Sabbatical Clippings 2004

Sabbatical Clippings 2005
Sabbatical Blog
For links that can be blogged.

In preparation for applying for a sabbatical in Thailand I emailed interesting articles to myself. This is a page consolidating those email messages. A horizontal line separates each of the messages. I also have included clippings that were transitory or that required registration to read.

Stephen Cysewski
Professor CIOS/ITS
UAF/Tanana Valley Campus
(907) 455-2816
ffsdc@uaf.edu
cysewski@gmail.com
http://www.tvc.uaf.edu/its/
http://www.faculty.uaf.edu/ffsdc/syllabus/
http://www.wanderinginthailand.com
http://www.wanderinginalaska.com
http://www.cysewski.com

LOCAL (IT) HERO

Story by Karnjana Karnjanatawe in Chiang Mai 

Lua Preprakin, 73, fixes computers and other electronic equipment, even satellite dishes, for free. - KARNJANA KARNJANATAWE

A passing stranger might assume that he stores electronic waste under his wooden house, but in fact for more than a decade now Lua Preprakin, who will be 74 next May, has been fixing old and unwanted computers after which he donates them to those in need.

Although leaving school with just a Prathom 4 (primary) certificate, this handyman can fix any electronic equipment, from washing machines to LCD and plasma televisions, computers, satellite dishes or receivers, regardless of the problem. He can also write software programs, including applications to control heavy machines, billing applications or to manage robots.

Locals of Mae TaengDistrict in Chiang Mai call him Lung (uncle) Lua, is also an inventor. He once built a short-wave radio station and has many innovations to his name. He is an amateur radio operator, electrical engineer, Internet addict, mechanician, IT consultant, guest teacher, adviser to the Electronics Club of the North and a bookworm.

He is also a self-taught linguist who can read at least four languages: German, French, Chinese and English, after keenly reading electronics magazines, books and accessing web sites.

"I learned how to fix radios when I was less than 10 years old," he said, adding that when he lived in a temple in Lop Buri, he had helped by fixing the radio of an abbot after reading about electronics in books.

"After fixing one, neighbours sent me some more radios and amplifiers," he said, adding that he could do this because he loved mechanics and electronics.

His passion for reading always pushed him to learn new things, he explained.

 

Lung Lua points to several computers that he has already fixed and which are ready to be donated.

Lung Lua works on a PC to make sure it is functioning properly before giving it away.

"I had little chance to learn when I was young because my house was far from school." After leaving school, he helped his family as a farmer for three years before the chance arose to attend carpentry school when he was 15.

There, he could earn his keep while studying until he graduated six years later to join the army.

As a soldier, he then furthered his mechanical skills related to irrigation in Lampang for a year before becoming an engineer doing irrigation work, field survey work and maintenance. Finally, he was employed to oversee a reservoir at Phuping Palace in Chiang Mai.

"I am a lazy type of person so I invented machines to do my job. Then I had more time to work on other things," he said.

While working at Phuping Palace, Lung Lua developed a program to calculate the amount of water remaining in the palace reservoir.

His interest in computers began in 1984 when he was 53 years old when computers only had a few kilobytes of memory. Later he bought an Apple II computer for around 30,000 baht to learn how to use it.

He said he tried coding programs by following steps in a textbook, using that computer for three years before changing to a PC with a 5-1/4-inch floppy disk.

"When starting to code a program, we should start with a small application. After it is finished, we can add more features," he suggested, adding that if a programmer started to write an application by coding a big program, it would be difficult to finish it.

Examples of his software applications, some of which have been used by organi-sations in the North, include one to issue electricity bills, a program to manage heavy machines and another one to remotely manage and monitor public phones.

He has also taught students to use computers as well as offering a PC for public use. Schoolchildren always come to his home to play games after school.

"Students today are rather more interested in playing computer games than in learning how to program," he noted.

However, old computers are still useful for those who are just starting to study computer literacy.

Lung Lua selects the functional parts from several PCs to create a good reconditioned one, while he still keeps the malfunctioning parts for future needs.

When he first started fixing computers to give away as donations, he spent his own money to buy old PCs and then he fixed them before giving them away.

