Explosion from Within
Emphasizing human development, His Majesty frequently uses the phrase “explosion from within,” which means the community and village targeted to develop must be strengthened and ready to get started before being exposed to the outside world. The progress or the outsiders should not be brought into a community which is not prepared or made ready.
Holistic Approach
The holistic or integrated approach is His Majesty’s strategy for implementing the Royal Development Projects. This approach enables His Majesty to attentively consider the problems which may strike while relatively seeking for their solutions. The “New Theory” practice that His Majesty introduced to the Thai people as an alternative for making a living is a marvelous example of this approach. It serves as a set of principles on the proper management of land and water sources, fundamental factors for doing agriculture, to create optimum benefits for Thai farmers who own an average of 10 - 15 rai (1.6 - 2.4 hectares) of land. As the “New Theory” concept supplies sufficient water for agriculture, the productivity will become greater. In this light, the farmers should learn about the management methods and marketing as well as pooling their efforts in form of groups to build up the community’s strength in order to be ready for exposure to the outside world in a comprehensive manner which encompasses the “New Theory” Phases I, II, and III.
Public Hearing
As a democratic King, His Majesty has adopted the policy of “public hearing” to rule the country. This approach allows the people to openly express their voices concerning the issues in which a decision needs to be made. In other words, for making a final decision, the people’s opinions or demands must be taken into consideration.
“To help the people, we need to know the people and know what they want. We must apply our knowledge to help them. “
‘Our Loss is Our Gain’
“Our loss is our gain... To lose means to obtain. The nation will progress. The well-being of the people cannot be estimated in a monetary terms. “
His Majesty’s royal statement granted to the Thai people as quoted above implied the concept of “giving” and “sacrifice” which provide profits or gains which mean the well-being of the people that can concretely be witnessed. The concept was also stressed in an excerpt from His Majesty’s royal statement bestowed upon the representatives of the Thai people who were granted an audience on the auspicious occasion of His Majesty’s Birth Anniversary on Dec. 4, 1991, at the Dusidalai Hall, Chitralada Villa, Dusit Palace, as follows:
“In the last three years, administrations of nations established of the basis on the so-called ideal government theories, have now crumbled down. Will Thailand crumble down? We can consider that Thailand has fared rather well until now. About 10 days ago, a visitor from a foreign land came to obtain some pointers on how to manage a country. We advised them to use a “poor man’s” method of administration, without being too dogmatic about theory, but with the spirit of Unity in mind, that is, with mutual tolerance, we will have more stability. Those who stick closely to theory do not know what to be done when the textbook is closed. Finally, the text book must be opened again, on the first page. Everything goes back to the first step, back to the drawing board. But if we use the “poor man’s” method, if we use mutual tolerance, the text book has no end, we will progress continuously, on and on. We told them that the loss of ours is the profit of ours. The distinguished economists will cry out, “Not so!” In this regards, we elaborate that in any venture, we are willing to put in money and efforts which may seem useless, but in the end we may be able to reap the fruits directly or indirectly. This is the very duty of the government. The government’s money is also the people’s money. If we want the people to be prosperous, we have to invest in development projects which will involve budgets of hundred or many thousand millions. This means a loss of money, a deficit, a debit using the government’s money. However, if the project is a good one, the people will very soon get the benefit from it, the result of it. The people will enjoy a better standard of living. The people will get the profit. If the people have a good income, the government will be able to levy more taxes more easily and implement more projects for the development of the country. In that way, if every one “knows how to treasure Unity” and knows that “Our Loss is Our Gain”, the country will progress, but the well-being and happiness of the people are a benefit that is difficult to be measured in terms of money...”
Self-sufficiency
The success of the royal development works can be traced from His Majesty’s royal visits paid to every place in all regions of the country which enable him to experience the people’s way of living. As a result, His Majesty recognized the difficulties which were provoked by many causes that people could not cope with. The royal benevolence of His Majesty is to uplift people’s well-being by encouraging them to start from the first step of having “enough to eat and to live with”, after which a more advanced stage of living would be achieved.
The development of a country is not an easy task to accomplish. Instead, it requires mobilization of thoughts and efforts of the people in the country to perform the development work together. With these ingenious approaches of His Majesty, the Royal Development Projects have been witnessed by all people to be “simple but effective” as quoted in an excerpt from His Majesty’s statement:
“...If a project is good, before long the villagers will profit, will gain benefits. They will have enough to eat well which will be a positive result.”
Self-supporting
Self-supporting means the people’s capability to live with independence, security and completeness. Self-supporting can be classified into two levels: individual and community
The state of self-supporting should be able to change with times in order to ensure appropriateness, consistency and balance.
There are five principles and guidelines suggested for community to be self-supporting according to sociology, which are:
1. Self-supporting in terms of technology means having material technology such as tools and machinery as well as social technology such as project management and planning in terms of both quantity and quality. This includes efficient utilization and suitable application of the local wisdom.
2. Self-supporting in terms of economy implies the people’s ability to make a living in a secure, moderate or balanced manner.
3. Self-supporting in terms of natural resources signifies the ability to optimize the use of natural resources available, and to preserve them while preventing them from depleting or losing the balance.
4. Self-supporting in terms of mentality means possessing the strong mind to be ready for fighting against obstacles in life. It also means being able to make a living, to uplift the living standard, and to take the middle path in daily conduct according to the Buddhist principle.
5. Self-supporting in terms of social matters means community strongly uniting and having an efficient leader who can pull the people’s efforts to achieve goals in carrying out activities either by themselves or by asking for assistance from the outside world which would eventually make the community reach the state of self-reliance.