AA royal visit to Khao Wong district, Kalasin province in 1992, ushered in a new era in the lives of Thailand’s hard working farmers. While there, His Majesty examined rice stalks presented to him by local farmers. Watered only by the morning dew, each stalk yielded only a grain or two of rice. Determined to better the lives of the farmers the King began a search for new methods and technologies that would allow farmers to be more productive and thus self reliant.

Dr Sumet Tantivejkul, His Majesty’s trusted aide on matters relating development for over 15 years, recalls: “His Majesty spent many hours talking to villagers. It was an untainted process of public hearing — unorganized and natural.

CLOCKWISE, FROM RIGHT: Working non-stop to lead the country towards development that is both kind to nature and the majority of rural folk. A royal visit to one of the agricultural projects under His Majesty’s patronage. His Majesty's insightful vision on development has been recognized internationally.

The King himself elaborated this principle in one of his speeches: “Development must respect varying regional geography and ways of living. We cannot impose our ideas on the people. We can only suggest. We must go to meet them, find out what their needs are, and then fully explain to them [what can be done]. In order to work out a programme to help people, it’s necessary that you know the people you intend to help…there is no short cut. One does not know a people by merely memorizing some research papers prepared by research centres. You must meet the people and like them.”

First-hand knowledge, accumulated in the course of His Majesty’s countless trips to almost every corner of Thailand, has shaped the principles that govern the King’s approach to rural development: Respect the local landscape and culture. Listen to the people; let them be your teachers. Think far and wide, but remember that the ultimate goal is the well-being of the people. Persuade, never impose. And while pursuing material security, don’t forget to strive for an inner peace of mind through spiritual purification.

These messages have been a consistent theme in the King’s numerous speeches and in the way in which he has conducted his more than 2,000 royal development projects since taking the throne six decades ago.

His Majesty is constantly looking for the best means by which to achieve his objective, said Dr Sumet. He is always equipped with large volumes of data and information which he meticulously studies and analyses. Even then, he seeks out a wide range of expert opinions and advice before deciding on a course of action.

“Given the diversity of geography, soil conditions, sources of water, climatic conditions, and differing human landscapes, there exists no single formula for solving rural poverty,” said the King to a group of journalists at the Huay Hong Krai Royal Development Study Centre in Chiang Mai.

The Huay Hong Krai site is one of the six development study centres His Majesty has set up across different regions to investigate local conditions and look for solutions to local problems. Using these centres as a base of operations, His Majesty conducts his various experiments in reforestation, irrigation, land development and farm technology. The goal is to identify villager-friendly know how that caters to each particular region and restore a natural balance that will allow people to work on the land and become selfsupporting.

The King calls these research and demonstration centres “Living Museums.”

“These centres are like natural living organisms,” His Majesty explained. “They actively demonstrate the conclusions of development research and model ways that people can adapt our findings and use them to make a living.”

The first rural development study centre set up by His Majesty was in Khao Hin Son, a rugged and rocky area in Chachoengsao's Phanom Sarakham district, east of Bangkok. It serves as a model for restoring desertified, deforested landscapes into arable farmland.

The Huay Hong Krai Centre in Chiang Mai, meanwhile, is intended to be a model of catchment area conservation for the North. In the South, the Pikul Thong Centre in Narathiwat focuses on the ecology of the swampy, acidic land typical of the southernmost region.

In the Northeast, the Phu Phan Centre in Sakon Nakhon studies soil salinisation and irrigated reforestation possibilities for the country's biggest and most drought-plagued region.

The Kung Kraben Bay Centre in Chanthaburi is devoted to the study and rehabilitation of degraded mangrove forests and coastal waters nationwide.

The Huay Sai Centre in Phetchaburi studies the rehabilitation of devastated forests and offers strategies to help villagers benefit from forest resources while becoming forest protectors themselves.

His Majesty's work at the Living Museums demonstrates what he considers to be the country's most urgent priority in rural development: the restoration of ecological balance.

All six regional centres were developed on la d made barren as the result of over exploitation. Likely, this is a royal comment on the problems created by the country's fastpaced development and the ensuing environmental destruction. The King always begins by nurturing natural areas back to health. Only then do the centres start offering services to surrounding villages.

Those who saw the denuded mountains at Huay Hong Krai in 1983, and compare them to the lushly covered peaks that exist today would have no doubt that the King's development visions work.

Once parched and dead, the earth at Huay Hong Krai has returned to life after more than a decade of His Majesty's experiments with naturally irrigated reforestation projects.

His Majesty has developed his own "middle-path" approach to land and forest restoration. Most environmentalists advocate letting the sparse forest regenerate by itself. Most forestry officials would recommend clearing the whole area for reforestation. The King designed his own method that incorporates and improves on natural processes using the traditional knowledge of the hill people.

