Sufficiency Economy as the Model of Thailand's Community Development.pdf

e to become self-reliant, resilient, and persevering and to build self-immunity through reason, moderation and integrity, which are the guiding principles of Sufficiency Economy. Key words: Sufficiency economy, community development, Asoke community. Introduction Thailand’s social inequality is the root cause that keeps national and political development from being sustainable. Social inequality can be defined as a disparity in income, education, welfare and social status between rural and urban people. The government attempted to close the disparity gap by pursuing national development plans to eradicate poverty, raise the level of education and establish the welfare system. The First to Seventh National Economic and Social Development Plans (1961-98) aimed to raise the income of poor farmers who are the majority of Thailand’s population. The first step was to stimulate economic growth through the export of agriculture products, following by expansion of the manufacturing and service sectors. Economic growth did occur from the First to the Seventh Plan, but its distribution was uneven. The urban areas were prosperous, while the rural communities remained under developed, resulting in widening of the income gap between the rich and the poor, the urban cities and the rural communities. “The top fifth of the population enjoys 55% of the total income, while the bottom fifth has just 4” (United Nations Development Programme [UNDP], 2007, p. 9), which has deepened class divisions and brought unwelcome changes to rural communities in the following areas. 1. The rural community way of life. Economic growth focused on export of agriculture products altered the local tradition of exchange and sharing of labor into employment and trade, changing the traditional structure of interdependence in local communities. 2. Alienation. In order to increase production, small farmers were encouraged to invest in cash crops using techniques and technology imported from outside, instead of relying on local resources. Small farmers were not familiar with these foreign techniques and had no control over the market price. They felt alienated and had a growing sense of loosing control over their lives in the process of struggling with the unforeseen force of a global market that was foreign to them. 3. Dependency. The previous National Economic and Social Development Plans were not designed to include rural people as active participants, but as the recipients of benefits. Successive Thai Governments implemented programs such as village revolving development funds (the million baht per village fund), rural debt relief, universal health care, an income guarantee for farmers, 15 years free education for the young, and provision of subsistence support for the elderly. These schemes, which were intended to eliminate economic and social disparities, created dependency on the central government for peoples’ livelihood. Additionally, they reflected a tradition of populist top-down policy initiatives, often with uneven distribution impacts, that focused more on political popularity rather than on sustainability. Sustainable development has to empower people to be self-reliant. By the Eight Plan (1997-2001), the government had become aware of these social problems and changed the focus to “People Center Development” for a better quality of life. © Centre for Promoting Ideas, USA www.ijhssnet.com 75 But the 1997 economic crisis forced the government to shift it priority to restoring economic stability (UNDP, 2007, p. 63). Prior to the 1997 economic crisis, Thailand’s King Bhumibol Adulyadej had proposed that the Sufficiency Economy could be applied as a model of development to achieve community empowerment and reduce social inequality. The government therefore based the Ninth (2002-06) and Tenth (2007-11) Plans on the King’s Sufficiency Economy principles in order to integrate the people, society, economy and environment into a holistic and sustainable development (NESDB, 2008). To be sustainable, any development has to fit in with people’s culture, tradition, life style and their belief systems. The King’s Sufficiency Economy model has been developed over thirty years of visiting and working with the grass roots people -- observing, listening and talking to them. The agrarian community is the birth place of his Sufficiency Economy model. Its principles, potential and application were originally developed for rural communities. A sustainable community development model should provide opportunities for people to improve themselves, earn a living and contribute to their community. The author argues that this is a better way to eliminate social disparities than a populist policy of handouts. The purpose of this paper is to present the King’s model of sustainable development, which fits the way of life, culture and traditions of rural communities. After the 1997 economic crisis, several rural communities in Thailand, longing for a life that was less stressful, abandoned the economic growth model to follow the King’s Sufficiency Economy philosophy of self-reliance, moderation, knowledge and self-immunity as general principles of living. Among these, twenty-four Asoke communities have applied the King’s Sufficiency Economy philosophy with Buddhist principles for their way of life. Their way of life, faith and governance will be presented as an example of Sufficiency Economy in action. Additionally, the Mai Riang community and Inpaeng Network Group will be briefly described to demonstrate that the Sufficiency Economy model can be applied in differing settings, with various problems and community needs. The King’s Concept of Sufficiency Economy The King had gradually developed conceptual framework and philosophy of Sufficiency Economy in stages from 1974 to 1999, but it was not until after the economic crisis in 1997, which began in Thailand, that Sufficiency Economy became a household name. Nevertheless, most people still do not have a clear understanding of the principles of Sufficiency Economy. Therefore, in 1999 the Office of