SUFFiciENcy EcONOMy ANd GRASSROOtS DEvElOPMENt

The Meaning of Sufficiency Economy
International Conference
219
Rice seed was first planted in seed beds and then the stalks were pulled up to plant
in the fields. Supplementary foods included some garden crops, bamboo shoots,
other plants and insects collected from the forest. The most important protein in the
diet came from fish which were either caught by men or raised in ponds.
Women not only were co-workers in agriculture, but they assumed
responsibility for converting raw food, especially rice, into cooked food for
consumption. At the time most village women converted rice paddy through use of a
mortar and pestle mill. The staple was glutinous rice which women steamed in the
morning for consumption during the day and then prepared new rice again at night.
Women in Bãn Nông Tün pounding rice using a mortar and pestle, 196
3 (photo by Jane Keyes)
The village was not only self-sufficient in foodstuffs, but almost all clothing
and utensils were also produced by villagers. Women produced all clothing worn
from silk and cotton raised in village fields. Men, in addition to their work in the
fields and in fishing (and very limited hunting), devoted their energies primarily to
producing utensils out of bamboo and rattan. Men were also responsible for building
and repairing houses.
Village houses were made out of wood from trees cut in the forest, woven
bamboo, and atap. However, one of the few items purchased by villagers was
corrugated iron roofing and the iron used for metal tools.
In short, the economic characteristics of Ban Nông Tün, like those of most Isan
villages in the 1960s, exemplified what would today be termed a sufficiency
economy. These characteristics were closely interwoven with the religious
characteristics of the village.
A Moral Community
The village was a ‘moral community’ united by common worship of village
spirits at the ‘navel of the village’ (bübãn) and ancestral spirits (phî pûtã) who
resided in their own forest on the edge of the village. Offerings were made annually
at these shrines.
More importantly, villagers were united in their support of the local wat or
Buddhist temple-monastery. Almost every village male ordained as a monk at the
age of 20 for at least 3 months and often for two ‘lents’ (phansã). Many boys also
spent time as novices at the wat. The monks and novices were central for the
observance of an annual cycle of rituals.
Preparations for a ritual the wat (Buddhist temple-monastery), 1963
(photo by Jane Keyes)