The Secretary-General of Thailand’s royalist Chaipattana Foundation, Sumet Tantiwechakul, has an obvious interest in the promotion of the sufficiency economy agenda. Recently, Thaisnews paraphrased Sumet’s advice to Thai entrepreneurs:

Dr.Sumet said they should stick to His Majesty the King’s initiatives on economy, especially the Sufficiency Economy theory. The theory will help them lay sufficient investment plans based on insights into the country’s geography and local people’s way of life. The secretary-general reminded Thais to aim at creating happiness in line with HM the King’s initiatives.

Sumet is also active in campaigning against alcohol consumption, as part of his wider efforts to encourage more “sufficient” lifestyles.

In our ongoing quest to better understand the direction of arguments about Thailand’s political-economy, New Mandala should also point readers towards the stockpile of related writings available at www.sufficiencyeconomy.org/ . It includes a small batch of English language articles that explain the “theory” for an international audience.

Any New Mandala readers who are serious about understanding the future of Thai economic and social policy under Royal direction could do worse than spend an hour trawling through that site’s offerings. For Thai-readers, the Frequently Asked Questions section is particularly instructive.