His Majesty's long reign a true blessing

HM’s thought was then misunderstood by many as applicable to the sufficient level of the whole economy, which is contrary to capitalism. His Majesty had to explain in December 2000 that it is applicable to attitudes and not the area of the country – no excess or overindulgence in living styles. That cautionary thought that has prevailed in Thailand since then turned out to be beneficial for us in 2008.

The financial meltdown in the United States in 2008 resulted from the greed of those American financial whiz kids spinning their housing loans to a pyramid level, which ignited the States and Europe to a near recession level. If there were no excess and overindulgence in spinning those loans, the Western world would not have reached this state of agony. Fortunately, for Thailand, with the drumming of “sufficiency economy” – don’t be too greedy – almost all financial institutions in Thailand did not bite the bait of the Western financial salesmen in buying those securities offered pre-2008. 

Not only is HM an all-rounder as said by Art Chanovan, HM is also a deep thinker with an independent and open mind and recognises to err is human. I am blessed for having almost my whole life under HM’s reign and like others wish the best for His Majesty on his 84th birthday.

Songdej Praditsmanont

Bangkok