The organisers have argued that for decades mankind has had to contend with increasing stress and countless problems that have their roots in their own deeds and actions.

"The more advanced we became technologically, the more absorbed we became with material welfare. It's clear that the current growth and development process has been unable to maintain peace and harmony among mankind as evidenced from the dissatisfaction, unhappiness and conflict that is apparent in our everyday lives.

"As long as society focuses solely on material development to satisfy mankind's physical needs, mankind will be unable to break through this vicious cycle to find the fulfilment that they really seek," said the organisers in publicity material prepared prior to the event's cancellation.

They call for organisations in Thailand and abroad to support a new development model that is more spiritual and emphasises the need to restore the balance between physical and mental wellbeing.

The World Moral Forum would have aimed to explore the path towards achieving the balance among four key areas of development: physical, mental, spiritual and moral.

His Majesty the King's initiatives on the sufficiency economy model would also have figured prominently in the forum, as the philosophy espouses a holistic model of development that has attracted a lot of interest worldwide.

Last year, HM the King was awarded the United Nation's first Human Development Award for his development work over the past several decades.

Alfredo Sfeir-Younis, president of the Zambuling Institute for Human Transformation, which supports the forum, says several advanced Western economies are materially rich but spiritually poor.

On the other hand, countries like Bhutan are regarded as having a lot of spiritual wealth, even though they may not be materially rich.

The former World Bank senior adviser, who specialises in environmental economics, says ideal societies should aspire to be "200 per cent" societies, meaning that they should have both material and spiritual wealth.

The global prevalence of income disparity due to an unbalanced distribution of wealth has also led to a lack of fairness in many societies, he says, adding that it's time to reconcile economics with human transformation.

Decades or even centuries ago, the notion of "spiritual economics" might not have been relevant, because the world had many fewer people.

However, the world population today tops six billion and is projected to reach eight billion in the next two decades.

In the past, commerce in Asia, for instance, would have had little or no effect on the well-being of people in Latin America.

But this is no longer the case, due to the rapid pace of globalisation as well as the population explosion. In other words, if the Chinese economy collapsed today, there would be serious effects on the global economy.

In Sfeir-Younis's opinion, humans are increasingly at the service of globalised economics whereas it should be the other way around.

Another significant issue is environmental economics. He said the value system concerning why people pollute ought to be reformed in order to allow long-term solutions to global environmental degradation.

Sfeir-Younis believes that the problem lies with the misguided notion that space for disposing waste is infinite and that technology will one day provide the solution.

In addition, humans live with a high level of toxicity, resulting in decreased sensitivity to pollution, and they are still unable to realise the spiritual values of humankind.

Nophakhun Limsamarnphun

 nop1122@yahoo.com