• Sufficiency Economy
  
  
• Problems of Autistic Children Living in Thai Society
  
  
• Powerful People in the Society

            What will happen to Thailand if Thai people still spend lives with a lot of luxury? Will Thai people be poorer and poorer? Will they have a lot of debts? Will Thailand be bankrupted in the future? From these questions, it shows that Thailand will have economy crisis if Thai people aren’t aware to spend money or stick with materialism and consumerism. Before Thailand will get in trouble of serious economy crisis, His Majesty the King Phumipholadulyadej planned to promote Thai people to follow the policy of sufficiency economy which started in December 1997.

            Sufficiency economy is the philosophy that directs the way to spend life sufficiently from family level to community level and it also directs the middle way to develop the country. It’s like the foundation of family and country or pillars of building that make the building strong and stable. Sufficiency economy is composed of three main concepts. First, it’s the appropriate that means people should use things with adequate quantity not too little or not too much. Second, it’s the reason that means people should use or buy things which are very necessary for daily life. The last is the immunity that means people should prepare themselves to face with many effects that will happen because of crisis. It’s not hard for Thai people if they accept and follow the policy of sufficiency economy.

            There are a lot of advantages if Thai people get from this policy. It makes people free from debts if they know how to spend money when it’s necessary. People are aware not to be stuck with materialism and consumerism which people have influences from the western. Moreover, Thailand can save some important natural resources such as petroleum or some valuable mineral that people can use them longer. Thailand will have more budget to develop the country and make it progress as same as some developing countries. Then, the quality of Thai people’s life is better. The most important one is people are very happy to live together in family and community. Because they know how to share and make interdependence not to have selfishness in the society.

            Nowadays, this policy is expanded widely to Thai society. The Ministry of Education includes it in all school curriculums in order to make students be aware and assimilate this concept and then they can apply to use it in their daily lives. In the family level, family members spend money and things carefully not too much or too little. They know how much valuable money is. After hey accept the theory, they try to start growing some herbs or some vegetables in their gardens and cook food from them not buy from the markets. It makes them save some money. In addition, media promotes this policy. Many TV programs present the theory of sufficiency economy in order to give knowledge and how to spend their lives such as Por Sor Por Pieng program on channel five etc.

            When people are aware how much important sufficiency economy is and follow this policy, surely Thai people won’t get in trouble of economy crisis.

Problems of Autistic Children Living in Thai Society

            The number of five thousands Thai autistic children in 2005 is the shocking statistics for Thai people. From 1992 to 1997, four or five-year-old children are at risk of being autistic but from 1998 to 2005 two or three year-old children are autistic. Moreover, male children suffer autism more than female children. Furthermore, autism occurs in four or five babies per ten thousands of the babies. Autistic isn’t a disease but it’s a symptom caused by predisposing of gene combination or using drugs or chemicals during pregnancy. Although autistic children are pervasive developmental disorders, they can live with their families and the society happily.

            Autistic children have some special characters. These children don’t understand and care what other people think or feel. For example; no responding when being hugged by parents, no sharing any belonging with others, no making eye contact with the people speaking to them.  Moreover, they can’t communicate with other people because they don’t know what to say or how to answer the questions. In addition, speaking very slowly and having repeated body movements are the autistic children’s characteristics. Some examples of these behaviors are eating the same food, looking at something attentively and challenging logos or brands.

            Autistic children are the greatest mission for parents to treat for their whole lives. “Autism rate is increasing, so it causes one of the biggest problems for the parents. They are very worried because they don’t have enough knowledge about autistic children’s special cares. They are also concerned about their children’s education. Sometimes they don’t understand what these autistic children want.” (Matichon newspaper, 8 December, 2003) Besides, the parents must devote more time to take good care of them. “I have treated Ton, my autistic son for five years in hospitals in Bangkok. We took many hours in a car from Khonkaen. We get a lot of troubles because there are a lot of autistic children. Doctors limited the number of patients , so Ton didn’t get treatment. Therefore, I decided to take care of my autistic child by myself. I try to find out the treatment from the internet.” (When my child is autistic, 2001, p. 27).

