During the Royal Birthday audience given on December 4, 1997, His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand graciously delivered a Royal speech on self-sufficient economy, the principles of which have been followed by various agencies. However, many people misunderstood thinking that the Royal insight concerned only farmers. In fact, this can be applied by people from all walks of life, whether merchants, businessmen, government officials or others. Therefore, during the Royal Birthday audience on December 4 of last year, His Majesty kindly gave an additional explanation as quoted below
: ". . .according to my definition of the word self-sufficiency and as I mentioned, that to fulfill the concept of self-sufficiency it is enough to implement one fourth, I did not mean one fourth of the area, but rather to one fourth of the deed. . ."
He further elaborated on the meaning of the word "self-sufficiency" by saying that it means having enough to live on and to live for.
". . .Having enough to live on and to live for means self-sufficiency. If everybody has enough to live on and to live for, that is good. And if the whole nation reaches that status, that is even better. . ." ". . .Formerly, Thailand had enough to live on and to live for.
. . . Many people misunderstood thinking that the
Royal insight concerned only farmers. In fact, this
can be applied by people from all walks of life,
whether merchants, businessmen, government officials
and others . . .
Nowadays, we become more lax and do not have enough to live on and to live for. We are therefore obliged to execute a policyfor achieving a self-sufficient economy in order for everybody to become self-sufficient. Beingself-sufficient means to have enough to live on and to live for, and to refrain from leading a luxurious and extravagant life, just having enough. . ." His Majesty explained further by comparing his insight of the concept with the word "self-sufficiency" in English.
"Self-sufficiency, in English, means that whatever we produce, we have enough for our own use. We do not have to borrow from other people. We can rely on ourselves, like what people say, we can stand on our own legs. But self-sufficiency carries a broader meaning. It means having enough and being satisfied with the situation. If people are satisfied with their needs, they will be less greedy. With less greed, they will cause less trouble to other people.
If any country values this idea -- the idea of doing just to have enough which means being satisfied at a moderate level, being honest and not being greedy, its people will be happy.
Being self-sufficient does not restrict people from having a lot, or possessing luxurious items, but it implies that one must not take advantage of others. Everything must be within its limits. Saying what is necessary, acting