The New Theory was prompted by the predicament of the people of To Kaen Village, Kalasin Province, visited by the King in 1992. The village folk were producing rice harvest of ample quantity but of poor quality, due to unreliable rainfall. A Cattle and Buffalo Bank and a Rice Bank were established, the latter being to guarantee rice prices. Artificial rainmaking is used when necessary, and a Royal Rice Mill has been set up for those lacking milling facilities. The policy is based on four principles:

Firstly, the theory applies to small farmers holding about 15 rai, or about six acres, an average cultivation area for Thai farmers.

Secondly, farmers must be able to support themselves adequately. They must also realize the need for unity and compassion in the community so as to support one another.

Thirdly, each farm household should be able to grow enough rice for its whole year’s consumption, under the assumption that each family can be self-reliant by growing rice on an area of five rai.

Fourthly, water must be available even in the dry season, averaging about 1,000 cubic meters per rai the whole year round.

…The New Theory is in fact a land and water management method for small farms in the natural condition, both in normal times and in crisis. The theory is clearly defined and can be implemented by farmers themselves by following the steps and procedures that have been set.[37]

There are three phases to agricultural management:

1. Family self-sufficiency and well-being

2. Local economies based on cooperatives between families, co-coordinated with state and private bodies, “focusing on production, such as crop seeds and soil preparation; on marketing, in the form of silos, drying space, distribution, and rice-milling tools; on daily living, such as shrimp paste, fish sauce, and dried food; on welfare, such as health and loans; on education, such as schools and scholarships; and on social and religious affairs, such as community functions.”

3. The establishing of associated enterprises such as agencies for the expansion of commercial, activities. The farmers are involved with all levels.

The New Theory is intended to have pervasive ramifications, as for example:

The environment is improved with diverse activities, such as the planting of perennial trees and multiple and alternate crops, and the keeping of herb gardens and livestock. Diversification breaks the cycle of plant diseases and pests. Soil degradation is slowed down, and it is kept fertile from the canopy of perennial trees, whose fallen leaves and foliage can be turned into compost. Organic pesticides and fertilizers from herbal products are emphasized, replacing chemicals.[38]

Social, moral and cultural developments are important factors, one of the major aims being to reverse urban drift, and to encourage a return to the land.

Farmers’ health is improved, both their physical and emotional health, as the family is kept together, without the need to migrate for jobs elsewhere. The family has enough food to last the whole year, with continuous earnings and higher incomes. The use of chemicals is reduced, so farmers work in safer and more stable conditions. Education is improved for farmers and their children, with the learning process in the program, through consultations among themselves, and news and information monitoring. The stable incomes also enable farmers to seek better education for themselves and their children.[39]

The State operates several specialized banks for housing, agriculture and other sectors. Low interest loans are provided for farmers.[40] The Government Housing Bank provided interest-free loans for first-time homebuyers, and has taken measures to intervene in regard to credit card debt.[41]

Conclusion

Thailand, like Myanmar and Libya, is an example of an alternative economic system, but the existence of such alternatives systems is little known. Globalization aims to destroy such nationally-orientated experiments in the pursuit of a world system that results in a one size fits all mentality, whether it be in the type of political representation, finance, economics or culture and morality. While Thailand is far from perfect, and runs the risk of opening itself up to the blandishments of foreign investment and the IMF, it appears to have a system that is out of step with globalist demands, and is being implemented with the most idealistic of motives.

Notes
[1] K R Bolton, “Myanmar Targeted by Globalists,” Foreign Policy Journal, June 1 2011, http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2011/06/01/myanmar-targeted-by-globalists

[2] M Qadhafi, The Green Book (1975), http://www.mathaba.net/gci/theoryGreenBook.htm

[3] Gerald A Perreira, “In the Theatre of the Absurd, Libya now takes Centre Stage,” New Dawn, Australian, No. 126, May-June 2011, pp. 19-24. www.newdawnmagazine.com

[4] The chief financial backer of Mugabe is Nicholas Hoogstraten, who in 1963 met with Tiny Rowland of Lonhro Corp., and both agreed to fund the terrorists. Hoogstraten stated: “I gave Zanu-PF five thousand here and five thousand there, a lot of money in those days.” Donna Block, “An aristocrat of Africa,” Daily Mail and Guardian, November 26, 1999. Hoogstraten owns nine farms in Zimbabwe covering one million acres and a huge cattle company. He scapegoats the whites for the ruination of Zimbabwe, whom he calls “disenfranchised trash.” The Guardian comments: “His money and his friendship with Mugabe, he believes, will ensure that his properties are not the subject of attacks by war veterans.”

