Sufficiency Economy Research Articles

The Relevance of the Philosophy of Sufficiency Economy and Ecological Awareness in the Two Novels, 'Good Earth' of Pearl S. Buck and 'A Child of Northeast' of Khamphoon Boonthawee

purpose of this research are 1) to investigate, and analysis the methodology or persuasive writing techniques that the authors used, 2) to analyze the relevance and author’s attitude of The Philosophy of Sufficiency Economy and Ecological Awareness from these two stories, and 3) to study the attitude of the reader (participants) after reading these two stories and the adaptation for using in their real life time. primary sources such as the document, novel, theories and in-depth interview form are employed as the instrument of this research. result (s) reveals that both of two novels The Good Earth of Pearl S. Buck and A Child of the Northeast of Kampoon Boontawee; point of view, theme, plot, characterization, dramatic conflict and setting are persuaded in both novels and portray the relationship between humans, nature and believe. ecological insight is characterized by a quality of wholeness. author’s ecological awareness and holism suggests a sense of unity in which each individual being of a farmer in Asian Country, which it always depends on the weather, natural resources with hope in their land. Human are not superior to other species and thus have a duty to the natural and social environment protection. Moreover, both of two novels concern and are relevant to the Philosophy of Sufficiency Economy, especially, the teaching’s concept in the middle path way of life. Both of two authors transfer of this philosophy through the actions and visions of the main characters as Wang-Lung and Koon’s father. After reading these two novels the students are also admired and permitted the valuable concept of ecological awareness and the philosophy of sufficiency economy that comes inside their mind and it can be assumed that both of two novels are good examples for the new generation, particularly for the university student.

Management of Local Towns (Tambon) According to Philosophy of Sufficiency Economy

Management of Local Towns (Tambon) According to Philosophy of Sufficiency Economy

Sufficiency Economy for Social and Environmental Sustainability: A Case Study of Four Villages in Rural Thailand

“Sufficiency economy” is a philosophy presented more than 25 years ago by His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej. It is used to guide the way that Thai villagers live. The Thai government used this philosophy as a base for the nation’s development plan. This study focused on three research questions: First, how do the villagers live while following the philosophy of sufficiency economy? Second, what difficulties impede the implementation of the philosophy? Finally, how does the philosophy of sufficiency economy help to increase social and environmental sustainability? We studied four villages in Thailand (three in the northeast and one in the south). We collected data by conducting in-depth interviews, administering a fieldwork survey, and gathering responses from a focus group. We subjected the data that we gathered to content and descriptive analyses. In this study, we found that the philosophy of sufficiency economy can be used by individuals to manage their livelihoods by planting vegetables for personal consumption or sale, domesticating animals, saving money within a cooperative society, protecting the environment, and following moral principles and ethics. In addition, this philosophy can be used to manage social and environmental sustainability in Thailand, and the philosophy can apply to other areas to understand the conditions of the people in a particular community.

The Unsustainability of Economic Man

Modern economics is not sufficiently accounting for the work women do or the damage done to the environment. To account for this, economics should focus on social and ecological wellbeing. But what would a sustainable, sufficiency economy look like?

The Assessments of Media for Sufficiency Economy Project Public Relations in Krabyai Sub-district, Ratchaburi Province, Thailand

