Buakaew Roundtable International 2010: A Filipino Participant’s Experience

by Ulysses J. Lustria, Jr.1

Activity : Buakaew Roundtable International 2010 Programme

01-08 August 2010
Thailand

Background

The Buakaew Roundtable International 2010 Programme is a study visit conducted by

the Thailand International Development Cooperation Agency (TICA), under Thailand’s
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to show and share Thailand's development experiences and
best practices in various fields such as agriculture, public health and community
development.

This year's study visit, entitled "From Sufficiency Economy to Food Security, Alternative
Energy and Environmental Conservation", aims to build cultural connectivity, strengthen
relationships and establish technical cooperation between Thailand and ASEAN
member countries, Timor-Leste, Mongolia and the Pacific Islands.

Highlights

1. The participants were oriented on the Sufficiency Economy philosophy, which was
being promoted by the King of Thailand, and its applications.

Sufficiency Economy, in brief, means that a family should aim to have adequate
resources to live on at the household level or to be self-reliant. However, expansion
of livelihood to commercial level can later be done. The philosophy espouses the
following principles: rationality, moderation, immunity as well as ethics and
knowledge.

“balance and self-restraint”

Moderation
“precaution and
“careful consideration preparedness
of causes and effects
or consequences”
Rationality Immunity towards anticipated
risks or changes”

Knowledge
“local wisdom and scientific
or technical advances, as
well as the analytical
capability involved”
Ethics
“capability to distinguish
between right from wrong
and the personal and social
valuation of virtues”

Source: Sirinapaporn, 2010.

1
The author is Officer-in-Charge of the Public Investment Program Division, Planning
Service, Department of Agriculture, Philippines.

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2. The participants were also oriented on the programmes of the Thailand International
Development Cooperation Agency (TICA) as well as the Office of the Royal
Development Projects Board (ORDPB).

It was learned that the Philippines does not have any collaborative activity yet with
the TICA. TICA has programmes with Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia,
Mongolia, Vietnam, and Timor-Leste. TICA provides various forms of cooperation
such as expert/volunteer dispatch, fellowships, scholarships and training
programmes, equipment, development projects and tailor-made programmes. The
ORDPB can also help provide projects.

3. Ambassador Linglingay F. Lacanlale, the Philippine Ambassador to Thailand, called

Mr. Lustria to convey her interest in pursuing more collaborative activities with
Thailand. Mr. Lustria provided her office (thru Princess U. Tomas-Tayao, Third
Secretary & Vice Consul) with some possible areas of cooperation in the agriculture
sector and suggested that she communicate with the DA Secretary on the matter.

4. Site visits were conducted to enable the participants to better understand the
Sufficiency Economy philosophy and its applications. These are:

A. Royal Chitralada Agricultural Projects, Bangkok - The projects here

showcases the initiatives of the King of Thailand. These are in the areas of:
dairy production, rice farming, tissue culture, alternative energy, and other
technologies.

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B. Bio-gas project in Ko Khoi Village in Muaeng District, Lamphun. Alternative
energy was generated from poultry waste.

C. Huai Hong Khrai Royal Development Centre in Doi Saket District, Chiang
Mai. This area is a model on environmental conservation and management.

Former Condition: Huai Hong Khrai at

Stones, pebbles and Present
desert-like land

Diversified farming

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D. Mueang Kan, Pattana Municipality, Mae Taeng District. The town is a model
of environmental management and sufficiency economy. Below is a
demonstration farm which includes a medicinal garden, vegetable trellis, and
poultry farm.

E. Nithi Foods Company in Sanpatong District. The company showed how

sufficiency economy can be applied in agribusiness.

PRODUCT LINE - UP

GROUP 1 GROUP 2

DEHYDRATED PRODUCTS FRIED PRODUCTS

- Ground white pepper - Fried garlic flake

- Ground black pepper - Garlic fat
- Garlic powder - Garlic in soybean oil

GROUP 3

PREPARED FRESH PRODUCTS

- Minced garlic
- Pickled garlic

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Recommendation/s

With the very good learnings from the study visit, it is recommended that we request for
a Thailand study mission to explore potential areas of cooperation between Thailand
and the Philippines. We could also propose for a pilot project on the application of
sufficiency economy in the Philippines. (This recommendation was conveyed to His
Excellency Mr. Surapong Jayanama, Advisor to the Foreign Minister of Thailand. The
participant was chosen to help prepare and give the feedback message. Please see
attached.)

One area that the Philippines can learn more from Thailand is agricultural processing
as well as product standards. A Philippine Department of Agriculture study (2009)
mentioned that in many places in the Philippines, Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) has
been just advocated, but has not been adopted. Thailand’s processed products have
already made inroads in the export market due to good packaging and product
standards. In Thailand, only farms who adopted GAP are encouraged on exporting
commodities. There are 300 inspectors and 7,000 advisors for GAP extension.

