From the King to Us: An Empirical Success of an Application of Sufficiency Economy Philosophy on Ban-Too-Yen Project

Abstract

This study examines an application of Philosophy of Sufficiency Economy on Ban-Too-Yen project, and an illustration of contributions from Ban-Too-Yen project as a tool for community development. Ban-Too-Yen project was adopted in Kok-Mueng community, Kuan-Niang distric, Songkla province. This study employed qualitative methods through in-depth semi-structured interviews, participatory observations and focus group discussions towards community leaders and project beneficiaries. Storytelling approach was adopted in this study to ensure that experiences from storytellers were a priority and they were the most important people in this study. The result shows that Philosophy of Sufficiency Economy applied on Ban-Too-Yen project contributed to self-reliance of households and a decrease of external resources’ reliance. Philosophy of Sufficiency Economy applied on Ban-Too-Yen project allowed members of the community to dialogue regarding to Sufficiency Economy Philosophy which accommodated a community’s sustainable development.