The Assessments of Media for Sufficiency Economy Project Public Relations in Krabyai Sub-District, Ratchaburi Province, Thailand aims to 1) Study the status and problems in the farmer's work. 2) Study the media exposure of the community. 3) Design and develop the media for project public relations. 4) Evaluate the project public relation media.The research found that 1) the farmer needed to develop the knowledge in agricultural development, such as, appropriate soil management, farm management, and pest management for economic crops in the community, good practice for economic crops in the community and utilization from farm and household waste for cost reduction. 2) About the media exposure, there were a billboard, broadcasting tower, website, journal and personal media, moreover, there were four community radio stations in Ban Pong District that could broadcast to Krabyai Sub-District and three local newspapers. 3) The researchers brought the information from the studied of media exposure in the community to analyze, design and develop the media to suit for the media exposure in the community and conform to the project plans, which consisted of brochure, leaflet, radio spot, billboard, newsletter and website. These media has been approved from the media specialists and community leaders who worked as public sector committee. 4) About the public relation media assessment, the researchers had set up the focus group discussion to evaluate the media and project public relation plans by media specialists, executives and officers who concerned with public relations in the community, representatives from mass media associations in Ratchaburi province and concluded that the dissemination and public relation plans should be separated to two stages, that meant, before conducting the activities, they should use television, community radio and billboards because these media could be produced and disseminated immediately, which were appropriated to motivate, provide information and encourage the community to participate in the activities. Another stage, after the activities finished, they should use the local newspapers to provide the information of the activities or public relations. The contents should be mainly focused on the benefit for the community and the farmers. For the radio spot, they should make the public relation spot with no longer than one minute length because it would be suitable for radio station in broadcasting. Furthermore, there should be more project public relation sources in the schools in Krabyai community. The members of municipal council should be responsible for public relation in their own area. About the number of media and frequency in project public relations, there should be more dissemination by the mass media.

Raw Material Management of Community Incense Production through Sufficiency Economy Philosophy

Abstract The main purposes of this research are to study the way of using Sufficiency Economy Philosophy in raw materials production management and the knowledge transfer to the community. Data are collected from in- depth interview, observation, and training session. The knowledge from this research is transferred to the community by narration, demonstration, inquiry and handout. A significant result shows that using local raw materials and ingredients from herb to make sure of sources, safety and cost reducing. Regarding knowledge transfer, two-way communication with personal media or opinion leaders is the suitable way to educate community members.

A Guideline for Reinforcing Water based Community's Economic Strength

This paper studies the potentials of the area and the community throughout the Sean Saeb canal that promote the establishment of community economy by providing a model for reinforcing economic strength for the community. The chosen community for the study is the community alongside Sean Saeb canal nearby Minburi district, Bangkok. This research applies a mixed method research which includes interviews, group discussion, and a participatory observation. The finding shed light on the potential of the area and the community. Trading activities originally occurred with inconsistency and scattering numbers. The area is not too far from Bangkok, so it is convenient to transport both on land and in water. The population in the area believes in Islamic religion and still preserves old religious customs. Most of the population performs agricultural profession by the use of water in the canal. In addition, a strong community leader and a strong religious belief are also essential components in contributing to this strong community. Hence, we propose a model to promote the community market centre for agricultural products. The objective of the market is to stimulate economic system for this community and the nearby area to strengthen the community system by creating career opportunity for people in the community, and a venue for purchasing agricultural products with reasonable prices in accordance with the sufficiency economy philosophy. This will eventually lead to building a strong community and also maintaining a resources conservation and propagation of traditional customs, culture, and tradition of Islamic religion which is the main religion of the community.

The Sufficiency Economy and Community Sustainability in Rural Northeastern Thailand

Thailand is promoting a sufficiency economy (SE) emphasizing community solidarity, mixed farming and sustainable agriculture. We analyze to what extent the SE philosophy is part of the daily lives of communities in Isan, NE Thailand. We interviewed rural household representatives and community leaders on education, employment, community dynamics, aspirations, concerns and social-sufficiency. The majority observed that community values and interaction were essential and were satisfied with living standards and community. However, most want their children to proceed to university meaning many may not return to agriculture limiting the ability of SE values to be transferred to the next generation.

The Sufficiency Economy: Envisioning a Prosperous Way Down

After briefly summarising the critique of growth, this essay describes in some detail an alternative economic system, which I will call ‘the sufficiency economy.’ This term is typically applied to so-called ‘developing economies,’ which either have not yet industrialised or are still in the early phases of industrialisation. These economies are sometimes called sufficiency economies because they do not or cannot produce material abundance, or do not seek material abundance. Instead, sufficiency economies are focused on meeting mostly local needs with mostly local resources, without the society being relentlessly driven to expand by the growth-focused ethics of profit-maximisation. My point of differentiation in this essay will be to consider the notion of a sufficiency economy within the context of the most highly developed regions of the world – where an economics of sufficiency is most desperately needed – and to explore what such an economy would look like, how it might function, and how the transition to such an economy might transpire.Rather than progress being seen as a movement toward ever-increasing material affluence, the sufficiency economy aims for a world in which everyone’s basic needs are modestly but sufficiently met, in an ecologically sustainable, highly localised, and socially equitable manner. When material sufficiency is achieved in these ways, further growth would not continue to be a priority. Instead, human beings would realise that they were free from the demands of continuous economic activity and could therefore dedicate more of their energies to non-materialistic pursuits, such as enjoying social relationships, connecting with nature, exploring the mysteries of the universe, or engaging in peaceful, creative activity of various sorts.

