Using primary data collected through semi-structured interviews conducted during February 2019, this article examines citizen’s awareness and knowledge of Khon Kaen Smart City (KKSC) among the residents of five contiguous municipalities within Khon Kaen Province, Thailand. A self-weighted sample of 420 respondents was selected through a two-stage, 30-cluster sampling process. In the first stage, a sample of 30 artificial clusters of 100 households each was selected. In the second, 14 households were randomly selected from each of these clusters. The head of household or, if unavailable, a resident aged 18 or over was interviewed. The study applies the “citizens as democratic participants” dimension of Simonofski et al.’s (2019) evaluative framework. Results found that, because of ineffective citizen engagement, the levels of awareness and knowledge about KKSC were low. However, multiple logistic regression found that, despite the low levels of awareness and knowledge, education and income could establish an independent effect on awareness of KKSC. Those who completed post- secondary school were more aware of KKSC than those who finished only secondary or primary education. Similarly, the analysis of data clearly indicated that educational attainment, solely and independently from all other socio-economic and demographic variables, could explain the positive effect of education on knowledge about KKSC.

Abstract
1. Introduction
2. Study Setting
    2.1. Khon Kaen Smart City Initiative
    2.2. Shifting Away from Historic ThaiAdministrative Patterns
    2.3. The Smart City and Citizen Engagement
    2.4. Evaluating Smart City Citizen Engagement
    2.5. Citizens as Democratic Participants
    2.6. Citizen Engagement in Khon Kaen’s SmartCity Initiative
3. Methodology
4. Results
    4.1. Awareness of Smart Cities
    4.2. Knowledge of Smart Cities
    4.3. Demand for LRT
    4.4. Multivariate Analysis of Awareness of andKnowledge about Smart Cities
5. Discussion and Conclusion
6. Applying Simonofski EvaluativeFramework
7. Recommendation
References

• Peerasit KAMNUANSILPA(College of Local Administration, Khon Kaen University) Corresponding Author.
• Sirisak LAOCHANKHAM(Dean for Administrative Affairs, College of Local Administration, Khon Kaen University)
• Charles David CRUMPTON(Institute for Governmental Service and Research, University of Maryland)
• John DRAPER(College of Local Administration, Khon Kaen University)