59-05-032 Proceeding

108 Proceedings of the Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Congress Mongsawad, 2010). Mr. LalitThanomsingha, Deputy Secretary-General of the Royal Development Projects Board, the governmental organization responsible for the royal development projects, stated that knowledge helps build the stable foundation, while the morality serves as the guidance to appropriate conducts. III. Knowledge: The Foundation for the Human Development Thailand began to give an importance to knowledge and education over a century ago. Back then, the country had invested in higher education to ensure the political survival. For Thailand, educationwas considered as a path to economic investment. Afterward, the idea of using knowledge and education to boost the economic growth has been shifted towards the concept “human capital” whichwas defined by the Organization for Economic Cooperation andDevelopment (OECD) and the World Bank. The concept refers to the collective knowledge skills or other intangible assets which individuals can apply to produce goods and services in order to generate economic value (Chalapati, 2008). According to the World Bank, one of the significant resources to strengthen the global economy is the application of knowledge. The social development of the countries can also gain benefits from the knowledge if they apply it effectively. Moreover, with proper use of knowledge, it will provide more efficient ways of producing goods and services. These goods and services can be delivered to greater number of people with lower costs and more people in remote areas will be reached out (World Bank, 2011). As previously mentioned, after the economic crisis in 1997, the Thai government had restructured the past strategies of the country’s development. Thailand’s educational system has gone through a reform in order to copewith the challenges of globalization and internationalization. The reform also incorporated Sufficiency Economy since the government believes that education plays an important role in developing potential of individuals. As a consequence, growth with stable social and economic foundations helps create sustainability in any countries’ development (Chalapati, 2008). In order for the individual to become self-reliant and to gain a sustainable stage of well-being, knowledge is the key. According toMongsawad 2010, it would be unachievable to become reasonable and to have self-immunity without knowledge, since the two principles require rational decisions, information accumulation, experiences, analytical skills and adaptability. Thus, gathering knowledge is necessary. It can be done through a formal educational system or through real-life experience. His Majesty the King considers knowledge and innovation as an essential aspect to create positive progress in human development. As a result, His Majesty the King started to establish various royal development projects. Most projects serve as the learning centers for the locals and interested public to acquire knowledge that can be applied in their own occupations. Through his extensive travels across the country, His Majesty the King has learned about problems of his people and tried to find solutions. Consequently, the Royal Development Study Centers (RDSCs) were established throughout the country to serve as learning centers that provide local farmers