Teacher Professional Development for Learning Organization on Sufficiency Economy in Small Schools

The Ministry of Education, Thailand announced the major scheme for the implementation of Sufficiency Economy in Schools in the country along with the 1999 National Education Act Amendment in 2003. The purposes were to establish self immunization in human capital and develop learners to their full capacity. However, the inequality among schools in Thailand was one of the main problems in educational development. The small schools were among the disadvantage groups. There were not having sufficient learning resources, teaching personnel and teachers with major in special subject areas, the small schools needed help in their development programs as well as integrating sufficient economy into the learning and teaching situations. The purposes of this study are to develop teacher professional for learning organization on sufficiency economy in small schools as well as to develop principals and teachers' concepts about learning organization on sufficient economy. This study employs qualitative design by analyzing document and interviewing key informants. The research samples consist of five small schools under the Office of Khon Kaen Primary Educational Service Area. The findings reveal that the training strategy with the emphasis on brain storming, working in small groups, learning from success stories experiences of their peers and friendly supervision in the teacher professional development for learning organization based on the philosophy of sufficiency economy. Furthermore, the support from school administrators also created confidence among teachers in implementing the integration of the innovation based on the philosophy of sufficiency economy in a whole school system. Therefore, the project was implemented and progress under the same ideology in both administrators and teachers. Regarding the guidelines for teacher development for learning organization based on the philosophy of sufficient economy among small schools, the findings revealed that there are six steps of work procedures. The six steps comprise of (i) awareness creation, the research employed a study trip to visit good practice sites in sufficiency economy; (ii) professional development; (iii) consensus concept of creation of innovation based on sufficiency economy and classroom research; (iv) using community learning resources; (v) observation and reflection, and (vi) supervision and coaching. In conclusion, all teachers accepted and implemented the integration of sufficiency economy into their classroom. Moreover, they showed their ability for integrating the philosophy of sufficiency economy into their activities. Finally, most of the students showed their developments in achievement and attitude.

Integrated Management Model for Learning Organization on Sufficiency Economy in Small School, Thailand

The aim of this research was to study an integrated management model for learning organization on sufficiency economy of small schools. Thus, to synthesize the indicators of the integrated management model, and finally propose the integrated management model for learning organization on sufficiency economy in small schools. This research was conducted in three phases as follows: The first phase was a documentary analysis. This is followed by the second phase to confirm and verify the model based on the indicators identified by collecting empirical data. Lastly the third phase was to conduct the connoisseurship focus group discussions for confirming and verifying the findings from the second phase. The target group of this study included small schools under the Office of Khon Kaen Primary Educational Service Area. The key informants consist of school administrators, teachers, students and school boards. Data are collected by using in-depth Interview for the teachers, school administrators, students, and school boards. Data obtained from in-depth interview, observation, documentary analysis, and focus group discussion analyzed by using content analysis, and presented in descriptive form. Findings indicated that the integrated management needs to cover the combination of various perspectives including the school administrators, teachers, students, administrative factors, environmental condition in school and community. All these factors are associated to administer the school organization a whole system for usefulness and succeeded in implementing various school activities. Furthermore, from the result of empirical data shows that the major components and indicators of the integrated management model for learning organization on sufficiency economy that comprised of the administrators, teachers, students, administrative factors, school and community environmental factor. According to the documentary data, environmental condition in school found to be an additional factor. Each aspect of component can be practiced in more detained and obvious. The proposed integrated management model for learning organization on sufficiency economy in small schools by connoisseurship, has confirmed the six components are the school administrators, teachers, students, administrative factors, and environmental condition in school.

