His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej developed the philosophy of the Sufficiency Economy to lead his people to a balanced way of life and to be the main sustainable development theory for the country. The theory is based upon a Middle Path between society at the local level and the market in the global context. By highlighting a balanced approach, the philosophy allows the nation to modernize without resisting globalization, but provides a means to counteract negative outcomes from rapid economic and cultural transitions. The Sufficiency Economy became critical during the economic crisis in 1997, in which Thailand needed to maintain stability to persist on self-reliance and develop important policies to recover. By creating a self-supporting economy, Thai citizens will have what they need to survive but not excess, which would turn into waste.
His Majesty proposed that it was not important for Thailand to remain an “economic tiger,” or become characterized as a newly industrialized country. Instead, His Majesty explained that sufficiency is living in moderation and being self-reliant in order to protect against changes that could destabilize the country. The Sufficiency Economy is believed to adapt well within existing social and cultural structures in a given community, if the following two factors are met:
• subsistence production with equitable linkage between production/consumption
• the community has the potential to manage its own resources
As a result, the Sufficiency Economy should enable the community to maintain adequate population size, enable proper technology usage, preserve the richness of the ecosystems and survive without the necessity of intervention from external factors. The concept is now commonly included in many government projects.
The Principle of Self-Reliance
Furthermore, His Majesty has recommended a secure balance in the five following aspects to achieve the principle of self-reliance:
• State of Mind: One should be strong, self-reliant, compassionate and flexible. Besides, one should possess a good conscience and place public interests as a higher priority than one’s own.
• Social Affairs: People should help one another, strengthen the community, maintain unity and develop a learning process that stems from a stable foundation.
• Natural Resource and Environmental Management: The country’s resources need to be used efficiently and carefully to create sustainable benefits and to develop the nation’s stability progressively.
• Technology: Technological development should be used appropriately while encouraging new developments to come from the villagers’ local wisdom.
• Economic Affairs: One needs to increase earnings, reduce expenses, and pursue a decent life.
As His Majesty has stated, “If we contain our wants, with less greed, we would be less belligerent towards others. If all countries entertain this - this is not an economic system - the idea that we all should be self-sufficient, which implies moderation, not to the extreme, not blinded with greed, we can all live happily.”
The Self Sufficiency Economy theory has led to diverse interpretations by many different groups. However, His Majesty has rejected extreme perspectives on his ideology, stating that self-sufficiency does not require families to grow food and make clothes for themselves. But, each village should have some quantity of sufficiency. For instance, if agricultural production exceeds the amount needed for the village they should sell the remaining amount to a nearby village, close in distance, to avoid unnecessary transportation costs.
The New Theory
His Majesty’s self-sufficient ideology has a strong linkage to his New Theory, initiated in 1992. Seeking ways to help the people engaging in agriculture, His Majesty introduced the New Theory, to be implemented at the Royally-initiated Wat Mongkol Chaipattana Area Development Project, to serve as a model of land and water management for the farmers. According to the theory, the land is divided into four parts with a ratio of 30:30:30:10. Based on this ratio, 30% is set aside for pond and fish culture, 30% for rice cultivation, 30% for growing fruit and perennial trees, and the remaining 10% for housing, raising animals and other activities.
The New Theory consists of the three following phases:
• Phase 1: To live at a self-sufficient level which allows farmers to become self-reliant and maintain their living on a frugal basis.
• Phase 2: To cooperate as a group in order to handle the production, marketing, management, and educational welfare, as well as social development.
• Phase 3: To build up connections within various occupation groups and to expand businesses through cooperation with the private sector, NGOs and the government, in order to assist the farmers in the areas of investment, marketing, production, management and information management.
In short, the Self Sufficiency Economy and its expected outcomes are best summarized, by His Majesty himself; “Sufficiency Economy is a philosophy that guides the livelihood and behavior of people at all levels, from the family to the community to the country, on matters concerning national development and administration. It calls for a ‘middle way’ to be observed, especially in pursuing economic development in keeping with the world of globalization…At the same time we must build up the spiritual foundation of all people in the nation, especially state officials, scholars, and business people at all levels, so they are conscious of moral integrity and honesty and they strive for the appropriate wisdom to live life with forbearance, diligence, self-awareness, intelligence, and attentiveness. In this way we can hope to maintain balance and be ready to cope with rapid physical, social, environmental, and cultural changes from the outside world.”