centrality in Small Hospitality and Tourism Enterprises: Evidence of the Transit Corridor Effect from a Thai Border Province

Small hospitality and tourism enterprises in border provinces frequently experience the “Transit Corridor Effect”—a phenomenon where high transit volume yields unexpectedly low economic retention and structural disadvantages for local firms. To understand how external networking functions in these peripheral contexts, this study used Social Network Analysis to evaluate the external bridging networks of 100 small enterprises in Nong Khai, Thailand. Cooperative ties with 16 organizations were mapped to compute Closeness Centrality scores. The findings reveal severe structural isolation, with 63 percent of enterprises operating without external ties. The remaining networked firms exhibit a structural bifurcation, dividing into two disconnected sub—groups reliant on either public administrative support or private digital platforms. Statistically, only owner gender and firm profitability correlated significantly with higher closeness centrality, while firm size, age, and technology dependence did not. These results align with borderlands theories of peripheral economic dependency. By linking border geography to enterprise network structure, this study underscores an urgent need for targeted policies to integrate isolated firms and utilize network centrality as a diagnostic tool for regional development.