The Roles of Charity Activities at Kinh Pagodas and Solutions to Improve Their Performance: The Case of Soc Trang Province

This paper aims to evaluate the roles of charitable works at Kinh Pagodas in Soc Trang province and provides recommendations to improve the functions of these charitable works. The research employed combined research methods, including key informant participants and interviews with 255 related stakeholders. Results indicated that charitable works in pagodas are targeted toward many different purposes. The activities are also different between pagodas. The charitable works are varied and these activities play an important role in local communities. This paper also provides recommendations for improving the functions of charitable works at pagodas in Soc Trang province in which the improvement role of local government is the most important factor to strengthen the function of charity activities in pagodas.