The Philosophy Of Sufficiency Economy And Community Collaboration

The Philosophy of Sufficiency Economy and Community Collaboration

This study aims to clarify the often-misunderstood theory of The Philosophy of the Sufficiency Economy Theory. It is a well-known fact that foreigners find the philosophy perplexing and struggle to comprehend it. This paper attempts to outline and simplify the stages needed to ascertain sufficiency at all levels and compare it with a system of community cooperation used in the United Kingdom

Literature Review

Graduates of Kasetsart University first became acquainted with the Philosophy of the sufficiency economy in July 1974 during the King of Thailand’s speech. In 1989, the theory was amended and renamed the “New Theory” to help poor struggling farmers manage their land for

According to Ministry of Education, 2008 “A community which is capable of managing itself efficiently will be an important factor for driving the Sufficiency Economy” ( p.17).

Stage 1

The first stage consists of the farmer becoming self-reliant. To achieve this level correctly the land must be divided in a calculated way- 30% for water; 30% for rice crops; 30% for other crops, and the final 10% for living. This gives the farmer all of the necessary food types to live a comfortable, although basic, life that is not enormously dependent on others people or businesses.

Stage 2

After the first stage has been successfully implemented, the farmers can move on to stage two- Inter-Dependent. The second stage involves community collaboration. In this stage, the farmers are encouraged to pool resources and form cooperatives to help move forward. One way of doing this is to share the transport cost of sending rice to the millers or combining funds to build a rice milling facility of their own. Another benefit of this stage is that farmers are in a stronger position to procure goods in larger quantities; this in turn helps drive the price of ------ down. All of this helps strengthen the community and protects it from “external influences” (“Sufficiency Economy Office of the Royal Development Projects Board,”

These could be banks or other cooperatives, and as the community is working as a whole, it is easier to obtain finance. It is suggested that the money be used to set up projects to aid the social welfare of the community and provide education to further enhance the communities’ skill base.(National Economic and Social Development Board, 2000)

The final stage involves collaboration with other communities. One way of doing this is through farmers’ markets. Farmers markets are an ideal way of distributing fresh produce to a wider community Furthermore, they are growing in popularity, and at the time of writing this paper, there are five regular markets taking place in the central Bangkok area every month.

Farmers markets benefit the whole community. Firstly, customers enjoy fresh produce grown locally, and if the farmer has followed the Sufficiency Economy Theory, the produce is organic and free from dangerous chemicals. Secondly, the farmer’s cash flow is increased further increasing the available money in the