Teacher Professional Development for Learning Organization on Sufficiency Economy in Small Schools

1. Introduction: The Thai government has created a philosophy of sufficiency economy as a guideline for living and practices for all the Thai citizens based on the national development plan under the King's philosophy of sufficiency economy. The main concepts of this sufficiency economy can be defined as sufficiency means moderation and rational means reasonable which covered self-immunity for sufficient protection from impact arising from internal and external changes. In order to achieve this, an application of knowledge related to due consideration and prudence of essential is urgently needed. In particular, utilization of theories and methodologies in planning and implementation stages of administration is crucial and need to be comprehensively and carefully carried out for every step. At the same time, it is essential to strengthen the moral fiber of the nation, so that Thai people not only adhere but also foremost to principles of honesty and integrity. In addition, the life ways of patience, perseverance, diligence, wisdom and prudence are indispensable in order to create balanced life and enable to cope appropriately with critical college arising from extensive and rapid socioeconomic environmental and cultural changes in the world (National Research Committee on Economy Branch, 2003).The Ministry of Education also accepted the King's philosophy of sufficiency economy and taken as its policy and promoted it throughout all the schools in Thailand. This is to directly applying the sufficiency economy concept into the school context for the beneficial of social community. This policy has been convinced the public to change their paradigm of living conditions that is to live under sufficiency economy philosophy. The network for exchange the experiences were also encouraging to lead to sustainable development as the end results (Sumet, 2006). The aims of the school implementation were to mobilize the sufficiency economy philosophy under educational perspective. The educational perspectives include encourage the schools and educational personnel from various levels either formal or informal education system to integrate the mentioned philosophy into their administrative work and students' development appropriately.According to the launch of the 2008 curriculum which targeting on learners' development so that they are equipped with standard knowledge, critical thinking, desired characteristics as well as their hard skills and softskills. The curriculum also emphasized on desired characteristics corresponded to the philosophy of sufficiency economy. The Thai Ministry of Education has announced the second decade of educational reform (2000-2019) that focusing to develop: (i) quality of Thai citizen in a new era; (ii) new breed of teachers; (iii) school quality and learning resource encompassed formal, non formal and informal education system as well as being a source of lifelong learning development, and (iv) new approach for administrative management which emphasized on power distribution and the participation from parents, community, private agency and every involved sector. This is to promote an effective style of administrative management with good governance, transparent, justice and accountability. By implementing the new style of administrative management will enable to develop the change in leadership. All these functions are striving for the crucial goals that channeled to develop new generation of students to participate in ASEAN community (Office of National Education Commission, 2002).2. Problem Statement: If the philosophy of sufficiency economy was implemented at school level, the school administrators have to pay attention on curriculum development and its implementation in the classroom. This can only be accomplished while the participation from all parties is encouraging especially the teachers' participation. Pitoon (2011) and Fullan (2006) pointed out that teachers were the key factors affecting the change in schools. …

A Study of Applying Sufficiency Economy to Lifestyles and use of Resources at Community Levels

This paper analyzes concept of Sufficiency Economy and how it can be applied to community development. Because of its flexibility and differences, applying the Sufficiency Economy principle depends on numerous community-related factors. The aim is examining the principle and studying how it poses physical, social and economic effects at community levels. This paper is also studying life change in accordance with the concept of Sufficiency Economy that determines the physical and socio-economic conditions in communities in order to define a policy that encourages community developments under Sufficiency Economy concept. This paper compares communal life change principles with three standard principles; that is, the principles by His Majesty the King, National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) and Bangkok Metropolitan, under the basic concept of Sufficiency Economy. The results are employed as Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for pilot communities in Bangkok Metropolitan.

