New Mandala

9 responses so far ↓

• 1 Srithanonchai // Mar 13, 2007 at 3:17 pm

  Well, this is one element of an iconography of Thailand’s economic past. As such, it is all right. It only become problematic when confused with the present. Even in the past, this picture could not always be taken, because cattle theft was widespread in the imagined idyllic village life of the past.

• 2 Tosakan // Mar 13, 2007 at 11:17 pm

  I wonder if they are going to use buffalos instead of tractors to dig up all the land that is being prepared for massive condos and shopping mall projects that are being financed by the CPB.

• 3 polo // Mar 14, 2007 at 1:28 am

  Perhaps the king would invent a more efficient buffalo-pulled plough to compete with tractors. But then, didn’t the king himself “invent” a fuel-driven tractor to replace the buffalo, produced by Siam Cement?

• 4 Srithanonchai // Mar 14, 2007 at 1:28 am

  And imagine how they will do the piling, or the construction of the pillars and the floors! That will be sufficiency building fun jing jing.

• 5 amateur // Mar 14, 2007 at 1:45 am

  To be honest, I am deeply torn between modernisation of Thailands agriculture for the sake of productivity increase on one hand and the eco-friendly preservation of traditional ways on the other.

  On one hand we want Thailand to develop economically with an agriculture requiring less labour, on the other hand there is the self-sufficiency approach of HMK. I wonder how Thailand can remain the top exporter of rice by using buffaloes and planting rice with bare hands?
  On the other hand I would definitely support the movement to protect the water buffalo as a farming animal and not just to see them in museum villages.
  I have come across a Thai soap where the “self-sufficiency”-agriculture is playing a major theme. Looking at it is an amusing nostalgia and I wonder whether the directors have lost a bit of their sense for reality. They just help building up the idealised imagery of the happy Thai farmer.

  The loss of agricultural land for construction is a serious issue and I wish it is more widely address than it is now.

  Tosakan, could you enlighten my what CPB stands for? Sorry for my backwardedness…

• 6 Srithanonchai // Mar 14, 2007 at 2:31 am

  Just in case Tosakan does not see your question, CPB stands for Crown Property Bureau. One more terminological point: The King’s concept is called “sufficiency economy,” not “self-sufficiency economy.” That is, “sufficiency economy” is not supposed to be about subsistence economy and economic autarky. However, what it positively is about, this has not been made clear so far.

• 7 Paul Sidwell // Mar 14, 2007 at 2:45 pm

  I recall that Maoist China physically compelled aristocrats to the countyside to plough the fields – it didn’t actually contribute tosufficiency, but many progressively minded people felt a distinct emotional satisfaction with the whole business.

• 8 Deathpower in Cambodia » Blog Archive » Kingship and Agriculture // Mar 16, 2007 at 2:11 am

  [...] why am I writing this post? For one simple reason. The good folks over at New Mandala have posted a picture and short entry about Princess Sirindhorn’s recent participation in a [...]

• 9 A buffalo come-back? // Jul 10, 2008 at 5:24 pm

  [...] a nice story, in a folksy sufficiency sort of way, but I am a bit sceptical. Ploughing with buffalos is very time consuming and I suspect that only [...]

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