ABSTRACT
The set of principles which have come to be known as a sufficiency economy represent a very distinctive, Buddhist-inspired Thai response to the profound shock to the Thai psyche and set of social values that occurred with the Asian financial crisis of 1997. The purpose of this chapter is to outline these “principles” and to suggest that they may indeed embody some gems of Eastern wisdom that could be of relevance to crisis-ravaged Western societies. We will begin with a brief description of the 1997 crisis and its impact on Thailand, and with some indication of its principal causes (although there has been considerable controversy among economists about these).
