SUFFiciENcy EcONOMy ANd GRASSROOtS DEvElOPMENt

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226 The Meaning of Sufficiency Economy International Conference what was formerly the p?ch?, ‘haunted forest’ where cremations and burials took place. In the 1970s and early 1980s this latter forest had been significantly reduced as villagers had expanded cultivation of cash crops. It also had ceased to have its traditional function after a more modern crematorium was built in the grounds of the wat. In the late 1980s, however, a thudong, or ascetic monk, established a residence in the remaining part of the forest. This ‘forest wat’ has become the center for annual religious retreats. Villagers and others at an annual meditation retreat at the forest monastery in Bãn Nông Tün in January 2005 (photo by Charles Keyes) In cooperation with villagers and with the support of a faculty member from Mahasarakham University, the monk persuaded villagers to begin a reforestation project. This project entailed planting many different species of trees found in traditional forests. Today, the forest is thriving and still expanding, with some funding provided by villagers who work elsewhere. T h e f o r e s t m o n a s t i c r e t r e a t i n B ã n N ô n g T ü n h a s b e come the center for a reforestation project (photo by Charles Keyes) The two forest monks who have resided in the forest monastic settlement since it was founded exemplify the significance Buddhist values even for those who may lead very this-worldly lives. Both monks before ordaining had spent many years in the military, and one had had some success in business. Living in the forest has enabled both to spend most of their time in meditation and study of Buddhist teachings. They also lead meditation retreats for villagers, and once a year hold a two week long retreat which attracts people from many villages. While most visitors to the village would be first impressed by the new houses and the new enterprises, the forest monastery and the traditional wat stand as reminders that villagers do not only value capitalist development. They remain attached also to a different economy – one rooted in their Buddhist traditions. CONCLUSIONS Villagers are not nostalgic for the world their parents and grandparents lived in and which I had the opportunity to observe in the early 1960s. Although they still do produce the rice that is basic to their diet and many also raise some vegetables and fruits, they also like having more meat and a variety of foods which they purchase. A few women still make traditional textiles for use for rituals and other festive occasions, but all like being able to buy most of their clothes. They like living in houses made of purchased materials and built by laborers whom they hire. They very much appreciate having electricity and many electrical appliances which make their lives more comfortable and enjoyable. In short, they like to enjoy the same middle class style of life that most in Bangkok and other urban areas have.
The Meaning of Sufficiency Economy International Conference 227 In order to have such lives, villagers also recognize that they are dependent on the government for certain essential services. Without government investment villagers would not be able to travel easily on good roads or have electricity. They look to the government to support medical facilities. They also look to government to provide increasingly better education which they understand is fundamental to finding better jobs outside the agricultural sector. Villagers in Ban Nông Tün in recent elections, like villagers throughout most of the Northeast, were strongly supportive of the Thai Rak Thai Party because they received increased support in government services during the period when the government was controlled by Thai Rak Thai. This support included the expanded health care program through the 30-baht scheme and subsidies for students pursuing education in better schools outside their local community. Several villagers in Ban Nông Tün have created what is essentially an ambulance service to take sick vill agers to the hospital in Mahasarakham and all villagers avail themselves on a regular basis of services provided by the government at the Mahasarakham hospital and the tambon clinic in nearby Ban Khwao. More students from Ban Nông Tün today go to schools in Mahasarakham town than go to the local village school. Villagers have also come to take for granted the services – such as garbage collection – provided by the Tambon Administrative Organization, a local government body which gained more powers and budget under Thai Rak Thai governments. One of the government services villagers came most to appreciate during the Thai Rak Thai period was the expanded loan program. The village million baht fund made it possible for many villagers to gain access to capital needed for investing in traveling abroad for work or for local enterprises. Villagers are concerned about the increasing debt they have, but so long as interest rates are low and they are able to make sufficient money to pay back what they borrow, they see loans in positive terms. In short, while much of the economic development experienced by people from the village over the past forty years has come about as a consequence of their own imitative, they have also come to depend on essential government services to make it possible for them to emulate the lifestyles of urban middle class people. Most do not, however, seek to do so by moving from the village permanently to live in urban areas. The reason lies in the fact that the village is not only a place of residence; it is also a moral world. On the basis of research over forty years in the same village in northeastern Thailand, I have found that villagers have unequivocally chosen three courses of action which Yoshihara Kunio (1995), in a comparison of the Thai and Korean economies, argued are basic to significant economic growth, that is, to capitalistic development. Villagers have chosen to work long hours both in the village and for long periods of time away from the village. They have shown themselves very willing to take significant risks, especially in choosing to migrate for work not only to other places in Thailand, but also abroad, especially to Taiwan. They have also
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SUFFiciENcy EcONOMy ANd GRASSROOtS DEvElOPMENt

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