The late King Bhumibol played a central role in national life. In the 70 years of his reign, the late King initiated more than 4,000 projects aimed at improving Thais' well-being and livelihood.
Sufficiency economy is the late King's most resonant philosophy that can be applied to all levels of society, from the government to companies, families to individuals. The concept is simple -- striking a balance between savings and investment, or savings and spending for sustainability.
The late King stated the importance of savings in speeches on several occasions. On April 5, 2016, he stressed that saving is the foundation to building up individual wealth as well as national and societal prosperity.
Government Savings Bank (GSB) president and chief executive Chatchai Payuhanaveechai said the late King was a great role model for prudence, a habit cultivated by the late Princess Mother Srinagarindra since his childhood.
The late Princess Mother taught the late King to save money to get what he, including toys, bicycles, cameras and musical instruments. The late Princess Mother had rules to make sure that none of the royal children from the Mahidol family should be given gifts unless they had either done something to deserve them or if it was for a special occasion like a birthday or a New Year celebration.
When the late King became interested in music, he saved money to buy his first clarinet when he was 10 years of age. He also bought a second-hand saxophone for 300 francs to learn to play it, taking half of the money from his own savings, with the Princess Mother giving the other half.
The late King also cultivated financial responsibility in his own four children by allowing the state-owned bank to take deposits at Chitralada Palace in 1962, a practice that still carried out annually at different palaces.
The late King's lifetime fiscal prudence can act as a guiding principle for people addressing current and future challenges such as the country's swelling household debt and Thailand's ageing society.
The government think tank National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) has said that it earlier survey found that 64% of senior citizens had sufficient income to comfortably live in retirement life while 38% of the elderly were still working, up from 30% in 20 years ago.
The NESDB reported the number of people over the age of 60 in Thailand is 11.2 million, accounting for 17% of the population. By 2022, that number will rise to 13.6 million or 20.6%, growing further to 14.6 million in 2024.
Thailand has already become an "ageing society" under the UN's definitions and is set to become classified as an "aged society" by 2025. A society is considered to be ageing when one-tenth of its population is 60 and above and aged when one-fifth is 60 and above.
School banking programme
Mr Chatchai said in 1962, the late King allowed the GSB to take deposits from members of the Royal Family at Chitralada Royal Villa with GSB Mobile Car, a service the bank continues to provide every April.
The late King's sufficiency economy principles and savings practices have guided the GSB's business policies to become the bank that promotes saving, he said.
One of the bank's projects that aligns with the late King's sufficiency economy philosophy is the school banking scheme -- the programme encourages students to make regular deposits at schools to help them achieve their savings goals.
The first school banking scheme started at Prachaniwet School in Chatuchak in 1998 and the number of schools participating in the programme has surged to 973 nationwide, with 2 million accounts and outstanding deposits of 945 million baht.
Under the school banking programme, the GSB provides budget, equipment, training and financial support for equipment maintenance, while students perform the duties carried out by bank tellers.
The school banking scheme's services are limited to deposits and withdrawals.
learning centres
The state-run Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) has upheld the late King's efforts by setting up 315 sufficiency economy learning centres around the country with an aim of helping farmers develop sustainably and resolve the problem of loan sharks.
The centres have been established to teach people about the sufficiency economy philosophy, financial literacy, borrowing and savings, and offer job training, said Apirom Sukprasert, BAAC president.
The BAAC's centres have six royal development study centres, the operations of which are modelled according to the geographical and social conditions of each locality.
He said 600,000 government welfare recipients who signed up with the BAAC this year and borrowed underground loans are required to take training courses at the centres.
According to the Finance Ministry, 1.3 million out of the 11.7 million recipients of the government's aid shoulder underground debt worth a combined 70 billion baht.
The BAAC has also provided a 5-billion-baht loan to be a source of funding for people in emergencies, helping them avoid borrowing from loan sharks, he said. The bank plans to seek cabinet approval for another 5-billion-baht loan as 4.65 billion has already been disbursed.
