53 ABAC Journal Vol. 36 No. 2 (July-December, 2016 pp 53-77) DOMESTIC TOURISTS’ PERCEIVED VALUE ON ASEAN VERNACULAR STANDARD HOMESTAY* Thaned Heyprakhon 1 ,Damrongsak Rinchumphu 2 and Tipsuda Janjamlha 3 Abstract The main objective of this study was to investigate the construct validity of a measurement scale for domestic tourists’ perceived value on the ASEAN vernacular homestay standard, when considering the ASEAN homestay standard for the year 2015 including the vernacular accommodations and surroundings in Ban Mae Kampong community based tourism center, Chiang Mai, Thailand. This is the only Thai vernacular homestay that conformed to the three-main qualifications (1) ASEAN standard homestay, (2) Thai standard homestay and (3) named in the official ASEAN tourism website as a representative of an ASEAN standard homestay. The reference population was domestic homestay tourists who visited Ban Mae Kampong. A total of 320 tourists completed the questionnaires. An exploratory factor analysis was used to explore the factors, while a confirmatory factor analysis and a structural equation modeling procedure were performed by utilizing the LISREL procedure to assess the factor structure of the domestic tourists’ perceived value of the ASEAN vernacular homestay standard. The results showed that a single latent factor structure was fitted and acceptable. The five factors from highest to lowest loadings were (1) activities (experiential value), (2) management (functional value), (3) host-guest interaction (experiential value), (4) amenities (functional value) and (5) accommodation (functional value). The constructed reliability estimates of the five factors were 0.69, 0.77, 0.68, 0.61, and 0.50, respectively. The results indicate that functional and experiential factors are important determinants of the perceived value of ASEAN vernacular homestay tourism. It is therefore recommended that homestay providers, homestay leaders, and local governments should pay attention to the order of importance of these value dimensions to increase overall tourists’ perceived value as well as to better develop position strategies and to preserve the authenticity of this tourism niche. 1 Thaned Heyprakhon holds a M.Sc. in Innovative Real Estate Development from Thammasat University and B.Eng. in Construction Technology from KMITL - King Mongkut Institute of Technology Ladkrabang. He is a scholarship grantee of the OHEC - Office of Higher Education Commission and a Ph.D. candidate in Integrated Science of Built Environment in Thammasat University (Rangsit Campus), Pathumthani, Thailand. 2 Dr. Damrongsak Rinchumphu obtained a Ph.D. in Urban Development from the Queensland University of Technology, Australia and a Master of Engineering (Energy) from Asian Institute of Technology, Pathumthani, Thailand. Currently, he is a lecturer in the Faculty of Architecture and Planning, Thammasat University. 3 Assistant Professor Dr. Tipsuda Janjamlha obtained a Ph.D. in Educational Research Methodology from Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand and a Master of Science in Applied Behavioral Science Research from Srinakharinwirot University. Currently, she is a lecturer in the Faculty of Architecture and Planning, Thammasat University.