Community Participation in a Protected Area Amid Human—Wildlife Coexistence Challenges: The Case of Kaeng Krung National Park, Thailand

Achieving sustainable coexistence between communities and wildlife in the rapidly changing socio-ecological landscapes of the Global South increasingly challenges protected-area governance. Although participation in long-established protected areas has been widely studied, the dynamics of newly declared parks—where in-migration, insecure tenure, and livelihood dependence persist after designation—remain poorly understood. In this study, a mixed-methods design was employed, comprising a household survey (n = 345) and in-depth interviews (n = 20), to explore factors associated with community participation and coexistence in Kaeng Krung National Park, Thailand. Descriptive statistics were used to assess participation in four dimensions, and the interviews were thematically analyzed. The results indicate a high overall willingness to participate (mean = 3.50); qualitative results show that participation was influenced by the following factors: duration of residence, land tenure security, perceived benefits and disadvantages (including livelihood losses from human–elephant conflict, which were reported to have increased since the COVID-19 pandemic), and access to communication and training. Willingness to pay was much lower (26.3%) than willingness to comply with regulations or engage in activities, indicating that financial constraints, rather than lack of commitment, limit monetary participation. This study advances an empirically grounded model of participation based on livelihood security, institutional trust, and skill-related constraints, providing policy-relevant guidance for protected-area governance in Thailand and similar contexts.