Regarded as a national hero, Puey Ungphakorn is a towering figure even in death for having set the standards that shaped the country’s economic development and improving the lives of rural people.
MR Pridiyathorn Devakula places a garland on a statue of Puey Ungphakorn, a prime mover in the country’s economic development, at the December opening of an exhibition ground in Chai Nat. (Potos by Wichan Charoenkiatpakul)
In 1967, as Bank of Thailand governor, he set up the Foundation for Thailand's Rural Reconstruction Movement (TRRM) in tambon Ban Kluay in Chai Nat’s Muang district.
It became the first private development organisation in the country, drawing together state and private agencies to work on elevating the quality of life of rural people.
Because of this initiative, he came to be regarded as the father of rural development.
Addressed by those close to him as Ajarn Puey, he played a key role in building understanding among university students about rural problems and encouraging them to help villagers.
He formed a graduate volunteer centre to give students the opportunity to get a sense of what it is like to work from the ground up in developmental projects and familiarise themselves with rural life, its limitations and opportunities.
The foundation has fostered all manner of programmes to drive progress in rural areas, ranging from job creation and education to health care, self-reliance and local management.
His Majesty the King took the foundation under royal patronage on Oct 31, 1969. The organisation is currently chaired by MR Pridiyathorn Devakula, a former deputy prime minister and central bank governor.
Ajarn Puey believed rural development was one key to tackling social inequality.
“There is a flaw in the country’s drive to achieve economic prosperity. We give priority to growth while ignoring social justice. At this point, we should instead pay serious attention to rural development,” Ajarn Puey said in 1976.
Under the foundation, the Puey Community Learning Centre (PCLC) was set up as a venue where training is provided to find practical methods of rural development. This ranges from making bio-fermented liquid fertiliser, growing the cash-crop Kim Sung bamboo to creating alternative energy sources and managing and reusing household and community waste.
Today, the centre welcomes visitors from rural communities and groups countrywide who come to learn how to improve their community livelihood.
Apart from sharing knowledge of community development, the centre is now open to students from Bangkok interested in getting first-hand experience of rural life and what they can do to help alleviate grassroots problems.
“This broadens the minds of students so they get a clearer picture of the rural economy, and efforts can be made to improve the quality of life of people who live far from the modern world,” PCLC director Siriwan Janekarn said.
MR Pridiyathorn said he came up with the idea to train students on how to rally support which can strengthen rural development. The campaign starts with students of Thammasat University who embrace the catch-phrase: “We love Thammasat because Thammasat teaches us to love the people”.
They learn about and play the part of improving rural livelihoods while also relaying Ajarn Puey’s wisdom and ideology to younger generations, he said.
Kunawut Thatsuwan, a village headman in tambon Samngam Thabot of Chai Nat’s Hankha district, helps the PCLC to share knowledge and educate locals about community waste management.
He said villagers now work hand-in-hand to remove water hyacinth from the Tha Chin River as well as collect bio-degradable garbage that can be used to make bio-fermented fertiliser liquid.
The project has earned the village recognition from the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry, which honoured the community as a role model for its environmental protection efforts, he said.
Scores of villagers and the general public have sought knowledge from the PCLC about garbage recycling and rural development, Mr Kunawat said, adding the centre has also dispatched a mobile team to train people.
In addition, the centre has disseminated ideas and taught villagers a sustainable and environmentally friendly approach to growing crops, such as the Kim Sung bamboo known for its quick yield and resilience to varying soil and weather conditions. The local residents also attend training on growing organic rice, which is kind to the environment and fetches high prices, and raising poultry.
Experts Ajarn Puey played a critical role in getting the rural development initiative moving and becoming established.
Ajarn Puey was a member of the Seri Thai Movement in Britain during World War II. The network gained the Allies' respect for fighting the Japanese occupation of Thailand.
Ajarn Puey, who received military training from the British, parachuted into Chai Nat to carry out a secret mission to contact Pridi Banomyong, leader of the Seri Thai Movement in Thailand. The province has significant and historical resonance as it eventually became the location for the foundation of TRRM.
After landing in a rice field in Nong Mamong district in 1944, Ajarn Puey, who was to travel incognito under the name “Kem Yenying”, was arrested by authorities and locked up at a temple nearby.
He was later freed by police officers who were a part of the Seri Thai group.
Ajarn Puey finally met up with Pridi and installed radio equipment which allowed the movement in Thailand to communicate with the Allies.
After the war ended, Thailand was not considered to have been defeated in the war, even though the country had been occupied by the Japanese, because of the Seri Thai group's efforts to liberate the country.
Later, Ajarn Puey went on to hold key positions in state agencies. He was known for his courage in openly criticising politicians, high-ranking military officers and cabinet ministers.
“He was a man of great capability, which was clearly demonstrated for all to see. Even government leaders who came to power through coups invited him to work with them, and they gave him a free hand in making decisions,” MR Pridiyathorn said.
“He was a man of integrity and courage to speak and act the way he did. Those who do not care about holding on to their positions always make good decisions,” he added.
In 1966, Ajarn Puey became dean of the Faculty of Economics at Thammasat University. During his stint there, Ajarn Puey contributed a great deal to the faculty, including designing the curriculum that lent weight to social awareness and welfare, MR Pridiyathorn said.
His ideology was then adopted by other universities.
Ajarn Puey passed away in 1999 at the age of 83 in England.
To mark what would have been his 100th birthday this year, a series of activities have been held since last year. One is an open exhibition, called Puey Open Library, at the PCLC.
The exhibition features Ajarn Puey’s biography, his achievements and his work on rural development.
“People praise and revere Ajarn Puey’s practices and honour him as one of the country’s 'venerable persons',” MR Pridiyathorn said. “He set an example of a good man who gave tremendously to the country.”
Ajarn Puey was not only widely respected in the country. He received the Ramon Magsaysay Award, the Asian equivalent of the Nobel Peace Prize, for public service in 1965.
He was also named by Unesco as one of the world’s most important people in May last year.
“Dr Puey is widely considered one of the fathers of Thailand’s post World War II economic development as well as a prominent educator and civil servant of important ethics,” according to Unesco.
Preecha Ungphakorn, a grandchild of Ajarn Puey, said others in his family followed in the former dean's footsteps.
Many of them work in the economic field as well as developmental organisations.
He said his family and other relatives always lend support to PCLC projects.
From Left A religious ceremony is organised at the centre where an exhibition about the life and achievements of Ajarn Puey is open to the public. The centre functions as a venue where training is provided for practical, relevant methods of conducting rural development.
Clockwise from left A demonstration is held to show visitors to the Puey Community Learning Centre how to make the biofermented fertiliser liquid. It is part of a project involving local residents who remove water hyacinth from Tha Chin River and collect bio-degradable garbage for use in making the fertiliser. The project has earned the village in tambon Samngam Thabot of Chai Nat recognition from the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry, which honours the community as a role model for its environmental protection effort.