SUFFiciENcy EcONOMy ANd GRASSROOtS DEvElOPMENt
SUFFiciENcy EcONOMy ANd GRASSROOtS DEvElOPMENt
SUFFiciENcy EcONOMy ANd GRASSROOtS DEvElOPMENt
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The Meaning of Sufficiency Economy <br />
International Conference<br />
201<br />
Seri Pongphit, a leading Thai scholar on community development, suggested<br />
that social capital was a significant element of community development(เสรี พงศ์พิศ<br />
2545; เสรี พงศ์พิศ 2548a; เสรี พงศ์พิศ 2548b). Survival, Sufficiency and Sustainability<br />
were three domains Seri proposed as the characteristics to address the poverty (เสรี<br />
พงศ์พิศ 2549). Based on those domains, this study adjusted these concepts and used<br />
them for the description of social capital in the context of Inpaeng’s experience. <br />
I have used these terms <br />
Survival, Sufficiency, Sustainability as Inpaeng’s social capital<br />
The contemporary world is seen as being driven by a high dependency on the<br />
market economy, especially for small farmers who depend on the cash crops price.<br />
Farmers are frequently caught in the debt cycle and ignoring local knowledge brings<br />
about inevitable poverty. In Seri’s definition, “survive” means surviving from<br />
financial threats, “sufficient” life means living and consuming in moderation, and<br />
“sustainable” means establishing a sustainable system of local economy and<br />
networking. Seri illustrated 3Ss as the foundation of “the pyramid of life”. These 3Ss<br />
domains, accompanied with the learning process and the managing process, formed<br />
a complete pyramid of life. Seri did not reject the role of money and power to solve<br />
the poverty problem, but he argued that money and power should be used as<br />
supporting factors, not the core, when constructing the pyramid of life.<br />
The following paragraphs illustrate the social phenomena observed from the<br />
Inpaeng network according to each domain.<br />
Survival<br />
The first domain of Thai rural social capital is Survival. Ability to survive from<br />
financial constraints was analyzed. According to the observations and interviews,<br />
“Inpaeng’s survival” concerned food security, social welfare (with health care<br />
accessibility) and the competency to produce major items for farmers’ lives.<br />
To survive financial constraints, Inpaeng established the perception of money<br />
and happiness in contrast to the mainstream capitalism perception that money is<br />
happiness. During the first to the third Thai economic development plan, the notion<br />
of “work is money, money is work, this is the way to happiness” was promoted as<br />
the Thai social value(นิธิ เอียวศรีวงศ์ ไม่ระบุปี). Rural people take loans to pay for nonperforming<br />
entities such as paying back another loan or for buying luxurious<br />
commodities. This could be considered as “a vicious cycle of debt”.Inpaeng’s notion<br />
of “wisdom leads money” reflected their view of money. They did not reject<br />
money’s significance but advocated wise management of money as more critical.<br />
Inpaeng supported the knowledge of money management and saving system,<br />
accompany with a self-reliance lifestyle, to help their members out of vicious debt<br />
cycle.