Special Interview with Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn on His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s Guiding Principles for National Development
On His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s Guiding Principles for National Development
Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn graciously granted an audience to Dr. Sumet Tantivejkul, Secretary-General of the Chaipattana Foundation, in his capacity as adviser to the working group on the production of a commemorative book, The Development King: for
the Benefit of the People, and other executives of the Office of the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) and members of the working group comprising Mr. Arkhom Termpittayapaisith, Mrs. Penja Onchit, Mr. Porametee Vimolsiri, Mr. Sutin Leepiyachart, Ms. Kanyarak Srithongrung and Mrs. Chantip Palanandana, on Monday 20 June 2011, at Chaipattana Building, Chitralada Palace. They conducted an interview with Her Royal Highness on His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s method of operating and guiding principles in development work, and Her Royal Highness’s experience in accompanying His Majesty on various royal visits. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expresses its sincere appreciation to the Office of the National Economic and Social Development Board for permitting the use of the latter’s copyrighted material to translate into English so that others may continue to benefit from applying His Majesty’s guiding principles to their development needs.
Solving people’s problems through a body of knowledge
His Majesty’s guiding principles and concepts in development, as are commonly known, focus on how things can be improved upon with a view to achieving greater prosperity and on what course of action should be taken when people encounter hardship. His Majesty relies on his existing knowledge or, if such knowledge is lacking in important areas, seeks further knowledge through research and consultation with gurus on the subject matter. His Majesty then applies knowledge thus acquired with the resolve to bring about greater benefits to his people. His Majesty does not care how much difficulty he himself will encounter. If such course of action is deemed appropriate, he has the moral courage and conviction to see it through. If His Majesty encounters problems or objections, he will consider revising his approach, and not circumvent the problems. His Majesty is patient, determined, careful and circumspect in his approach.
His Majesty has accumulated his fundamental knowledge by conversing with officials working o n th e ca s e . F ro m th e re , Hi s Ma j e s t y ha s gradually built his own body of knowledge. After a long period of time, His Majesty has become so experienced and adept that he can give an estimate of the cost of a development project all by himself.
Applying knowledge in an integrated manner without forming any hypothesis
In addition, His Majesty always deploys knowledge and technical know-how in a multidisciplinary manner, or what is referred to nowadays as “integration”, without omitting any aspect. For instance, if a project is feasible from an engineering perspective but not economically viable, or if a project is economically sound and appropriate from an engineering perspective, but unconducive to the happiness and progress of the locals, then that project is not implementable.
When His Majesty comes across people in distress, he will help them right away if possible. His Majesty does not form any hypothesis beforehand and then acts in accordance with it. The New Theory, or any other theories, resulted from His Majesty’s constant efforts in solving problems until those solutions eventually became theories. I am of the opinion that His Majesty does not form any hypothesis as dictated by some philosophy or theory and then finds suitable examples to put such theory into practice. Rather, I feel that His Majesty has acquired countless examples from his travels throughout the country
to witness firsthand the real problems.
Developing with a view to achieving sustainable development
The objective of His Majesty’s development approach is to achieve “sustainable development” to improve people’s livelihoods without destroying the environment and to make people happy with due consideration to geographical conditions, religious beliefs, racial groups, economic and social backgrounds. Although there are various development approaches, the most important attributes of a development practitioner are love, caring, responsibility and respect for fellow human beings. It is plain to see that development directly relates to mankind and is a matter of having the right mindset.
Development work is not only about sacrifice but is also about self-interest. As humans are social animals, we all have to live together. If we lead easy and happy lives with all creature comforts while others suffer, we simply cannot go on living. Development practitioners should have a public mindset and care about others, wanting to see others have better lives and well-being.
His Majesty always teaches that development work must answer the needs of the target group and that all parties involved must be satisfied. Development work is difficult and time-consuming. Development workers or “development practitioners” must be patient, determined to do good deeds, always kind to others, ready to relieve others of their sufferings and make them happy. They must possess vast knowledge as development work cuts across many disciplines. Above all, development workers must have good human relations, understand, and respect others as development work cannot be carried out successfully on one’s own.