"If students have computer skills and can type fast, teachers will ask them to help type documents and this will be a chance for them to be close to their teachers," he said.

If Lung Lua can find a child who can type at 30 words a minute, he has made a promise to himself that he will find a functioning PC for him or her and provide it for free.

Now, many organisations have donated old computers to him to use for this good cause.

He checks out every computer personally. Wearing a comfortable T-shirt and shorts, he can spend hours checking the condition of each component in the reception area of his wooden house where he lives with his wife.

As a result, the area is chock full of equipment, with a mountain of computers, parts, peripherals and other electronic equipment.

"I check every part and stick a paper note on it. The method can ease my workload and I can choose good parts and integrate them to make a failed computer work," he said.

Based on the DOS platform, the restored computers that he donates do not require a hard disk to function. The system is booted from a floppy disk and so, as a result, he needs to show teachers how to use the machines.

He said he used DOS because it enabled the old machines to operated at low-cost.

"We cannot buy an old computer running Windows for 200 baht, but we can get a 100 baht PC or even a free PC that uses DOS. It is good enough for typing, even for doing presentations or for playing some games," he said.

He has donated a lot of computers, sometimes 10 or 20 sets, to various schools, vocational schools and organisations such as the post office in the North and to his old school in Lop Buri.

"I do not just give them away. I also make visits to the schools I donate to in order to find out if they are using them and if the computers are still working. If some parts are broken, they need me to fix them," he said.

When we visited him recently, Lung Lua was preparing another batch of 10 PCs to donate to a school on Children's Day next month, and this was an activity he had performed last year.

"I will set up the 10 computers in a school and let the children there play. Then, I leave them like that so that the school can use them," he said.

Apart from fixing electronic equipment, Lung Lua also has time to pursue his hobby of amateur radio. He said he had already made friends overseas and that he communicated with radio amateurs around the world using shortwave. He has also furthered his education by earning a degree from the Non-Formal Education Department.

"After I retired and was already well known, the department approached me to study," he said. He followed their suggestion and has already finished the Matayom 6 degree by learning from television.

In the age of 73, Lung Lua still strong. He said his secret was to do anything that allowed his body to sweat regularly. This was a good lesson he had learned by observing His Majesty the King while he had worked in Phuping Palace.

He also reads many magazines to keep himself up-to-date, including Chinese-language electronics magazines, CQ, HAM and 100 Watts magazines, research books or aviation-related books, such as those related to aeronautical radio.

At midnight, he uses the Internet to search for information until daybreak and then he spends around three hours sleeping each day.

"There are many things to do, while time is short," he said. "I will keep on doing things like this until I am unable to," he noted.

ALL ABOARD THE CYBER BUS

KARNJANA KARNJANATAWE

A Phitsanulok school and its students take their IT education on the road

Story by KARNJANA KARNJANATAWE

Wangtongpittayakom School in Phitsanulok might be a remote school _ the majority of its students are spread thoughout this province some 380km north of Bangkok _ but that hasn't stopped it from helping other schools get a close-up look at modern technology.

The school runs a mobile classroom in an old green six-wheel bus nicknamed "Beetagen," and it's become popular enough that the Education Ministry wants to push the concept to other schools.

The high-tech mobile unit is equipped with 14 networked PCs that can offer Internet courses and high-tech activities to students and teachers in other communities, opening up a window of opportunity for them to touch, learn and play with computer technology.

"Children always run after our bus when we reach their schools. They shout and laugh," said Kunchalee Kanma, a Mattayom 6 (grade 12) student who has taught computer use to younger students for the past two years.

Kunchalee and 23 other students at the school take their turn to organise the mobile classes. Last semester they visited more than 20 schools and plan to visit another 52 schools this semester.

"Our schedule is fully booked until February next year," added Sureerat Thongphanlek, another Mattayom 6 student. "If there is a request, they need to inform us a month in advance."

What makes the mobile unit popular?

Somkuan Tubtim, the first computer teacher in Wangtongpittayakom School in 1995, believes it's because the students make the classes fun for all participants.