Integrated Management Model for Learning Organization on Sufficiency Economy in Small School, Thailand

1. IntroductionThe basic concepts of sufficiency economy will lead to self-reliance education that based on the principles of Thai life styles. By depending on the aim of this sufficiency economy, it will channel the Thai people for their holistic development. Therefore the implementation of the sufficiency economy should become guidelines for school management. This mentioned concept is known as 'The philosophy of sufficiency economy'. The ninth and tenth National Economic and Social Development Plans (2002-2011) have included the sufficiency economy which was granted by His Majesty the King since 1974 as guideline philosophy for governing and developing the country. Owing to the major emphasis is on 'moderation', applying the philosophy of sufficiency economy will lead the country to overcome the economic crisis and further stabling the system. Additionally, it will help to improve quality of the society with sustainability under the rapid changing of globalization. The people will become more considerate of economic well being, reasonableness and keep up to the changing world.One of the important components that complementing integrated management is the learning organization that focusing on team learning and the development of learning leadership. This team learning would encompass the transfer of knowledge as well as the exchange of experiences and skills among the personnel. Therefore it would lead to the continuity in organizational development that assists the organization being able to keep up the momentum to change and being competitiveness. The establishment of leaning organization will create the system for the personnel learn to work effectively and efficiently. At the moment the personnel being able to transfer their working experience into learning process and gain some understanding, their readiness to cope with the change will be established. This approach will provide the opportunities for the team grows by gaining the empowerment. This will motivate personnel to be initiative and innovative. Consequently, the philosophy of sufficiency economy will lead to strong and self-reliance organization when facing competitiveness situations (Senge, 1994).The main principle of the integrated management model is the benefits of the customers. The key factor that included specifically in the mentioned model is the leaders' management style. Therefore, the school leaders need to take the full responsibilities and play their specified roles to ensure that all the tasks can be achieved from the beginning stage until the end stage of accomplishment. In other word, they have to utilize their leadership skills, meaning to say that they must react fast, their actions are based on good information, thus they must have their own opinion, good team work complemented with the monitoring and evaluation teams. Under the integrated management model, strategic approach is employed along the administrative work. There are four key supporting factors that need to consider by the leaders in order to accomplish the task. The key supporting factors are update data for decision making, specify main strategies and sub-strategies, management with good governance and follow and evaluate in management work continuously (Thuan Thongkaew, 2010).2. Problem Statement:The current school management needs to be developed continuously under the assisting changing society and thus identify an appropriate model as reference. Due to the school as a prime teaching and learning organization under the administration of the school director, therefore the school leaders have to develop their capabilities in every aspect in order to successfully managing the schools in the rapid changing world whereby the changing situation are encompassing all aspects, namely materials, society and environment.At present, there are some problems specifically faced by the small school which have their students' enrollment below 120, reported by the Office of National Primary Education Commission (1996). …

The Development of a Knowledge Management System to Promote the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy for the Basic Education Teacher

The Development of a Knowledge Management System to Promote the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy for the Basic Education Teacher

Turning red rural landscapes yellow? Sufficiency economy and Royal projects in the hills of Nan Province, Northern Thailand

This paper discusses the efforts of the royal family to moralise the environmental behaviour of their subjects in the name of the Sufficiency Economy philosophy solicited by King Bhumibol since the 1990s in Thailand. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Nan province, Northern Thailand, in 2008 and 2009, I focus particularly on Royal Projects recently promoted to correct the rural practices of the ethnic minority groups living in the hills of Nan. In the past, many of these ethnic groups took part in the Maoist insurgency while at present, they represent a key basin of supporters for the reformist Red Shirts movement which is currently threatening the role of the monarchy in Thai politics. The research suggests that the recently increased trend of staging new projects for sustainable agro-forestry management in a ‘red’ area as Nan does not only aim at improving the conditions of mountain peoples and of the environment, but simultaneously increases the political influence of the conservative forces over this ‘ungovernable’ territory in times of political crisis.

The Development of Teaching Pattern for Promoting the Building up of Character Education Based on Sufficiency Economy Philosophy in Thailand