the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) set up a working group of experts from various fields to collect and study the King’s statements from all occasions and develop the following concise description approved by the King (UNDP, 2007, p. 29): The Sufficiency Economy is an approach to life and conduct which is applicable at every level from the individual through the family and the community to the management and development of the nation. It promotes a middle path, especially in developing the economy to keep up with the world in the era of globalization. Sufficiency has three components: moderation; wisdom or insight; and the need for built-in resilience against the risks which arise from internal or external change. In addition, the application of theories in planning and implementation requires great care and good judgment at every stage. At the same time, all members of the nation - especially officials, intellectuals, and business people – need to develop their commitment to the importance of knowledge, integrity, and honesty, and to conduct their lives with perseverance, toleration, wisdom, and insight, so that the country has the strength and balance to respond to the rapid and wide spread changes in economy, society, environment, and culture in the outside world. A subsequent working group summarized the description in three areas as: 1) moderation; 2) reasonableness; and 3) self-immunity. Moderation or [pho praman] is closely linked to the idea of sufficiency. In Thai as in English, the word of sufficiency (pho phiang) has two meanings: enough in the sense of not too little, and enough in the sense of not too much. It conveys the idea of the middle way between want and extravagance, between backwardness and impossible dreams. It implies both self-reliance and frugality. Reasonableness or [mi het phon] means both evaluating the reasons for any action, and understanding its full consequences – not only on oneself, but on others, the society, and the environment; and not only in the short term, but the long also. This idea of reasonableness thus includes accumulated knowledge and experience along with the analytic capability, self-awareness, foresight, compassion and empathy. Self-immunity or [phumkhum kan nai tua] means having build-in resilience, and the ability to withstand shocks, to adjust to external change, and to cope with events that are unpredictable or uncontrollable. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science Vol. 1 No. 5; May 2011 76 It implies a foundation of self-reliance, as well as self-discipline. Besides these three components, two other conditions are needed to make the principle of Sufficiency Economy work: knowledge and integrity. Knowledge or [khwam ru] means something close to wisdom in English as it encompasses accumulating information with the insight to understand its meaning and the care or prudence needed to put it to use. Integrity or [khunatham] means virtue, ethical behavior, honesty and straight-forwardness, but also tolerance, perseverance, a readiness to work hard and a refusal to exploit others. These elements clearly overlap and interlock. Reasonableness indicates moderation. Moderation builds self-immunity. Self-immunity is a request for reasonableness. They are not separate items but a trio. Graphically they can be shown as overlapping spheres (see figure 1). Figure 1 Sufficiency Economy and globalization Source: UNDP Thailand Human Development Report 2007. p.30 The King realized that the term “sufficiency” could create a misunderstanding as being self-sufficient or a total self-reliance and a rejection of globalization. In his 1997 birthday speech, he clarified: As we are in the globalization era, we also have to conform to the world. (Dusit Palace, December 4, 1997) Two years later, in his 1999 birthday speech, he added: ….self-sufficiency is not a Sufficiency Economy, but a Stone Age Economy. There must be some gradual development, some exchange and cooperation between districts, provinces, and countries, something beyond sufficiency. (Dusit Palace, December 4, 1999) UNDP (2007, p. 31) simplified the King’s ideas to five basic maxims:  Know what you’re doing  Be honest and persevere Moderation Reasonableness Self-immunity Knowledge Ethics Harmony Security Sustainability Material impact Cultural impact Social impact Environmental impact Globalization and its impact © Centre for Promoting Ideas, USA www.ijhssnet.com 77  Take a middle path, avoiding extremes  Be sensible and insightful in taking decisions  Build protection against shocks In conclusion, after 30 years, Sufficiency Economy has expanded into 3 levels: individual/family, community and national levels. But the community level is where it’s most advanced. Application of Sufficiency Economy to Community Development Sufficiency Economy provides guiding principles as indicated above to design socio-economic development policy to empower and strengthen communities by providing opportunities for people to become self-reliant and able to develop themselves. Thailand’s Ninth (2002-06) and Tenth (2007-11) Plans shifted the focus from economic growth to social development in order to integrate the people, society, economy and environment in a holistic and sustainable approach to development (NESDB, 2008). A time of crisis is also a time of opportunity, as implied by the saying, “This is the time to try men’s souls.” The philosophy of Sufficiency Economy indicates the same message that strength is born from within people’s heart and soul. The government can take the opportunity to implement initiatives that support people to become self-reliant, resilient, persevering, and to build self-immunity through wisdom, reason, moderation and integrity, which are the guiding principles of Sufficiency Economy as well. Several rural communities that faced hardship from global economic crisis realized that they could not wait for the government to rescue them. They got together and applied the principles of the King’s Sufficiency Economy to rebuild their communities, beginning with self-reliance and moderation in order to built self-immunity. Three communities are selected