"We do not park our mobile unit and let children play with computers by themselves. We train our students and let them be trainers who can create interactive activities to educate and entertain younger students about computer technology," he said.

 

KARNJANA KARNJANATAWE

The students have developed activities that introduce students to computer hardware, games, Thai-language lessons through karaoke, mathematics and Internet use, while there is also a rack of computer books and magazines that they can access.

If a school they visit does not have Internet access, they will teach students there to learn how to search for information by using the intranet and digital library server on-board the bus, Somkuan said.

"Children like it because they are closely coached by senior students so they are not afraid to play or ask questions," he added.

There are also rewards for those who participate in the mobile classroom activities.

"The gifts are not fancy, but our sponsor is a nearby temple and they give us packs of instant noodles, cooking oil and large bags filled with small bottles of fish-salt," he said.

Wangtongpittayakom School kicked of the mobile unit in 1999. At the time, the old bus served only as a mobile library.

"Our school director had the idea for a mobile unit to bring knowledge to the community. We looked for a vehicle and found this one at Sirindhorn College for Public Health. They gave it to us for free," he said.

The school invested around 300,000 baht to fix and equip the bus, giving it a new coat of green paint and adding brightly-coloured animals on each side.

It went from being a mobile library to moving technology lab some three years ago.

"We bought five computers for the mobile unit and the bus then got a lot of attention from the communities we arrived at," Somkuan explained.

The bus has its own air-conditioner and a power generator running from the engine for places where they do not yet have electricity. There is also a television located in the front of the bus, which is used as a display, and 14 computers on four long tables.

The school is located 19 kilometres from the city and Wangtongpittayakom's mobile unit covers three nearby districts.

The school students have so far taught more than 2,000 younger students.

"We spend a day doing our activities or two if the school is far away," said Umaphorn Khaewwaen, another student who is a regular in the mobile classroom.

"The largest number of students we have ever taught was more than 200," she said, adding that while it could be tiring she still loved to do it.

 

KARNJANA KARNJANATAWE

"It offers me a chance to give my knowledge to others," she noted.

Wangthongpittayakom School is well-known for its strong focus on technology among locals, and recently changed its timetable to provide a one-day computer class each week for Mattayom 4-6 students whose minor is computers. As a result, the students can leave the school for a day without it impacting on other subjects.

Two computer teachers taught the students _ who are mostly girls _ how to set up a LAN, fix basic computer problems and provide training.

"The students will be graded when they are in the field," said Somkuan, adding that there will be a teacher and two assistants going with them.

All services are free of charge.

Before the bus leaves Wangtongpittayakom school, the students carry the computers down from a computer lab to set them up in the bus.

"We set up the system and make it ready for teaching. We create games and do everything by ourselves, even wiring all the cable and setting up the LAN," said Kunchalee.

Although the bus looks fine when parked, it is not trouble-free. When it rains, the students need to move the PCs to a classroom or hall of the school they are visiting because the roof leaks.

And when it is too hot, the old air-conditioner cannot keep up enough to cool the computers.

"We need to open all the windows and use electric fans to bring down the temperature because the bus is made of steal and is like an oven when it's parked in strong sunshine," Kunchalee said.

The bus does manage to get through all of the travelling, but often it has to travel across poor roads, forcing the students to hold the computers to prevent them from falling, Sureerat said.

To make matters worse, sometimes the computers don't work well because of all the shaking, and many times the rocky roads are a major cause of network malfunctions.

In addition, 10 of the 15 monitors that are usually used in the mobile unit are already in bad condition, according to Somkuan, who noted that it could take an hour before an image is seen.

"We have not yet had the budget to buy new equipment or to put in permanent racks to hold the computers in place," he said.

Although the school is the first to set up such a mobile unit and pioneer a concept that has the support of the Education Ministry, it is being held back by a lack of financial support.

The government has provided a new bus with tables and chairs, but it comes without computers _ and it hasn't managed to get the same support from students and teachers as "Beetagen."

"The problem is we do not have enough PCs. If we take PCs from our computer labs, we will not have enough PCs to teach our students in school," said Somkuan. "Although we have a new bus, we will not yet use it," he said, noting that he still preferred the old green one since it was a classic model.