[5] Tim Johnston, “Thai army weighs in on election debate,” Financial Times, June 20, 2011, http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/63fa5460-973c-11e0-9c9d-00144feab49a.html#axzz1PnFMOwvn

[6] “The politics of funding the Red Shirts’ protest,” Bangkok Post, June 25, 2011, http://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/182455/the-politics-of-funding-the-red-shirts-protest

[7] Ibid.

[8] Zoe Daniel, “Red Shirts now co-ordinated from outside Thailand,” Australian Broadcasting Corporation, ABC Lateline, July 30, 2010, http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2010/s2969629.htm

[9] “CRES moves to cut UDD funding,” Bangkok Post, May 17, 2010.

[10] “A conversation with Thaksin Shinawatra,” Transcript, Council on Foreign Relations, September 18, 2006, http://rebecca.cfr.org/thailand/conversation-thaksin-shinawatra-prime-minister-thailand-rush-transcript-federal-news-service-inc/p11482

The Thaksin talk was co-sponsored with the Asia Society, a Rockefeller established think tank.

[11] K R Bolton, “Twitterers of the World Revolution: The Digital New-New Left,” Foreign Policy Journal, Feb. 28, 2011.

[12] Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University. Blackwill, is a member of the Center’s International Council, and a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, a member of the Trilateral Commission, and a trustee of the International Center for Strategic Studies, etc. http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/experts/4/robert_d_blackwill.html

Other council members at Belfer include Michael Chertoff; and Paul Volcker, formerly chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank and current chairman of the Trilateral Commission.

[13] Tony Cartalucci, “Thailand,” Land Destroyer Report, http://landdestroyer.blogspot.com/search/label/Thailand

[14] Seth Mydans and Thomas Fuller, “Thai Army Officers held in Bombings,” New York Times, January 21, 2007, http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/21/world/asia/21thai.html?_r=1&hp&ex=1169355600&en=f973aee949112e57&ei=5094&partner=homepage&oref=slogin

[15] “A conversation with Thaksin Shinawatra,” Transcript, Council on Foreign Relations, op. cit.

[19] American student radical leader James Kuhnen was to remark of the offer of funding for the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) from Rockefeller and other interests: “We were also offered Esso (Rockefeller) money. They want us to make a lot of radical commotion so they can look more in the centre as they move to the left.” J Kuhnen, The Strawberry Statement: Notes of a College Revolutionary, (New York: Avon, 1970), “At the convention, men from Business International Roundtables”, pp. 130–131.

[20] Cross Cultural Foundation, http://www.crcf.or.th/en/about.php

[21] National Endowment for Democracy, “Thailand,” from 2009 Annual Report (published June 2010), http://www.ned.org/where-we-work/asia/thailand

[22] K R Bolton, “Is Egypt’s Labor Movement Being Co-opted by Globalists?,” Global Research, February 21, 2011

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=23305

[23] National Democratic Institute for International Affairs is chaired by former US Secretary of State Albright, and is funded by US Government agencies, World Bank, Citigroup Foundation, Ford Foundation, Soros, et al. K R Bolton, “The Globalist Web of Subversion,” Foreign Policy Journal, op.cit. Also see: New Dawn (Australia) Special Issue No. 16, p. 24.

[25] K R Bolton, The Globalist Web of Subversion, op. cit.

[27] Ibid.

[28] Open Society Foundations, “Thailand,” http://www.soros.org/initiatives/youth/focus/action/grants/thailand

[29] ASEAN Youth Movement, “Youth in the 21st – SE Asia,” http://aseanyouthmovement.org/2010/04/03/youth-in-the-21st-century-se-asia/

[30] Ibid.

[31] ASEAN Youth Movement, “Youth Statement,” http://aseanyouthmovement.org/youth-statement/

[32] ASEAN Youth Movement, ” Our Movement,” http://aseanyouthmovement.org/about/

[33] AEAN Youth Movement, “Alterative Media,” http://aseanyouthmovement.org/

[34] Open Thai Democracy, ” The Movement of Red Brethren in Other Countries has Continued,” December 19, 2010, http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&ie=UTF8&prev=_t&sl=th&tl=en&u=http://www.openthaidemocracy.com/

[35] “Thailand: Faded Smiles,” London Financial Times, January 13, 2010.

[36] “The New Theory and the Sufficiency Economy,” Foreign Office, Government Public Relations Department,  http://thailand.prd.go.th/ebook/king/new_theory.html

[37] Ibid.

[38] Ibid.

[39] Ibid.

[41] “Credit Bureau backs Government scheme,” The Nation, March 19, 2011, http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2011/05/19/business/Credit-Bureau-backs-Govt-schemes-30155663.html