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For new version of Sufficiency Economy, 30 villages in Chiang Rai with lack of irrigation, high debt & low productivity will be testing ground.

Villagers join forces in building a weir in Huai Sak, Muang Chiang Rai.

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Economics

Tambon of hope

Far-north Huai Sak begins sufficiency project with a Buddhist twist
7/12/2012
Chatrudee Theparat

The name of Huai Sak in Muang Chiang Rai may not ring a bell, but the remote tambon in the Northern province should soon earn some respect and increased awareness.

The entire tambon of 30 villages and 2,690 people in 612 families was recently chosen as a new model for sufficiency economy development.

The ambitious development project was initiated by Pid Thong Lang Phra Royal Project in partnership with renowned monk Phra Vudhijaya Vajiramedhi (V. Vajiramedhi) and related state agencies.

Huai Sak covers 8,198 rai of farmland, 63% of which is rice fields, 21% longan orchards and the rest highland rice and corn. Average production cost is 32,515 baht per rai per family each year.

The survey found that farmers in the area have suffered for years from a chronic lack of irrigation for crops, high debt and low productivity.

The villagers owe 79.13 million baht, or 185,735 baht on average per family per year.

Of the families, 73% are in debt, with 31% of their debts arising from loans used to purchase fertiliser, insecticide and equipment.

MR Disnadda Disakul, secretary-general of the Pid Thong Lang Phra Project, said Huai Sak is a proper model for the sufficiency economy because the tambon has the largest land area in Thailand and most villagers are not considered poor.

The project has three pivotal concepts: understanding, accessibility and development to find the root of problems.

Participants include officials of the Pid Thong Lang Pra Project, related state agencies and Buddhist gurus.

MR Disnadda acknowledged that the development process is hard because state officials have to change their mindset and thoroughly study what the community demands.

"We start by talking about the process, asking people in the area about their actual requirements, and we find that water is their first priority," he said.

The project also asked Phra V. Vajiramedhi, founder and director of the Vimuttayalaya Institute, to share his knowledge of Buddhist economics.

So far the project has run for seven months, with seven weirs (small dams) being built. Plans are afoot to build more than 100 dams over the next few years.

Phra V. Vajiramedhi said the community's development should be based on the Buddha's teachings, especially the principles of diligence, good management, ethics and morals, as well as sufficient ways of living.

He said ethics and morals would help those in the community maintain a good heart, compassion, kindness, peace and generosity while staying away from gambling and drugs.

Some 1,000 farmers and related state agencies have been trained in Buddhist economics.

Sming Pimjai, kamnan (head man) of Huai Sak, said he himself at first did not quite grasp the purpose of the project.

But after seven months of development he is more aware of the benefits, as there is increased water for consumption and agriculture production.

"With Phra V. Vajiramedhi taking part, the community is more confident in the project's viability," he said.

MR Disnadda said the model will be expanded to Chiang Mai, Nan, Phitsanulok, Trat, Sa Kaeo, Udon Thani, Loei, and Yala in order to rehabilitate forests and save water resources.

The government agreed to allocate 412 million baht during fiscal 2013-2015 to support the project.

MR Disnadda said the project if fulfilled will save the state money on rural development in the long run.

(Source: Bangkok Post, Economics, Tambon of hope, Far-north Huai Sak begins sufficiency project with a Buddhist twist, 7/12/2012, Chatrudee Theparat, link) 


Rural Economic Development Vocabulary
 
development - the gradual growth of something so that it becomes more advanced, stronger, etc; advancement, growth, progress การพัฒนา, การเจริญ

economic development - "the sustained, concerted actions of policymakers and communities that promote the standard of living and economic health of a specific area" (See Wikipedia)
economic development project

standard of living - the level of wealth, comfort, material goods and necessities available to the people who live in a country including "income, quality and availability of employment, class disparity, poverty rate, quality and affordability of housing, hours of work required to purchase necessities, gross domestic product, inflation rate, number of vacation days per year, affordable (or free) access to quality healthcare, quality and availability of education, life expectancy, incidence of disease, cost of goods and services, infrastructure, national economic growth, economic and political stability, political and religious freedom, environmental quality, climate and safety" (See Wikipedia)

rural - connected with the countryside outside big towns and cities ในชนบท, บ้านนอก
rural development
rural economic development

MR Disnadda Disakul - the head of the Mae Fah Luang Foundation (See Wikipedia)

Buddhist economics - economics based on Buddhist ideas and principles (See Wikipedia)