In addition to the mobile unit, Wangtongpittayakom School teaches primary school teachers and locals on weekends about basic office applications and Internet access.

It also offers a free computer repair service to locals and runs a 60-hour computer repair class to a wide range of participants including monks, soldiers and the general public.

With its strong computer skills, Wangtongpittayakom School was given Internet support and training by the Internet Foundation for Schools and Community, previously known as ITPC Netday.

The foundation has recently teamed up with Cisco Systems to set up a wireless network class to train teachers in the school, as well as other schools in the North under the foundation's support, in networking maintenance skills and update them about new technology.

Cisco Systems (Thailand) donated a Wi-Fi access point and a few wireless access clients to the school, which is now implementing the network for testing.

Somkuan commented that he enjoyed having the new toy.

"If it works well, I might use the wireless technology for the bus," he said.

In the future, he aims to teach his students how to do coding, such as programming robots.

"It is a new technology which I would like my students to learn. It is quite amazing to see them move or walk," he said.

For information on the school's activities, tel 055-311-129.
 

GRANTS PROGRAMME / TWO THAI PROJECTS SUCCESSFUL

Samsung offers digital hope to Thai communities, school

Hilltribe children will be one of the first groups of beneficiaries from a TechnoGital for Life Centre project in Chiang Mai to provide IT training to the disadvantaged.

Projects to help the disabled, youth and underprivileged gain access to technology in Thailand were awarded 1.6 million baht grants as part of Samsung's DigitAll Hope initiative.

Two projects were awarded grants here: Srisangwan School, which caters to disabled children, and the "Young Digital's Christian Association Technogital for Life Center" in Chiang Mai, a non-profit organisation that helps youths and underprivileged communities in the North.

A total of 13 projects from seven countries had submitted proposals for funding under the programme.

Bangkok-based Srisangwan School aims to help disabled students by developing their potential and encouraging them to lead an autonomous life.

The students are physically handicapped with different degrees of disability. Most fall into two categories: those with cerebral palsy and those with impaired spinal cords. Others have impaired joints, or have had no limbs since birth or as a result of an accident or bone cancer.

The school plans to use the funds for computer systems and learning equipment and an IT support centre.

Young Digital's Christian Association has some 20 volunteers who provide IT education and training to enhance the quality of life for youth and the underprivileged.

Since there is no permanent training centre, the volunteers use their own computers for any organisation that requests the services.

Over the past four years, more than 1,000 people have been trained. The association aims to use the funding to expand its education and training programmes.

Three other projects from Thailand were shortlisted for evaluation by the regional judging committee.

Thai Samsung Electronics will also give 100,000 baht each to the Thailand Association of the Blind, The Education Development Foundation and the Redemptory Foundation for People with Disabilities.

"I believe that each winning project under this community programme can enhance the lives of individuals and indirectly benefit their families and the communities they live in through the power of technology," commented Tea-Bong Choi, managing director of Thai Samsung Electronics.
 

HARDWARE / BRIDGING THE DIGITAL DIVIDE

AMD to expand budget PC project
 

AMD's Personal Internet Communicator, an inexpensive computer launched some three weeks ago in India, Mexico and the Caribbean as part of the company's 50x15 project that aims to have 50% of the world connected to the Internet by 2015, has its origins in the company's strong commitment to community affairs.

AMD chief administrative officer Thomas McCoy last week described how the company's passion for helping the communities in which it operates had inspired it to create this inexpensive computer that costs around $185, including mouse and keyboard, but without a monitor.

This was technology that could be used worldwide to help customers to build local industries and to build Internet communities, Mr McCoy told Database in an interview.

The unit, built by AMD following a commitment made at the World Economic Forum in Geneva in January this year, is now in a pilot phase and, once it has got the technology right, he said the company would go global.

"This was a noble business pursuit, and not a charity," McCoy said, adding that AMD was now providing the complete box while trying to seed this business or to "prime the pump," while hoping that supply chains that worked for a particular country would emerge.

