SUFFiciENcy EcONOMy ANd GRASSROOtS DEvElOPMENt

The Meaning of Sufficiency Economy
International Conference
223
Village women came to understand that if they had too many children all will
suffer. This fundamental Buddhist value became linked to the birth control practice
adopted by nearly every family. By restricting family size they hoped to ensure that
the children they had would have better lives because family resources could be
better deployed so that their children would have sufficient support for their
education and travel costs to Bangkok or elsewhere.
Villagers also devoted increasing time and effort to expanding cash cropping.
Throughout the 1970s and well into the 1980s they planted more land to such crops
as kenaf, cassava, tobacco, and non-glutinous rice. As a consequence there was a
significant reduction in Ban Nông Tün as throughout the Northeast in forested land.
Some villagers also expanded pig and cattle production. By the mid-1990s, however,
most villagers had concluded that cash-cropping and husbandry of animals for the
market were not a good use of their time and energy because the profits were so
small. As a result, they began to restrict their agricultural work to producing rice for
home consumption.