The purpose of this study was to develop a teaching pattern that promotes the building up of desirable character based on the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy in Thailand. The study employed Delphi Technique and with help from experts who voluntarily verified the teaching pattern that had been constructed from the beginning to the end. The collected data were systematically analyzed to ensure an effective teaching pattern fitting for teachers and educational offices to use or make appropriate application. The target group of experts for the verification of the teaching pattern consisted of 31 educators in the northeastern parts of Thailand, i.e.7 school administrators, 6 educational supervisors and 18 teachers. These experts have been officially recognized as Master Teachers before. A questionnaire (constructed in accordance with the Philosophy of Efficiency Economy for the building up of desirable character, i.e. hard work, thriftiness and be satisfied with what one has got) was used to elicit the experts’ opinions in which they were asked to answer the same questions for three times until a consensus was reached. A review of the first consensus revealed that no less than 90% of the respondents agreed on every point. The present researcher then made several adjustments accordingly in order to be in line with the aim of the research project. The adjusted questionnaire was then sent to the experts for a second round of verification. This time the respondents made a “High” level of opinion in favor of every point (the lowest X being 4.67). The questionnaire, as opined by the respondents showed a median of 5 on every point and all the points were consistent with one another, and, therefore, suitable for using as a research instrument. In the third round a consensus was reached by the experts.from the affirmation of their opinions in the second round. The experts’ affirmation was within the inter-quartile range of 0 which made every point on the questionnaire more consistent with one another.The finished teaching pattern for the development of desirable character in Northeastern students in accordance with the principles of Sufficiency Economy Philosophy consists of 3 steps. The first step is to prescribe learning unit by using student development activities as the basis for analyzing the main principles of the Philosophy of Sufficiency Economy, to set criteria for analyzing desirable character in line with the development of school curriculum, to prescribe course descriptions, to prepare integrated mind-mapping indicators, and to organize backward learning unit. The second step is for designing learning activities and lesson plans based on project-based learning and utilization of community resources. The third step of application is for the teachers of each level to try the pattern on the students during their developmental activities. The teachers will be expected to collect data and to prepare a report on the results of the experiment for further publication.

Development Policy in Thailand: From Top-down to Grass Roots

Top-down industrial development strategies initially dominated the developing world after the second World War but were eventually found to produce inequitable economic growth. For a decade or more, governments and international development agencies have embraced the idea of participatory grass roots development as a potential solution. Here we review Thailand's experience with development strategies and we examine the current focus on participatory approaches. Thai government planning agencies have adopted "people centred development" and a "sufficiency economy", particularly emphasised since the disruptions caused by the 1997 Asian financial crisis. They aim to address the inequitable sharing of the benefits of decades of rapid growth that was particularly unfair for the rural poor. Thai policies aim to decentralise power to the local level, allowing civil society and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) more of a voice in national decision making and promoting sustainable farming practices aimed at enriching rural communities. An example of this change in Thai government policy is the Community Worker Accreditation Scheme which is aiming to develop human resources at the local level by training community based leaders and supporting networks of community organisations. This enables autonomous local development projects led by trained and accredited individuals and groups. The political tensions notable in Thailand at present are part of this modern transition driven by conflicting models of top-down (industrial) development and the bottom-up (participatory) development ideals described above. Once resolved, Thailand will have few obstacles to moving to a new economic level.

The political response to rural social and economic sustainability: A cross-national study of Thai and Australian rural policy, 1997–2007

This article provides a cross-national examination of Thai and Australian political responses to rural social and economic inequity during the period 1997–2007 using an historical lens. It highlights different policy approaches and their philosophical underpinnings. Both the National Party and Thai Rak Thai Party shared similar policy positions. Village funds and rural community development programmes were aimed at providing capital to encourage the establishment of new enterprises or partnerships in building infrastructure. In some respects they were compensationary for changes in global agricultural commodity trading conditions and an acknowledgement that markets fail producers in the rural sector. The contrast between Thai and Australian approaches to rural policy is in the philosophy of ‘Sufficiency Economy’. A philosophy rejected by the Thai Rak Thai Party, Sufficiency Economy, was essentially building upon long held peasant traditions.

The philosophy of the sufficiency economy: a contribution to the theory of development

The King of Thailand’s philosophy of sufficiency economy highlights a balanced way of living. Three principles—moderation, reasonableness, and self-immunity—along with the conditions of morality and knowledge can be applied to any level of the society—from an individual to a country. This article proposes that the philosophy of sufficiency economy conveys new theory in addressing current development challenges, which are issues of institutions, human capital, environmental sustainability and the role of government. The philosophy of sufficiency economy, as a new paradigm of development, aims at improving human well-being as a development goal.