Asia would be a priority during the expansion of the 50x15 programme, and "hopefully Thailand will emerge as one of the priority countries," said AMD's chief adminstrative officer, who reports to AMD chairman Hector Ruiz.

Mr McCoy was leading 44 senior AMD executives from 11cities in eight countries to a global summit here on community relations last week, with Bangkok being chosen "deliberately" because it had been a leader within AMD in community relations programmes.

He pointed to Spansion (Thailand) _ AMD's flash memory facility here _ for its leadership in community affairs, with work beginning with the building of a pedestrian overpass on Chaeng Wattana Road in 1993, and expanding since then to support several schools and the Thai Red Cross in its HIV awareness campaign.

AMD's policy is to spend one percent of pretax profits on community work, and McCoy is the lead evangelist for AMD's corporate culture, which he said began with having people who had a passion for community relations, particularly among its leadership.

Communities wanted to have responsible companies begin their businesses and to grow them, he said, noting that they were greatful for AMD's presence everywhere. It was a privilege to work and operate here in Thailand, to provide jobs and opportunities, he said.

Asked if he had any advice for CEOs regarding community service, McCoy said that leadership in a company was public service, and this is what people expected.

They should also give employees what they wanted, noting that if a company did not attend to their needs, then it would not attract or retain the best workforce.

Thirdly, there was "power in unity and defeat in isolation." People needed to work together in a common vision, he said, while when looking for its leaders, the CEO should find people with a passion for communities and a commitment to relationship building, particularly with civic officials.

XP STARTER EDITION DEBUTS AT SHOW

Gartner report takes issues with its limitations but Microsoft puts its faith in extensive research

Story by TONY WALTHAM

Microsoft (Thailand) launched Windows XP Starter Edition last week at Commart, making Thailand the first of five countries to get a localised, entry-level edition of Windows in a 12-month pilot for a new, cheaper version of Windows with less functionality.

Windows XP Starter Edition versions for Malaysia, Indonesia, Russia and India have also been announced, and will be introduced later. Much of the work on this new product was pioneered here in Thailand, where the ICT Ministry's budget PC programme began last year and which is credited with triggering this product.

Microsoft developed XP Starter Edition after extensive research, working closely with "many members of the PC ecosystem", including government agencies, PC makers and distributors as well as many potential first-time customers to understand the requirements, according to Microsoft (Thailand) general manager Andrew McBean.

Shortly before last week's launch, Gartner Dataquest published a 21-page analysis critical of what it cites as shortcomings in the product. While crediting Microsoft for its commitment to emerging markets with XP Starter Edition, Gartner predicts significant changes ahead for the product.

Microsoft's McBean characterised this report as just an "opinion" and questioned Gartner's accuracy and methodology _ and he strongly defended the features, " based on research that simulates real market and usage scenarios."

The company also repudiates a prediction by Gartner that, in its announced form, XP Starter Edition will stimulate greater piracy of Windows XP Home or XP Pro among consumers (see below).

Gartner says that XP Starter Edition in its present form more closely resembles shareware, and uses the word "crippled" to describe limitations of a maximum of three applications being open and that no more than three windows per application may be open at the same time.

Gartner suggests that allowing five or six applications to be open would be a more practical limit, while the lack of a productivity suite also comes in for criticism in the report.

Responding to Gartner's observations, McBean strongly defended the limitations, which he said were introduced following "deep research to design a tailored and localised product for the five-country pilot project.

"We wanted to make the PC experience as easy as possible for beginner users," McBean told Database, adding that Gartner's primary expertise was with a completely different user segment _ large enterprises _ and their apparent lack of target customer research in the five pilot markets had failed to fully grasp the unique situation that a first-time PC user in an emerging market faced.

He added: "Gartner's assertions are inconsistent with Microsoft's research-based findings for this customer segment, as many of our beta testers find that Windows XP Starter Edition is easy to use and helps them improve their skills with their first home PC."

"Many beginner users find having multiple tasks open cumbersome and confusing, and hence prefer to only run a small number of tasks at the same time," McBean explained.

