H.M. King Bhumibol Adulyadej is a monarch having a far-sighted vision with talents in arts, science, sports and languages. His royal initiated projects and royal concepts have been recognized worldwide as are seen from the numerous awards presented to His Majesty, particularly the UNDP award recently presented by the UN and the first ever Dr. Norman E. Borlaug Medallion awarded by the World Food Prize Foundation. Among the royal ideas given to be guidelines for his subjects, the philosophy of sufficiency economy is the most widely known.
Part of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's speech in presenting the award to H.M. the king regarding sufficiency economy reads:
"...His Majesty's "Sufficiency Economy" philosophy emphasizing moderation, responsible consumption, and resilience to external shocks is of great relevance to communities everywhere during these times of rapid globalization. The philosophy's "middle path" approach strongly reinforces the United Nation's own advocacy of a people-centred and sustainable path toward human development..."
PHILOSOPHY OF
THE SUFFICIENCY ECONOMY
According to a booklet "Ways of Learning Sufficiency Economy" published by the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, the philosophy of the Sufficiency Economy has details as follows.
"Sufficiency Economy is a philosophy that stresses the middle path as the overriding principle for appropriate conduct and way of life by the populace at all levels. This applies to conduct and way of life at the level of individual, family, and community, while providing a choice of balanced development strategy for the nation so as to develop in line with the forces of globalization, and shielding against inevitable shocks and excesses that may arise.
"Sufficiency" means moderation and due consideration in all modes of conduct, together with the need for sufficient protection from internal and external shocks.
"The word sufficiency has another meaning, a wider meaning. It does not only mean self-sufficiency but also means to have enough for the individual to live on. This sufficiency was mentioned to those who were present here.