Another area is agricultural marketing. The DA study observed that wholesale

marketing function is very weak in the Philippines, compared to selected ASEAN
countries like Thailand.

The study mentioned further that in the Philippines 1) there are no real wholesale
markets but wholesale-retail markets, 2) both local and national terminal markets are
congested and internal price negotiation is the prevalent practice inside the market, and
3) many players do their business on multi-layer marketing channel and take a lot of
intermediate margin.

In contrast, Thailand can steadily supply different kinds of good quality products to
supermarkets and other institutional buyers with the presence of 1) wholesale markets,
2) efficient contract farming has been established to ensure the delivery of reliable
supply chain of high value commodities through organized production groups in many
countries, and 3) suitable and functional business models for commodities marketing
system to ensure steady supply and extend them to many places.

One specific area is the development of the fruits industry, both fresh and processed.
The Philippines has large companies but there are many small producers. There are
many areas for improvement along the fruit supply chain, from production to marketing
(Lustria and Esplana, 2009).

Thailand is very strong in the fruits industry and may provide technical assistance to the
Philippines.

A big area for collaboration is climate change adaptation as well as green technology
development. The Philippines is now the preferred investment destination in Asia
based on rising private investments in agriculture mainly for biofuel feedstock. Further,
the Biofuels Act in the country and the rising awareness for the need to shift to clean

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fuel sources has provided the necessary stimulus for the development of the biofuel
feedstock industry (Department of Agriculture, 2010).

Literature Cited:

Department of Agriculture. (2009). Strategic Agribusiness Development Plan. Second

draft. Supported by Japan International Cooperation Agency.

Department of Agriculture. (2010). State of Philippine Agriculture - Food Security and

Sustainability.

Lustria, Ulysses Jr., J. and Elmer R. Esplana. (2009). A Supply Chain Assessment of
the Philippine Fruits Industry: Towards Sustained Profitability, Improved Productivity
and Pro-active Response to the Impact of Climate Change. Paper presented at the
Parallel Panel entitled "AGRICULTURE & NATURAL RESOURCES" for the 47th
Philippine Economic Society (PES) Annual Meeting, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas,
November 13, 2009. The 47th PES Annual Meeting has the theme “Survival and
Growth: The Philippines 2010 and Beyond”.

Sirinapaporn, Prasert. (2010). Integrating the Principle of Sufficiency Economy in

Environmental Conservation. A PowerPoint presentation given during the Buakaew
Roundtable International 2010 Programme, August 1-8, 2010.

Note: Most of the images were from various materials from the Buakaew Roundtable
International 2010 Programme, August 1-8, 2010.

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Feedback from the Participants of the Buakaew Roundtable International 2010 Programme
06 August 2010
Thailand

Presentor: Mr. Ulysses J. Lustria

Sa-wat dee krub.

Good morning, His Excellency Mr. Surapong Jayanama, Advisor to the Foreign Minister,
Deputy Director-General Suchada Thaibunthao, and Director Jitkasem Tantasiri.

I am Mr. Ulysses Lustria Jr., the only participant from the Philippines, and I was fortunate to be
chosen as presentor of the brief feedback of all the participants on the programme.

First of all, we would like to thank the Thailand Government, especially the Thailand
International Development Agency under Ministry of Foreign Affairs, for giving us the chance
or the opportunity to learn about the Sufficiency Economy, and also for the hospitality and
special care given to us by the wonderful TICA staff.

We also would like to thank the Office of the Royal Development Projects Board for the
valuable knowledge (through lecture and project visits) it shared to us.

We are glad to inform you that our expectations from the programme have been met. We gained
learnings from the experiences of Thailand in agricultural development as well as in alternative
energy and environmental conservation. We gained learnings on sufficiency economy and see
possible applications in our countries. Further, we have established networks among the
participants, the host agency, and also the ORDPB, and see possible future collaborations.

We are now aware and are appreciative of the meaning of rationality, moderation, immunity as
well as ethics and knowledge. This was enhanced in our site visits.

We saw in the Royal Chitralada Agricultural Project the value of having a king who is a
developer and who is “on the ground”; who has foresight, a visionary, and is a champion of his
vision; and who is generous with his wisdom and is open to ideas from others. We believe that
these characteristics are worth emulating not only by the leaders of our countries but also by our
peoples.

The other sites were also notable: such as the Bio-gas project in Ko Khoi Village in Muaeng
District, Lamphun – where we saw the value of alternative energy from waste utilization; the
Huai Hong Khrai Royal Development Centre in Doi Saket District, Chiang Mai – where we saw
the value of environmental conservation and management; and the Nithi Foods Company in
Sanpatong District – where we saw the application of sufficiency economy in agribusiness.

With these learnings, we request that the Thailand Government help us in promoting the
Sufficiency Economy approach in our respective countries. We hope that more collaborative
activities and projects will be implemented.

Korp khun krub.