Building positive attitudes and relationship between an autistic child and other children is very important and necessary for every family. “I tell my daughter to talk, play and do activities with Ton, my autistic child. Furthermore, my daughter always

takes care and helps Ton how to write or speak. Both of my children love and care each other.” (When my child is autistic, 2001, p. 45).  If the parents build negative attitudes, the children don’t love each other and cause the family problem. “Chu Won is a beloved child for my mother. My mother never takes care and loves me the same as Chu Won. I’m jealous of him and I feel neglected. My mother isn’t fair. I hate Chu Won.” (Running Boy).  Moreover, their parents must spend a lot of money for treatment in both hospital and school. “The autistic children’s parents who want to treat their autistic children in a special autistic clinic pay 1,300 baht per an hour, but the government clinic charges 3,000 baht per seven hours.” (Choosak  Juntayanon, Matichon newspaper, 2 February 2003)

            When autistic children study normally in the classroom, regular teachers as well as friends face a big problem because autistic children can’t adjust their behaviours to co-educate or participate in school’s activities appropriately. They are also incapable of social interactions. Furthermore, autistic children as well as other children aren’t happy to study together because they don’t understand each other and autistic children want to play alone. Sometimes, these children are annoyed by autistic children because they aren’t skillful. Teachers can’t take special care of autistic children  because of the big class, forty to fifty children in the classroom. In fact, the teachers don’t have knowledge on how to solve the problems, how to encourage or stimulate them, and the ways to develop their behaviors and give them knowledge because the teachers aren’t trained to teach and take care of autistic children.

            A few years ago, the parents got in trouble about schools for autistic children because there are a few schools that accept autistic children to study. Therefore, the parents got much stressed. In the darkness, there is the light for the autistic children because the Thai autistic children’s parents foundation try to support their education. “I opened a pre-school and tried to use learning by doing teaching technique to teach the autistic children with the normal children in the class. I always consulted doctors about the problems.” (Choosak  Juntayanon, Matichon newspaper, 2 February 2003)  When the autistic children study in the classroom, the trained teachers who have special knowledge can help autistic children better than regular teachers. They know how to stimulate their behaviors and solve their problems. “I employed two baby-sitters to prepare Ton and Dong, Ton’s autistic friend for studying in the classroom and participating in school activities. When Ton is ready to study with friends, my two employees help the teachers to take care of them. I want to help the teachers because they aren’t trained to teach autistic children.” (When my child is autistic, 2001, p. 103-105)

Autistic children’s problems can be solved by parents, teachers and doctors. When the high functioning autistic children are treated well by their parents, doctors and special trained teachers, they can succeed in their lives and have happy lives in the society. For example; Khun Pum Jensen, the Thai Princess’ son, was the first Thai person who could remember days in one hundred-year-calendar accurately and Thai Libly Institute gave him a golden certificate. In addition, two autistic children who were treated by the doctors in Yuwaprasat Hospital graduated Bachelor Degree from Kasetsad University in 2006. After their graduation, one of them continues studying in Master degree and another is a primary teacher in Kasetsad Demonstrative School. These are examples of successful autistic children. Autistic children can adapt their behaviors and have perfect lives if their parents, family members, friends and teachers always understand, and give them the chance to study and support their ability.

Powerful People in the Society

            I enjoy reading Prize Stock written by Kenzaburo Oe. After I finished reading this story, I got a sense of being powerful and powerless people in the society. Powerful people mean the rich, the educated people, high social class people or someone who has power in the society. They always think that they are superior to powerless people. They also look down on powerless people. Powerless people who are poor or uneducated are inferior and perhaps they are powerful people’s servants. In the society, there are both powerful and powerless people. Powerful people always think that they have more power to force or hurt anyone. On the other hand, powerless people can’t fight with powerful people because they are judged to be under powerful people. For example, in Prize Stock the villagers caught a black soldier but they couldn’t judge him. They must wait for a decision of a town office because they were powerless people who lived in a small village. They also had no power to do anything by themselves.

            The small village was controlled by the town office. So, the villagers must obey order from the town office. In addition, the town children were more powerful than the village children. The village children were thrown stones by the town children when the village children came in the town. Because they thought that the village children were dirty and smelly, and they were disgusted with the village children. Moreover, a prisoner who was caught became a powerless man in this society. He was seized and forced to do anything that a powerful man ordered. He couldn’t refuse anything although he didn’t want to do. I think if I were a powerless person who lived in the society, I would suffer from being forced by a powerful person. Powerless people are the minority in the society. Sometimes powerful people use their power in the wrong way especially some Thai representatives in the government. For example, they use their power to corrupt the country, destroy culture, impose on someone, and make someone in trouble. If powerful people don’t stop to use their power in the wrong way, our country won’t have peace and will be bankrupted.