Windows XP Starter Edition had its genesis in Thailand's ICT Ministry's budget PC project a year and a half ago, which Gartner characterises as a "tipping point situation," which occurred after 46,000 PCs with Linux and Open Office software were ordered under the programme in just three days.

"Had the Thai ICT PC programme not had such a fantastic response from the public, it is doubtful that Microsoft would have changed its position and joined the initiative," the report says. Microsoft's prompt, albeit belated, response to the ICT PC project earns praise from Gartner, which also notes how, since then, Microsoft has increased its attention to emerging markets with several offerings, including local developer programmes and participation in other low-cost PC programmes.

Microsoft has also added some new features to XP Starter Edition, with a fully-localised "getting started" section and some "getting started" videos, a guide on how to use the mouse along with localised screensavers and wallpaper.

Gartner believes that some of the limitations will be frustrating for new users, pointing out that first time computer owners are not necessarily first-time users, since many Thais have experience in Internet cafes.

But Microsoft's Thailand country manager countered by saying that Microsoft's research suggested that many computer users remained novices "for a significant amount of time, even with ongoing exposure to the PC."

"Microsoft is confident that Windows XP Starter Edition provides an appropriate mix of functionality, instruction and affordability for these beginner home PC users in the pilot markets," he said.

Another "obvious missing element" cited by Gartner is the lack of any productivity suite such as Microsoft Office or Microsoft Works, and Gartner suggests they could provide an evaluation version of Microsoft Works or that other vendors might provide an open source or low-cost office suite from OpenOffice.org.

The Gartner report is careful to note that this is a pilot project and suggests that "with the right adjustments to the price, support, value and function offering," Microsoft could further enable access to the 200 million households expected to be addressable by 2008.

Specifically, Gartner recommends that Microsoft should raise some of the limitations and provide a pricing upgrade path that would allow enough room for the OS to grow with the user "instead of the overall experience causing the first-time user frustration and negativity."

Gartner predicts that Microsoft will make "significant changes" to the product by the first quarter of 2005, and predicts that without such changes, demand for the product would not be high.

Last week, Mr McBean named several local PC makers who were now participating in the programme. "We are excited to report that system builders who have signed up so far to offer Windows XP Starter Edition pre-installed with entry-level PCs in Thailand are Atec, Belta, Laser, Liberta and SVOA. In addition, some PC original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), Acer, Supreme, and Powell are also early participants in the Windows XP Starter Edition programme," he said.

Despite having its doubts, Gartner says that "XP Starter Edition is a huge step forward for Microsoft in reaching first-time users... with a huge potential to make a positive impact on computer literacy and encourage wider adoption of PCs in markets on the wrong side of the digital divide."

Microsoft can be expected to make the adjustments needed to make this product successful, Gartner continued, while making several recommendations.

These include saying that Microsoft should provide a cheaper upgrade path, while limits to functionality should be "more realistic" and a productivity suite should be bundled.

Gartner also suggests that Microsoft could create an online ecosystem or community for legitimate users of XP Starter Edition and should expand its scope to other markets with an English version as well: Gartner notes that first-time users, such as elderly people could benefit.

In the meantime, the report concludes, PC vendors and would-be customers should hold back until the product is retooled, while PC vendors might also consider filling some of the gaps in the product, including providing anti-virus software and ISP services, and to provide a low-cost or free productivity suite, should Microsoft fail to do this.

Microsoft (Thailand) general manager McBean argues that the Gartner report contains "numerous factual and logical inaccuracies," but he said that Microsoft was "committed to post-launch research" through which the company would "listen to our customers to be certain that we are offering the right product to meet the needs of beginner PC users."
 

MEASURING HAPPINESS

Stories by KARNJARIYA SUKRUNG & Photos by SOMKID CHAIJITVANIT  

If you asked villagers in Mooban Kampla-lai, Ubon Ratana district, Khon Kaen, what good quality of life is, they would promptly give you an interesting, succinct list. Closer and stronger family and community bonds.

Abundant chemical-free food from their own backyards that they can share with neighbours. Better soil, clean water and air. A sense of security. A long, contented life.