The King constructed hundreds of small, simple dams in mountain streams using bricks and earth. The method reflects his holistic and pragmatic approach. The dams help to retain soil moisture, nurture the trees and prevent forest fires, thus allowing the forest to regenerate more quickly.

At Huay Hong Krai, things have obviously worked the way His Majesty foresaw. With more moisture and leaves to decompose, the barren land is gradually being covered with fresh, rich soil. The rejuvenated forest cover also brings more rain.

The technique has also worked at the Khao Hin Son Centre in Chachoengsao province. The 1,200 rai of neardesert, mountainous terrain was dotted by less than 100 trees when His Majesty started his healing process. Like Huay Hong Krai, it is now lush and green.

A closer look at the Royal Development Study Centres reveals the King's scientific orientation and commitment to giving his people tried and tested solutions.

To help the villagers identify which tree varieties might work best for forest regeneration, the areas atop the hills are divided into different plots of mostly fast-growing indigenous trees. The green valleys, meanwhile, are teeming with fruit trees, bamboo and other edible plants to test their compatibility with the topography of a given region.

Mangoes, pepper vines and rattan are among the many other indigenous plants being grown in forest areas as part of the King's experiments in agro-forestry. In His Majesty's view, if the forests are the villagers' source of livelihood and income, they will automatically become forest guardians.

The King's rural development vision is evident in the centres' research into chemical-free and integrated farming. This research could be considered a royal commentary on current government-supported farming policies which seriously contaminate the soil, pollute the rivers and destroy the food chain through heavy use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides.

CLOCKWISE FROM BOTTOM LEFT: Peace is at hand when the people’s moderate way of life is in harmony with nature. A Karen farmer holds some flowers he has grown as part of the Royal Project’s efforts to offset deforestation caused by single cash-crop plantations. The once-denuded hill at Huay Hong Krai in Chiang Mai is now an island of greenery. Frog farming helps northern farmers earn extra income.

The King's Living Museums have shown how his development conclusions can free villagers from hardship.

Prasert Talaboon of Doi Saket, is among the Huay Hong Krai centre's regular clients. He said the practical, low-cost farm technology he has learned about at the centre has changed his life.

"Before, I was deep in debt. Now I have hope," said the 56 year-old father of two.

CLOCKWISE, FROM LEFT: By listening to people's problems, His Majesty has materialized different development approaches which are applicable to each different locality. Capturing Her Majesty on film presenting a gift to a Karen farmer during a field trip to northern Thailand. His Majesty's guidance over development has led millions of rural farmers out of debts and poverty. His Majesty, accompanied by HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, studies a farming plot as part of his unrelenting attempts to give farmers low-cost, effective farm technology.

Chemical-intensive, cash-crop farming, he said, had left him penniless. The centre has shown him how to stand on his own two feet again.

Quitting the money chase, he turned every metre of his small plot of land over to growing food for his family. Around his house, vegetables grow amid wild grasses. The farm does not look neat, but it gives his family enough to eat. Interestingly, the plots of mixed vegetables are free of pests. "So they're safe to eat," he said.

With training from the centre, he built a small mushroom shed and a chicken coop. What started off as subsistence farming has now become a regular source of cash.

With reduced food expenses and a regular income, Mr Prasert soon paid off his debts. Life, he reported happily, is stable once again.

Meanwhile, his wife Utis has joined the housewives' group at Ban Pah Pai, a nearby village, which plans to launch a community business producing preserved garlic, mangoes and beans, with initial support from the Huay Hong Krai centre.

Despite the economic crisis, some 100 families in the Huay Hong Krai community network have remained relatively unaffected.

Hunger is never a problem when the villagers raise their own food. Their community business has not been hurt either, since they only use local produce. The fact that the preserved foods are made from organic vegetables and fruits and are free of chemical preservatives has also put them in great demand in the marketplace.

His Majesty's “New Theory farming” system promotes maximisation of land use to allow family farms to become self-reliant. In recognition of the importance of water resources, His Majesty devotes 30 percent of the land to ponds or reservoirs. For food security, 30 percent goes to paddy fields. Another 30 percent goes to fruit orchards, and vegetable and herb gardens. The remainder of the land is allocated for living quarters, roads or other infrastructure.

According to His Majesty, the key factor that fosters sustainable development for both people and nature is the people's own inner balance. Such a balance keeps a lid on greed while fostering contentment with a moderate way of life. "What we should strive for is a reasonable state of well being or ‘por khuan, por yoo, por khin’ and peace for the general public," he said in one of his royal speeches.

Por khuan, por yoo, por khin roughly translated means an acceptable state of well-being with food security and sufficient and guaranteed basic needs.

"I have repeatedly said that striving to become a 'tiger' is not our main concern," said His Majesty on December 4, 1997. "What's important for us is to have a decent standard of living and sufficient food to eat, as well as to maintain a self-sufficient economy. The key word, 'sufficient', here implies that one should aim at becoming self-reliant."