to demonstrate various ways they applied the principles of Sufficiency Economy based on their cultures, situations and needs. Mai Riang Community Mai Riang is located in Nakhorn Srithammarat province in southern Thailand. Mai Riang community members took the first step by adopting the principle of self-reliance. They held meetings to discuss their situation and selected major problems to work with. They decided that it was important to bring back their traditional way of living and community relationships, followed by knowledge management in order to gain insight into the make-up of their community and their own needs, learn to live in moderation, and build self-immunity to adjust to external change. The community’s activities include developing a community self-management system, community enterprises, education, agriculture, and environmental conservation to revive the land and natural resources (Chinavinijkul, 2006). Inpaeng Network Group In 1987 a cluster of communities in Sakon Nakhon province in northeastern Thailand turned their crisis into opportunity. Following the government economic growth policy of exporting cash-cropping, they had become deeply in debt. The local leaders took a momentous decision to stop growing cassava and instead to “Grow what they eat and eat what they grow.” They had adopted the King’s idea of Sufficiency Economy by doing mixed farms. They divided the land into sections for rice, fruit trees mixed with organic vegetable and herbs underneath the trees, and fish ponds. In a couple years, they had enough food for their own consumption, exchange among themselves, and sale to neighboring communities at below market prices. Soon the neighboring communities formed a network serving as markets and outlets for surplus community produce. The economic crisis of 1997 hardly affected the Inpaeng communities because they were immune through self-reliance and living in moderation. By the end of 2005, almost every community in the network had established saving groups, credit union groups, rice banks and life insurance. Some Inpaeng farms have become demonstration plots for the King’s model (Kaosum-ang, 2005). The success of the Inpaeng Network is based on the principles of the Sufficiency Economy, which they define as follows (UNDP, 2007, p. 46): 1. having a secure living with enough food 2. having enough to give to relatives and friends 3. having enough to contribute for charities and needy people 4. having clean and safe food to eat and be healthy 5. living in harmony with nature and other people 6. accumulating knowledge and wisdom 7. developing community-based enterprises 8. having community-based welfare schemes and safety nets. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science Vol. 1 No. 5; May 2011 78 Asoke The Asoke community network, which includes twenty-four communities throughout Thailand, was founded on the principles of self-reliance, moderation, local wisdom and integrity before the concept of Sufficiency Economy was formalized. During the 1997 global economic crisis, these communities were among the few not impacted by the crisis. Thus, their way of community life, faith and the governance will be presented as an example of Sufficiency Economy in action. The first Asoke community, Pathom Asoke, located in central Thailand, came into being in 1984 (B.E. 2527). A large number of followers, who wished to find a less materialistic life-style and live closer to the temple in order to participate in ongoing Dharma (teaching of the Buddha) talks and practices, pooled their funds to purchase 24 acres of land for the community. The land was divided into a residential area, agricultural land and a water reservoir. The members own their houses but not the land on which they are built. Since then eight fully developed Asoke communities have been established all over Thailand, including one in Chiang Mai province in the north which functions as a training school for new monks, and 16 developing communities spread around the country. Santi Asoke, located in Bangkok, serves as a coordinating center (Mackenzie, 2007, pp. 130-136). However, each community has its own administration and independently manages its own affairs. The fully developed communities are made up of three components: homes, temple and school. The Bunniyom Society With the increase of followers and the establishment of more Asoke communities, there was a need to organize and establish a central governing system for an interconnected network. Therefore the Bunniyom Society was established in 2004 (B.E. 2547) to provide guidance and support the network of Asoke communities. The Bunniyom Society is founded on four principles (Asoketrakul, 2003, p. 176): 1. The power of Dharma (the teaching of the Buddha) in guiding moral principles 2. The power of the group in reinforcing ethical behaviors according to Dharma 3. The power of religion in creating social unity, and 4. The power of Kamma (the law of action) to encourage compassionate actions for self and others. The Bunniyom principles provide guidance to members and communities and cultivate members who are adaptable and willing to cooperate. They are disciplined, respectful, diligent, and not materialistic as they work toward spiritual development. These are characteristics valued by both the Bunniyom Society and the Sufficiency Economy principles. In order to uphold the direction of their community development, Bunniyom Society concurrently provides policies and guidance to reinforce these values in all areas of community life such as religion, education, politics, business, health, culture and arts, and agriculture. Asoke Community: An Intentional Community All community members share common values of anti-materialism and living a simple lifestyle while working hard toward self-reliance, helping society and respecting traditional rural wisdom. Dharma is woven into the fabric of their lives. Members aspire to follow at least five Buddhist precepts with the goal of advancing beyond to eight precepts for self-development. They live simply and moderately by consuming what they grow and growing what they eat as well as producing most t