Philosophy of “Sufficiency Economy”
“Sufficiency Economy” is a philosophy conceived and developed by His MajestyKing Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand over 60 years of tireless development work to improve the lives of the Thai people and bring them a genuine and lasting happiness.
The goal of implementing the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy is to create abalanced and stable development, at all levels, from the individual, family and community to society at large by developing the ability to cope appropriately with the critical challenges arising from extensive and rapid changes (i.e. globalization) in the material, social, environmental, and cultural conditions of the world.
The principle of Sufficiency Economy stresses the importance of following/adopting the middle path for appropriate conduct by the population at all levels of society(individual, family, community and nation) in terms of development and administration in order to modernize in line with the forces of globalization. In other words, we should try to avoid extreme thoughts, behaviors and actions.
Sufficiency has three components: moderation, reasonableness, and self-immunity, with two accompanying conditions: appropriate knowledge and ethics & virtues.
Moderation within reason, in the sense of not too much or not too little, is an Eastern concept. As His Majesty the King has stated: “Being moderate does not mean being too strictly frugal; consumption of luxury items is permitted… but should be moderate according to one’s means” (Royal Speech, given at Dusit Palace, 4 December 1998)
Reasonableness requires that the choices we make be justifiable by using academicapproaches, legal principles, moral values or social norms.
Self-immunity emphasizes the need for built-in resilience against the risks which arise from internal and external changes by having good risk management; Sufficiency Economy recognizes that the circumstances and situations that influence our lives are dynamic and fluid.