Phra V. Vajiramedhi - a famous Buddhist monk in Thailand (See Facebook)

key - important คนสำคัญ
Phra V. Vajiramedhi: Buddhist lessons key

weir - a wall built across a river or stream to control the flow of water (See Wikipedia)
building a weir

villagers join forces in building a weir
so far the project has run for seven months, with seven weirs (small dams) being built

sufficiency - the state of having or being enough จำนวนที่พอเพียง,  ปริมาณที่พอเพียง,  ความพอเพียง, ความเพียงพอ, ความพอ
sufficiency project
sufficiency economy project

with a twist - with something new and extra added making it different
with a Buddhist twist

Far-north Huai Sak begins sufficiency project with a Buddhist twist

ring a bell - can remember it
may not ring a bell - cannot remember it or has never seen it

remote - far away from cities, difficult to get to ที่ห่างไกลจากความเจริญ (ของเมือง)
remote tambon - a local community far away from cities
remote tambon in a Northern province

respect - to accept the importance of someone's rights or customs
earn respect - do something good to make people respect you
earn some respect

awareness - the state of knowing about something การรับรู้, การทราบ
increased awareness

The name of Huai Sak in Muang Chiang Rai may not ring a bell, but the remote tambon in the Northern province should soon earn some respect and increased awareness.

development - the gradual growth and formation of something
sufficiency economy development
the entire tambon of 30 villages and 2,690 people in 612 families was recently chosen as a new model for sufficiency economy development.

ambitious - goals are very high and difficult to achieve (perhaps even too high to be achieved) ทะเยอทยาน
ambitious development project

initiated - created; started ริเริ่มโดย
initiated by Pid Thong Lang Phra Royal Project

renowned - famous and admired for a special skill or achievement ที่มีชื่อเสียง
the renowned monk Phra Vudhijaya Vajiramedhi (V. Vajiramedhi)

in partnership with - doing something together with other people or other organizations
in partnership with renowned monk Phra Vudhijaya Vajiramedhi (V. Vajiramedhi)

state - government รัฐ
state agencies

The ambitious development project was initiated by Pid Thong Lang Phra Royal Project in partnership with renowned monk Phra Vudhijaya Vajiramedhi (V. Vajiramedhi) and related state agencies.

longan - a fruit, see photo above right (See Wikipedia)
longan orchards - farms for growing longan fruit

Huai Sak covers 8,198 rai of farmland, 63% of which is rice fields, 21% longan orchards and the rest highland rice and corn. Average production cost is 32,515 baht per rai per family each year.

chronic - lasting a long time ; happening over a long time เป็นประจำ
lack - does not have ขาดแคลน
a chronic lack - has not had something for a long time

irrigation - the process of bringing water to land through a system of pipes, ditches, etc. in order to make crops grow ระบบชลประทาน การชลประทาน (See Wikipedia)
a chronic lack of irrigation for crops

debt - an amount of money that you owe หนี้
high debt - when people have borrowed a lot of money and owe a lot of money to other people

productivity - producing more with the same amount of inputs (labour, energy, etc) การผลิตสินค้า
low productivity - not producing a lot from the resources (labour, land, machines) that you have and use

survey - gathering information about what people think about different subjects (public opionion) by asking large numbers of people questions and counting their answers, and then using statistics, graphs, and tables to present results (See Wikipedia)  การสำรวจความเห็น

The survey found that farmers in the area have suffered for years from a chronic lack of irrigation for crops, high debt and low productivity.

owe - to be required to give someone money for something you have bought or money that you have borrowed from them
The villagers owe 79.13 million baht, or 185,735 baht on average per family per year.

purchase - buy 
fertiliser - food for plants, a natural or chemical substance which is spread on the land or given to plants, to make plants grow well (See Wikipedia) ปุ๋ย

insecticide - chemicals used to kill the insects that damage and destroy the crops of farmers
equipment - the tools, machines or other things that you need for a certain job or activity

Of the families, 73% are in debt, with 31% of their debts arising from loans used to purchase fertiliser, insecticide and equipment.

proper - 1. correct, right; 2. actual or real จริง 
model - a simple technical description to show how something works (such as a system, machine, process or theory)
proper model - the right model (or a right model)

a proper model for
a proper model for the sufficiency economy

MR Disnadda Disakul, secretary-general of the Pid Thong Lang Phra Project, said Huai Sak is a proper model for the sufficiency economy because the tambon has the largest land area in Thailand and most villagers are not considered poor.

pivotal - the central or most important thing or person in a situation
pivotal concepts - the central and most important ideas

accessibility - when someone can get or use something

root - the main cause or origin of something; where something comes from
find the root of problems - find the thing that causes the problems; find the cause of the problems 

The project has three pivotal concepts: understanding, accessibility and development to find the root of problems.

