Welcome aboard Eric, it's very nice to have you hear. Really looking forward to you capturing some of the visual images of Ubon Ratchathani and sharing them here. I hope to have some other Ned photographers from other locations around the world and soon you make have some associates to work with and plan shared group photographic experiences.

Hello Eric, welcome, I too look forward to seeing your photographs.

Congratulations on being Ned's first photographer!

Hi Eric :-)

Ahhhhh! The place we call home! hahahah

Mark showed me last week how to increase the size of an image by adding size dimensions immediately after the link to the image. As you can see, some of the gain in size is loss in quality of image.

I think it's better to change the url by dropping the _m from the photo link:

How do you do? I would like to says Hello!wite every one.

Today I'm gonna present my activities and some picture of students of Sufficiency Economics. They are first generation of new program in Thailand and we can says the first program in the world.

So this is a soil house in my community. next time I wiil show another home and take you tour around it. So I have to says welcome to my worlds.

She is the students of Sufficiency Economics program at UBU. She has plant it whith her friends. The vegetables is an organic vegetable by used the organic fertilizer.

Great photos, thanks Eric! Those vegetables look very tasty!

Love the architecture and design of the soil house. Great pix.

The first I will show a photo of my friends that they study at UBU in sufficiency economics program. And I will show our activities at the community.

We has a vegetarian restaurants near UBU and community and my friends cooking food for sell it.

The one thing is we still using the woods for cooking and boil foods. It very cool if you think so, because the gases and oil is expensive.

Do you needs some noodle?

One of the concerns in globalization for under-developed and developing countries is the safety factor.

In the Asian economic crisis in 1997, many of the poorest people were hurt in the crisis. The farmers had switched to mono-crops for export. When the value of the baht crashed, people who depended on the exports suddenly had no money to buy food. (or anything else for that matter!)

At that time, the King of Thailand more or less formalized the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy. This was a concept he had been working on since the mid-70's and had spoken about in bits and pieces. This philosophy is based on grounded theory.

The King has suggested, based on his observations over many years, that development needs to be deliberate grassroots development. He has described this as an “explosion from within.” It is a type of development that starts with the development of the individual and progresses through the family, the community, the region and the nation. Another way to describe this is in the analogy of raising a child into a strong adult. A child needs to be prepared with the knowledge and wisdom to deal with the world. We give them knowledge of language and communication. As parents we attempt to teach them good morals in order to give them a foundation on which they can build. We provide them with educational opportunities and watch over them. As they mature, they are able to step out of their homes and interact with society in good and productive ways. In the King’s words:

“…Development of the nation must be carried out in stages, starting with the laying of the foundation by ensuring the majority of the people have their basic necessities through the use of economical means and equipment in accordance with theoretical principles. Once a reasonably firm foundation has been laid and in effect, higher levels of economic growth and development should be promoted…”

Some people have viewed this concept as being old-fashioned. The King anticipated this. In his Birthday speech on December 4, 1974 His Majesty the King added that it is not important whether Thailand would be accused of being old-fashioned; what is important is the fact that the people have enough to live and to eat.

“…no matter what others say – whether they will accuse Thailand of being old-fashioned or obscurantist. So long as we have enough to live on and to live for – and this should be the wish and determination of all of us – without aiming for the apex of prosperity, we shall already be considered as the top in comparison with other countries in the present world…”

Sufficiency entails three components:

1. moderation
2. reasonableness
3. a self-immunity system, i.e. being able to cope with shocks from internal and external changes.

Two underlying conditions are necessary to achieve this sufficiency:

1. knowledge (breadth and thoroughness in planning, and carefulness in applying knowledge and in the implementation of those plans are required)
2. morality (people are to possess honesty and integrity, while conducting their lives with perseverance, harmlessness and generosity)

If we try to visualize what this philosophy is and how it relates to life and development we might use this diagram. (Figure 1)

Buddhist Economics has been referred to as where Economics meets ethics. Perhaps a bit bold and arrogant, but ethics is a major component of its concepts. And, as you can see here, ethics is a major component of the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy as well.

The BS in Sufficiency Economy is a new program. This is its second year. It teaches the students the concepts of Buddhist Economics, the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy, concepts of grounded theory, and how to work with people in community. The students get lots of time "learning by doing". Last year, I think all of the students in the program were from the various Asoke communities around Thailand. This year the program has grown and there are more students coming in from normal communities. These students will graduate from this program and be able to go out into the communities and help the people redesign their work lives into something that is a bit safer in a world of globalization.

