National Economic and Social Development Board secretary-general Ampon Kitti-ampon described the 10th NESDB plan as a blueprint for achieving "green and happiness", a departure from previous plans, which have focused on promoting industry.

In short, after decades of concrete materialism, the country's most influential think-tank has gone back to basics - the heart and soul. However, the plan's lack of detail has its share of critics.

The plan, which will be in effect for five years starting in October, will focus on self-sufficiency following evidence that material progress does not guarantee happiness. With a nod to the old adage that "greed feeds on greed", the plan reflects concern that the desire to have more could mislead people into behaving unethically.

Kosit Panpiemras, a former secretary-general of the NESDB, said an economic model based on sufficiency would pave the way for a more just kind of development.

"The 10th plan should address economic fairness to do away with the crimes of capitalism, such as conflicts of interest, crony capitalism, insider trading and monopolies," he said.

Kosit is currently the executive chairman of Bangkok Bank.

Although the NESDB incorporated the values of sufficiency economics in its 9th plan and will highlight them in its 10th plan, the think-tank has yet to clearly define how the sufficiency-economy model will define good governance.

The draft of the 10th NESDB plan, which the think-tank will submit to the Cabinet next month, touches on many aspects of economic and social development. However, the plan fails on a strategic level because it does not set priorities for issues such as good governance, education reform and the Kingdom's economic relationships with other countries.

The current political crisis has been blamed on the poor governance in the public sector. Although tensions have eased in recent weeks, the political crisis could once again spring to life if the many problems in the public sector are not solved. After all, conventional economic concepts like gross national product and per capita income do not properly reflect people's well-being. Hence the new measure of success - the Gross International Happiness Project - inspired by an initiative undertaken by the King of Bhutan.

The NESDB has said that sufficiency, which the Thai monarch favours, could move Thailand's development forward. Still, people have different ideas about the exact scope of the sufficiency economy. From the perspective of good governance, the idea is that no one should take advantage of anyone else. For example, politicians must not abuse their power. Entrepreneurs should not collude with politicians to enrich themselves at the expense of others.

The public, particularly the middle class, has had serious concerns about the quality of governance under caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Entrepreneurs who lack close political connections also feel that the playing field is not exactly level.

Chalongphob Sussangkarn, president of the Thailand Development Research Institute, an independent think-tank, said the NESDB plan was vague because it tries to cover too many ideas. He said it should focus on the serious issue of good governance.

"The plan should tell people what rules they should follow and what they must not do in order to create social harmony. People who have money power today can do anything. This is a grave concern," said Chalongphob.

Economic liberalisation is another controversial issue that should have received greater attention in the 10th plan.

The privatisation and free-trade policies that the Thaksin regime has pursued over the last five years have been marred by conflicts of interest and a lack of transparency. And yet the plan does not offer clear guidelines on how to ensure that the consumer's interest is looked after. Nor does it suggest methods of compensating groups affected by free-trade agreements.

Education reform is another area that many people agree is a key part of development. However, Chalongphob said the 10th plan failed to recognise the importance of education reform and did not call for greater resources and stronger efforts to improve both the quantity and quality of education. A recent study by Bank of Thailand economists compared Thailand's tax structure with Malaysia's and found that the Kingdom's taxes did not encourage workers to seek further education and training to improve skills.

Arkom Termpittayapaisith, deputy secretary-general of the NESDB, defended the plan by saying that people from all walks of life had participated in formulating it over the past two years. He said the individual action plans drawn up by government agencies would compensate for the lack of detail in the strategic plan.

The National Economic and Social Advisory Council, an independent council set up by the Constitution, is examining the plan and will also give its opinion to the Cabinet. Members of the public can send recommendations on the plan to the NESDB.

Wichit Chaitrong

The Nation