Our country's political leader has changed from a capitalist tycoon to an untarnished former soldier. The sufficiency economy model has replaced Thaksinomics as the philosophy of the day.

The military-installed government, under General Surayud Chulanont, wholeheartedly adopted the sufficiency economy model, which is the new economic development model espoused by our most respected His Majesty the King. However, how many people, even government officials, are capable of putting the model into practice? On the theoretical front, the concept is clear. The central idea of the sufficiency economy model consists of three principles and two conditions. The three principles include moderation, rationality and safeguards and the two conditions refer to knowledge and morality.

Different people, however, interpret the concept of sufficiency in different ways. Some people take it to mean more savings, while others believe the sufficiency economy concept means putting a restraint on self-indulgence or avoiding conspicuous consumption. The concept can be understood to some extent as being satisfied with what you already have or have achieved.

The government also has difficulty explaining how the sufficiency economy model can be translated into action. Its actions have also been unclear. It reversed certain policies of the previous government such as the village funds, the Bangkok Fashion City Project and various road-show programmes, but on the other hand it has continued on the same path of promoting foreign investment and liberalising trade, as when it signed the Japan-Thailand Economic Partnership Agreement. Having said that does not mean that these policies are inappropriate. Given the fact that Thailand is very dependent on the international economy - 60 per cent of Thailand's GDP is derived from exports - the government should not hit the people's rice bowls by undoing all of Thaksin's policies. It is just that this has made people more confused of what a life of sufficiency means and how to practice it.

I will give you an example. Let's say a gardener, who has a wife and a son currently in high school, makes his living by growing flowers for sale. He owns the pickup truck that he uses to deliver the flowers to the city market. The gardener asks you the following questions: "How should I follow the philosophy of sufficiency economy? What should I do? Should I invest in a new truck? Should I learn to export the flowers and import the seeds? Or should I just maintain the current practice and live happily with the family? Most importantly, how can I make a distinction between what is sufficiency and what is not?"

How many people do you think are capable of providing crystal-clear answers to these kinds of questions?

I do not have a PhD in economics nor am I an expert on the principles of sufficiency economy, but let me try to tackle these questions. We need to understand the word "sufficiency" to appropriately apply it in real life. For simplicity, let me borrow an economic framework - supply and demand - to explain this. Our lives have two dimensions: Production or creation - our work and what we deliver to society (in this case flowers) and consumption, what we use from the return of the production of others to enjoy a good quality of life (food, cars, etc).

The key is - there is no need to be sufficient with what you create, but be sufficient with what you consume. What do I mean? Lord Buddha and gurus from all sciences since the Greek era have never taught us to feel that that we have reached a level of sufficiency when it comes to acquiring knowledge, learning new things or progressing intellectually. Innovation and self-development propelled by the engine of assiduousness should never be stopped. In the gardener's case, he should never stop finding new ways to develop his flowers and increase his customers' happiness with his products (caution: this is different from maximising income) or refraining from expanding his market in the region and beyond. Our life is too short to reach a dead end when it comes to self-improvement, so why stop, why be sufficient?

On the contrary, for consumption, learn to be sufficient with what you consume. The way to determine sufficiency is to be guided by the right purpose when deciding what you consume, making sure that your decision is based on knowledge and not greed. Back to the gardener example, should he buy a new pickup truck? Well, what is the purpose of having a pickup truck? The purpose is that the truck takes him, his family and his flowers to where they have to go. So, if the engine is still reliable, the body is still safe and sound and the truck can still carry the flowers safely to their destinations, why should he buy a new one? Sufficiency is the point at which human satisfaction and true wellbeing coincide - I emphasise true wellbeing. Similarly, think about reasons why you have to eat. What is the purpose of eating? To live and be healthy. Therefore, if money is spent on food beyond what it takes to sustain a healthy life - such as consuming for enjoyment and social status - then it is not for one's wellbeing and is not considered sufficiency.

The sufficiency economy model is also the "economy of optimality" or Kwam Pordee, which means enough and good (por and dee). To live an optimal and sufficient life, knowledge is indispensable in both creation and consumption - just like you need to know more about flowers in order to grow them better and need to know about the five-food groups to eat healthy. So the sufficiency economy model would not work without a knowledgeable society in which people thrive to acquire more knowledge in order to live a better life. Without knowledge, only greed, emotion, and desires will guide actions into the opposite direction of sufficiency.

I have no doubt that sufficiency is the right path of development - not just for Thailand but for the world - but without a well-built connection between the theory and practice, real benefits are lost. Thai people have long lived under the culture of nai nam mee pla nai na mee kao (fish in the pond and rice in the field) which reinforces the notion of comfort and complacency (kwam-sabai). If sufficiency economy is interpreted as "I have learnt enough and life is already good, so let's take it easy. The status quo is sufficiency", then sufficiency is definitely a stumbling block of development.

Thais are very fortunate to have a brilliant King giving us invaluable principles for living. It is and must be our obligation to understand and correctly live the life of sufficiency.

Jirawat Poomsrikaew

Special to The Nation

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