Please remember that this is not just about farmers, families and local communities. These same concepts can be applied to local government, SMEs, corporations and national government ... at least in theory. The work is continuing on that. Of the 45 graduate students in the Integral Development Studies Program that I am in, only maybe two or three are not in someway connected to the refinement of the understanding of the application possibilities of the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy.

The economies in the west grew up and matured over hundreds of years. The economies in the developing world are being asked to start out at full speed. That is not only unfair, it is dangerous for those economies. Where western industries grew up with protectionist policies, developing countries are being "forced" into totally open markets from the get go. This philosophy has people step back and look at how to survive in a global economy in a way that is safer for them by using the culture that they know - Buddhism - to guide them.

End of lecture.

Thanks very much for that Linda, your "lecture" resonates profoundly with my own novice thoughts on community, economy, and ethics. I think we could all do with a course in Sufficiency Economics!

Great pics again Eric, thanks :)

what do you think wiht this picture? and thanks very much with the comment about sufficiency economics. It's very helpful.

The picture is very powerful, it disturbs and it nurtures. I like it very much.

This photo is a photo of my writing class with my friends. We at all are the study at Inter National program of UBU.

We have been finish class and we have a small party in my faculty for the teachers from Holwill.

and another picture

The new pictures to present, I have finding in my country. Last week is the Ubon Rajathanee University Celebrations. UBU have done some ceremony and some activities within the university.

The Ubon Rajathanee University is 18th years old. my activities in Thai culture like the picture below.

Next is the community that I living, it about job in this weeks. The important thing is agriculture or farming.

We make the fertilizers and using it that means we don't needs to use the chemical in the land.

So we have the mushroom farm of cooking foods in my community.

We do it in a simple ways.

Wow, this looks cool. What is happening to the mushrooms here in this picture?

What happens when they are ready to go to market? Who buys them?

So the mushrooms here we only cooking for people and students in the community and using at the small restaurants. We doing like a Asoke community to living on sufficiency ways. However we making shampoo and some kind of the candy.

Living and sleep in a small house, don't want a big house. We working for a benefit of the community.

Thank you so much for posting these pictures Eric, and for telling us about them. I enjoy seeing them very much, and learning about your community and colleagues !

How do you make the shampoo, and what with ?

This week end, I went to my old schools because of the village that have some party for the Mother's day of Thai culture. Sisa Asoke is my old schools so their set this party every years for the students.

Let's I introduce the Sisa Asoke village, is a Buddhist village that combines the workplace, the schoolroom, temple, and community with a lifestyle of hard work.

Sisa Asoke has mushroom and herb farms, rice field and milling plant, tofu factory, vegetarian community kitchen, an organic herbal-remedy facility.

Not has just only Sisa Asoke but the Asoke has many around Thailand.

This is the Asoke village where Christina and Norbert stayed when they came to Thailand in February. They fell in love with this place...just as I did.

This is an artsy picture of the main entry into Srisa Asoke.

Eric, hi - I've very much enjoyed your images. I look forward to exploring more of UBU and your part of Thailand through your eyes. A belated welcome!

Hallo every body I just come to Ned, last a few weeks I has too many examination and the Ubon Rajathanee University finished the ceremony of Mather's Day 12 august 08. Then we has some specials about science's day activities ( 18-19 august 08)at the UBU that you will see on the pictures.

on above is the students will running together around 6 km. On the Mather's day in Thailand.

The athletics that the students will run for find the winner but who got first number until number five will receive money and getting a sheepskin. Who got the number six until number three hundreds will getting only a sheepskin and a bag it's made from cotton cloths.

In a science's day at Management faculty we also setting the party at the park of faculty. We has so many shops to sales food and play the game it's so famous for Thai people.

All of last year students except the student of sufficiency economics now they has only second years student, they have to prepare this party before graduates from the university.

He doing and showing how to make a shampoo and soap for who want to know.

An example of soap.

and

Not only this but the student of sufficiency economics program can make some kind of snack it's made from the banana.

last picture for today sir.

and

see you next time.

"One who dose not awaken when it is time to rise, though young and strong, is full of sloth, whose will and thought are weak, this lazy and idle one will never find the way to knowledge".

Next time I will show some process how to make the mushrooms and the soil house.