SUFFiciENcy EcONOMy ANd GRASSROOtS DEvElOPMENt

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196 The Meaning of Sufficiency Economy International Conference nation, especially state officials, scholars, and business people at all levels, so they are conscious of moral integrity and honesty and they strive for the appropriate wisdom to live life with forbearance, diligence, self-awareness, intelligence, and attentiveness. In this way we can hope to maintain balance and be ready to cope with rapid physical, social, environmental, and cultural changes from the outside world.” NithiEawsriwong, one of the most influential Thai social scientists, concluded the ultimate goal of Sufficiency Economy was to establish the security of the four life essences and sustainability (the four life essences included food, clothing, accommodation, and medicine). This ideology is also the social goal of other economic philosophies. However, while communism suggested that the security of four life essences could be established by the state, and capitalism assigned this task to the mechanism of the free market, the sufficiency economy required the cooperation among people, community and the state. Unlike the other perspectives that considered the sufficiency economy as mere agricultural technique or even a set of financial ethics, Nithi proposed sufficiency economy as a culture. He argued that the sufficiency economy is the opposite of individualism; it required the interconnectedness between people and their ecosystem. He asserted that strong social/community bonds, the social capital, was the key element for achieving the sufficiency economy (นิธิ เอียวศรีวงศ์ 2543). The Inpaeng network is another outstanding example of how Isaan people adjusted themselves in order to cope with the modern constraint. In short, Inpaeng is the name of a non-profit network that aims to promote a self-reliant lifestyle for people living around the Phuphan mountain range at the middle of the Isaan area. One of the Inpaeng’s main strategies was to utilise the unique Thai social capital acquired from the communities. This research study will explore Thai social capital according to Inpaeng context. Method This study observed social activities and interviewed some key informants between January and June 2008. Two groups of informants were acquired. The first group of informants wereInpaeng leaders who involved in Inpaeng network administration, training course, forest protection, community financial management and community business. Informants who were Inpaeng members with no administrative work were categorised into the second group. They were members who adopted the Inpaeng lifestyle. These informants were the living evidence confirming that living according to Inpaeng concept could be fruitful. All informants were informed about the research project before the interview took place and were asked verbally for the audio recording consent. Most of the observations and interviews took place in the Inpaengcentre, Kudbak district, Sakonnakhon province, seven hundred kilometers from Bangkok. The Inpaengcentre is the training venue and the administrative office of the Inpaeng network. Social events such as Inpaeng administrative meetings, staff meetings, informal meetings and network conferences also take place at the Inpaengcentre. However, some social events were observed
The Meaning of Sufficiency Economy International Conference 197 outside the Inpaengcentre including shamanism traditional healing rituals, religious ceremonies, including cremation rituals and visits to Inpaeng members’ farms. Background of Inpaeng network History Inpaeng is the name of a social network and social movement that promotes sufficiency and an eco-friendly lifestyle among Thai rural small-scale farmers. It is one of a number of NGOs (non-government organisations) that promoted the c o n c e p t a v i d l y s i n c e t h e 4 D e c e m b e r 1 9 9 7 b i r t h d a y s p e e c h b y K i n g BhumibolAdulyadej, though NGOs had previously promoted this concept based on increased dignity through economic self-sufficiency (setthakitphor-phiang; Thai: เศรษฐกิจพอเพียง), or self-reliance (pheung-toneng; Thai: พึ่งพาตนเอง),and a new localism (thongthin-niyom; Thai: ท้องถิ่นนิยม) – specifically a localism discourse known as “community culture” (watthanathamchumchon; Thai: วัฒนธรรมชุมชน). Most of the network members live around the Phuphan mountain range (see map). This network has reinforced its concept of sufficient agricultural lifestyle to its members via seminar, training, dialoguing, and supplying resources. The name “Inpaeng” is a combination of two words “In” and “Paeng”. “In” is the name of a Hindu god “Indra”, the lord of heaven and “Paeng” means to establish. Therefore, Inpaeng implies the land or area that has been established by an Indic deity. The name was given in 1990, to this network, by MrBoasriSrisung: the chair of Thai-Isaan foundation. MrBoasri visited the network near the Phuphan mountain range and was very impressed by its fertility; the land is incredibly fertile as if it were created and blessed by lord Indra. The movement originated in 1986. MrThawatchaiKunwong, a young University graduate, was sponsored by the Village foundation to initiate a rural development project. He was assigned to study the lifestyle of the ethnic “Kaleang” (Thai: กะเลิง) in Kudbak and used ethnographic approaches in his data collection. Thawatchai observed and talked to local scholars, the elders and the local leaders and also took part in community ceremonies and activities. He found much local wisdom concerning plantation, herbal medicine and forest management that was ignored and labeled as outdated concepts by the government development scheme. After the sponsored money was used up, he created his own “back to the roots” campaign in the same Kudbak area. The campaign aimed to revive local wisdoms integrated with new ecological movement. Thawatchai set some community meetings to analyze the situation of the village. Looking back to the past, evaluating the present and foreseeing the future, they found that, by blindly following the government-recommended programs of cash crop plantations, the communities would finally collapse. It was concluded from the community meeting that in order
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SUFFiciENcy EcONOMy ANd GRASSROOtS DEvElOPMENt

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