Participants include officials of the Pid Thong Lang Pra Project, related state agencies and Buddhist gurus.

process - a series of actions that you take in order to achieve a result แนวทางปฏิบัติ, กระบวน, วิธีการ
the development process

mindset - the general way that people think about things, their attitude
state officials have to change their mindset

community - local people, all the people who live in a local area or place ชุมชน
demands - the things that someone is asking you to do

thoroughly - completely (very carefully, so that all parts are covered and nothing missed)
thoroughly study

what the community demands
thoroughly study what the community demands.

MR Disnadda acknowledged that the development process is hard because state officials have to change their mindset and thoroughly study what the community demands.

actual - real; existing in fact จริง
actual requirements
asking people in the area about their actual requirements

priority - something important that must be done first สี่งที่สำคัญเป็นลำดับแรก การให้ลำดับความสำคัญ สิ่งที่ได้รับความสนใจมากกว่า

first priority - the most important thing (that must be done before everything else)
water is their first priority

"We start by talking about the process, asking people in the area about their actual requirements, and we find that water is their first priority," he said.

founder - a person who establishes an institution, business, or organization ผู้ก่อตั้ง
Phra V. Vajiramedhi, founder and director of the Vimuttayalaya Institute

share - let others use something when you are using  it; to have or use something at the same time as someone else ใช้ร่วมกัน
knowledge - all the things that people know about a subject such as medicine or engineering ความรู้, ความเข้าใจ, วิทยา, วิชา
share knowledge
share his knowledge of Buddhist economics

The project also asked Phra V. Vajiramedhi, founder and director of the Vimuttayalaya Institute, to share his knowledge of Buddhist economics.

plans are afoot to ... - plans are currently being made to ...
plans are afoot to build more than 100 dams over the next few years.

diligence - working hard ความขยันหมั่นเพียร, ความขยัน, ความพยายาม
ethics - believes about what behaviour is right or wrong; a set of principles people use to decide what is right and what is wrong จริยธรรม จรรยาบรรณ
morals - standards for good or bad character and behavior หลักความประพฤติ, หลักจรรยา, หลักปฏิบัติ, หลักศีลธรรม

principles - the basic rules (of some activity or event) กฎระเบียบเบื้องต้น
the principles of diligence, good management, ethics and morals

sufficient - enough พอเพียง
sufficient ways of living

Phra V. Vajiramedhi said the community's development should be based on the Buddha's teachings, especially the principles of diligence, good management, ethics and morals, as well as sufficient ways of living.

maintain - to keep รักษา
maintain - keep in good condition
compassion - a strong feeling of sympathy and sadness for the suffering or bad luck of others and a wish to help them ความเห็นใจ, ความรู้สึกเศร้าใจไปกับความทุกข์ของผู้อื่น
generosity - kindness, especially in giving things to people ความกรุณา
gambling - the activity of betting money, for example in a game or on a horse race การพนัน

He said ethics and morals would help those in the community maintain a good heart, compassion, kindness, peace and generosity while staying away from gambling and drugs.

Some 1,000 farmers and related state agencies have been trained in Buddhist economics.

grasp - 1. understand something; 2. hold firmly with hand
did not quite grasp - did not completely understand; did not understand everything
did not quite grasp the purpose 
did not quite grasp the purpose of the project
Sming Pimjai, kamnan (head man) of Huai Sak, said he himself at first did not quite grasp the purpose of the project.

aware - knowing that something exists, or having knowledge or experience of a particular thing ทราบ
benefits - goods things that can happen from an activity ผลประโยชน์

more aware of the benefits
but after seven months of development he is more aware of the benefits

consumption - goods and services that households (families) buy and use, eat or drink การบริโภค  (See Wikipedia)
as there is increased water for consumption and agriculture production

viability - ability to continue successfully, to remain alive
the project's viability

confident - being certain of your abilities or of having trust in people, plans, or the future มั่นใจ
more confident in the project's viability

With Phra V. Vajiramedhi taking part, the community is more confident in the project's viability

rehabilitate - to return someone or something to a good or healthy condition, state or way of living ฟื้นฟูสุขภาพ
rehabilitate forests

resources - natural resources; things such as coal, trees and oil that exist in nature and can be used by people ทรัพยากร
water resources

MR Disnadda said the model will be expanded to Chiang Mai, Nan, Phitsanulok, Trat, Sa Kaeo, Udon Thani, Loei, and Yala in order to rehabilitate forests and save water resources.

fiscal - related to government spending; connected with the government budget, i.e., public money เกี่ยวกับงบประมาณ
fiscal 2013-2015

support - help, by giving money, for example สนับสนุน
support a project

allocate - give budget; to officially give out an amount of or share of something แบ่งส่วน to officially give something to someone จัดสรร, จัดแบ่ง

The government agreed to allocate 412 million baht during fiscal 2013-2015 to support the project.

fulfilled
fulfilled project  

MR Disnadda said the project if fulfilled will save the state money on rural development in the long run.

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