Prem gave a speech at a seminar hosted by the Foundation for International Human Resource Development on the creation of a learning society according to His Majesty the King's initiatives and his selfsufficiency philosophy.

His Majesty had been talking about the "New Theory" for more than 20 years but people at the time gave little interest, as they were keen on becoming a newly industrialised country, he said.

Now people had turned to and become confident in this theory, which had never been outofdate and would remain applicable in the future, he said.

"Even United Nations SecretaryGeneral Kofi Annan, who conferred the Human Development Lifetime Achievement Award on His Majesty on May 26, said at the Foreign Affairs Ministry that if human development meant to prioritise people, nothing was greater than development according to His Majesty's guideline," he added.

As the country's greatest problem was poverty, using the selfsufficiency economy theory would help solve it, said Prem.

"His Majesty's policies and speeches are answers to all problems including economic, social and even political issues, thus I want us to hold on them because they are all pure, holy and useful to all Thais," he added.

Chai Pattana Foundation's SecretaryGeneral Dr Sumeth Tantivejjakul said in his speech that now was the time for Thailand to stand alone and not follow others after its past attempts to become the Fifth Tiger of Asia (after Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan), despite the country's lack of preparedness and industrial expertise.

"Now it's time for us to bring His Majesty's words, as a guiding light, into action. Don't fear falling off the global train. We must be brave to walk our own path. Why would we want to cling to that train if we know it would lead to disaster? The selfsufficiency economy is the path we should decide to take. We should be brave and learn from past lessons," Sumeth said.

The Nation