"It doesn't matter if Thailand is criticised as a backward country if we are still able to maintain our peace and self sufficiency," His Majesty pointed out in one speech on bureaucratic reform.

For over five decades, the King has trave led to just about every nook and cranny in the country to listen to his people's grievances. Time and time again, he has heard stories of state imposition, abuse of power, ineffective policies based on insufficient data, inter-agency rivalry and disrespect for the local people. That has probably made him more aware than anybody of the country's need for bureaucratic reform.

BELOW, LEFT TO RIGHT: Agricultural activities at the Huay Hong Krai Centre to help northern farmers. At the Huay Hong Krai Centre, northern farmers learn to diversify agriculture activities such as growing mushrooms to earn a living.

To this end, His Majesty uses the Living Museums as a place where government officials across different agencies can learn how their areas of responsibility are inter-related so they can work together toward a common goal.

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: A royal harvest in a demonstration plot initiated by His Majesty. Their Majesties the King and the Queen inspect a cattle-raising project at Huay Hong Krai Royal Development Study Centre in Chiang Mai. His Majesty releases fish into Khi Canal during a visit to villagers in Sakon Nakhon province. The familiar sight of Their Majesties the King and the Queen during a field trip to demonstrate that agriculture and water supply are the keys to national well-being. Water is the source of life, HM the King repeatedly says, hence water supply is His Majesty’s major concern.

"This is where officials can learn to cooperate, to work together as a team," he said. His Majesty once used the irrigated forest project at Huay Hong Krai as an example to make his point. "Before, forestry officials were at odds with irrigation officials. This project, however, has taught them that they can benefit from irrigation work. And vice versa."

Another speech in 1990 showed that the King's holistic approach is not restricted to rural development work. "All activities are inter-dependent. Therefore, everyone must be conscious of their duty to others and assist each other."

Despite the royal guidance being given, state agencies' implementation often fails because they overlook His Majesty's directive that development must start with the empowerment of people.

His Majesty calls such an empowerment process "a burst from within", meaning strengthening a community so that it can be an active player in choosing appropriate change for itself.

Good health and a clean water supply are basic factors essential for community empowerment, stressed the King. Next, people must have access to practical farm technology as well as information so they can cope with rapid change.“That's where the King's development centres come in ” , said Dr Sumet. “They help farmers gain more understanding of new methods and technology ”

The next two stages of the New Theory scheme reflect His Majesty's holistic approach. After each individual is empowered, the focus shifts to the strengthening of the entire community, and then to collaboration with the outside sectors. The second phase proposes that farmers form themselves into groups or cooperatives to help one another in the areas of production, marketing, education, social welfare and development, and religion. The third and last stage envisions fair and equal partnerships between the private sector and the community.

The King is hopeful that farmers, with their collective bargaining power, will no longer suffer from price manipulation when selling their produce or buying the consumer products they need. To implement such a concept, however, requires time, understanding, and perseverance. The New Theory is not at all easy to put into practice, as the King himself often admits, and when implementing it, a flexible approach is essential.

The New Theory with its philosophy of self-sufficiency differs from the mainstream thinking in three fundamental ways. First, His Majesty points out the root cause of most difficulty has more to do with world-view than with economic factors. Second, the monarch's public stress on the small-scale farmers implies that restoring and maintaining the strength of the agricultural sector is a necessary condition for reversing the current economic downturn. And, finally, the idea of self-sufficiency indicates that the local community must attain a certain degree of financial autonomy before it can enter the market economy.

What is a King to do when his ideas or wishes are questioned? Throughout his long years of dedicating himself to developing sustainable agriculture to better his people’s lives, HM has been known to place strong emphasis on maintaining the natural balance.

Comments have been made in private that royal initiatives are not open for discussion or alteration. To this, HM answered in his December 4, 1993, speech: “Some people say that a royal project cannot be touched. This is a mistaken view, or a view that is not quite right. If a royal project cannot be commented on, Thailand cannot develop. A royal project is a royal opinion. If a royal opinion cannot be touched, it would mean that Thailand cannot progress.”

Dr Sumet added that HM does not look kindly on “yes men”. In fact, he has a habit of soliciting comments on his ideas or plans. He wants his people to speak their minds as long as reason prevails. “Dialogue is a constant process. Argument occurs all the time,” Dr Sumet intimated. “If you are close to him, you will see how charming he is. He constantly asks for opinions until he is satisfied with the answer.”

When questions about his initiative arise, HM would try to answer and explain, or he may let the Office of the Royal Projects Board do the explaining on his behalf. “If worse comes to worst, and a project has to be abandoned, we would abandon it,” said Dr Sumet. But HM is not easily deterred, he says. “He is extremely patient”.