Thailand's Sufficientcy Economy in Action

9 January, Bangkok Ð'- The Thailand Human Development Report 2007 identifies six key

messages about the Sufficiency Economy. Derived from these messages are specific actions that

communities, corporations, civil society and government in Thailand that can undertake now to

move Sufficiency Economy forward:

1) The Sufficiency Economy is central to alleviating poverty and reducing the economic

vulnerability of the poor.

Action Points:

Ð'* Make the Sufficiency approach central to government anti-poverty policy through schemes to

build local capacity for self-reliant production.

Ð'* Provide the landless and land-poor with land from the extensive reserves of land that is

unused.

Ð'* Implement the community control over local resources that was promised in the 1997

Constitution by passing the community forestry bill and other enabling legislation.

Ð'* Ensure development spending is not skewed to certain provinces with political clout, but is

equitably distributed, targeted at areas of real need, and used more creatively.

2) The Sufficiency Economy is a means towards community empowerment and the

strengthening of communities as foundations of the local economy.

Action Points:

Ð'* Target community development efforts, urban and rural, towards building capacity for selfhelp

and sustainable economic activities.

Ð'* Strengthen community capability to manage finances, and investigate feasibility of

converting village funds into local banks in order to promote savings.

Ð'* Ensure local government bodies provide opportunity for community participation.

Ð'* Facilitate efforts to share learning and best practices of successful community groups.

Ð'* Replace hand-out policies with schemes that strengthen communities' own capacity to

provide for all of their members' needs.

Ð'* Encourage corporations to support community projects in line with Sufficiency principles as

part of corporate social responsibility.

3) The Sufficiency Economy takes corporate responsibility to a new level by raising the

strength of commitment to practices conducive to long-term profitability in a competitive

environment.

Action Points:

Ð'* Incorporate Sufficiency principles into training for corporate directors and into the code of

corporate governance enforced by the Stock Exchange of Thailand.

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Ð'* Persuade the major business associations to propagate Sufficiency principles among their

members.

Ð'* Provide more widespread publicity for businesses of all sizes that have utilized Sufficiency

principles in ways that benefit both the business and the society at large.

Ð'* Create an advisory service to help corporations align their social projects with Sufficiency

principles.

4) Sufficiency principles are vital for improving standards of governance in public

administration.

Action Points:

Ð'* Find ways to immunize the institutions that monitor corruption and malfeasance in public

services from political contamination and influence.

Ð'* Integrate Sufficiency principles into the Public Administration Plan, including key

performance indicators used for the evaluation of government departments and personnel.

Ð'* Create a framework based on Sufficiency principles for monitoring decision-making