Nowhere on this list appears the desire for a fat bank account, a grand mansion, home entertainment units, high-speed Internet, or other high-tech gear.

"Simply put, our villagers are happier and healthier when we can live together and nobody has to migrate to look for jobs in the cities," said Martin Wheeler, an English-born man who settled down with his Thai wife and family in Khon Kaen and has been there for almost a decade.

Despite his Manchester upbringing, the Thai-proficient Wheeler was aptly nominated by his village peers to represent Isan farmers at the second annual international forum on Gross National Happiness (GNH). A one-day affair held recently at the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) in Bangkok, the GNH conference witnessed a wide array of speakers _ academics, entrepreneurs, spiritual leaders and farmers _ who brainstormed their ideas on what should constitute this innovative concept of national happiness.

"We may not have a lot of money, but we are definitely far from being poor. Our community school has a teacher-student ratio of 1 to 15, which is much better than a number of elitist private schools in England," Wheeler said smiling.

Such impressive educational statistics are only one facet of happiness. In most cases, however, "measuring" the level of villagers' happiness is less a mathematical endeavour than a process of becoming more sensitive to what people really need on a daily basis. For instance, a few of Wheeler's neighbours may have a monthly income below the newly-adjusted poverty line of 1,163 baht per person per month, but their table has never been void of food.

On the other hand, if one used the mainstream scale of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), people like Wheeler and his friends would be ranked as "poor" and "underdeveloped". But are they really?

Curiously, in a world-class metropolis like Bangkok, one of the most thriving industries is healthcare. "But is that really what you call progress?" asked Dr Priyanut Piboolsravut from the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB). "With more and more people getting sick and dying? Is being in poor health considered growth and development?"

Conventional Western industrial-based development has failed to make us happy and healthy, said Karma Galay of the Centre for Bhutan Studies. "Happiness is essential to human development, and there should be a new paradigm to measure development," he added.

In his view, the goal of human development should come from progress that strikes a balance between the GDP that targets physical well-being and the GNH, which embraces the idea of emotional and spiritual wellness.

"It's an urgent matter to work on this new paradigm [of GNH]. Traditions and cultures that nourish happiness are fading away. We have to act now," urged Galay.

Buddhism, with a culture of awakening or non-violence, is one such aspect that needs to be promoted, said prominent social critic Sulak Sivaraksa.

"Wealth, in the Buddhist concept, does not emphasise physical affluence but a spiritual wholeness of a person. A wealthy person is one who is free, contented, generous and mindful," said Sulak.

However, to set a standard and measurement to use as indicators along side the GDP scale may be problematic.

"Who decides [what constitutes] happiness? What does it embrace? Who will measure it? We need to explore these questions thoroughly before setting standards," said Dr Kyoko Kusakabe, from AIT's Gender and Development Studies programme.

Happiness may be a universal feeling, but how one describes it is a personal matter. An unquantifiable concept, the idea of happiness is value-loaded and varies from one culture to another. There can be a hedonistic view in the extreme pursuit of material happiness, or a hermit kind of solitary happiness based on minimalist possession.

 

Delegates from the Buddhist state of Bhutan shared their experiences as the country has been implementing this Gross National Happiness concept for over three decades.

"By removing obstacles to happiness and promoting conditions of well-being, people can create a happy life themselves," said a Bhutan delegate.

Good governance and civil participation is a platform to Gross National Happiness, the delegate pointed out. "A democratic state is one that is decentralised. It will embrace and respect ethnic differences. Each community has different values, so we leave them to decide what they want to do for their happiness. In such liberal climate, people are empowered," he said. "Happiness can be achieved only when it is community initiatives, and not by outsiders' ideas of what happiness is and should be."

In Wheeler's Kampla-lai community in Ubon Ratana district, distraught villagers decided an economy of self-sufficiency was their way to achieve happiness.

"Back then, our village was in a pretty bad shape. Every single villager was a seasonal migrant labourer who moved to work in the cities. There were many broken families. The environment was bad. The soil was infertile. People were sickly. Also, a lot of us had to carry huge debts," recalled Wheeler.

 

"Then we started asking ourselves what we needed to make us happy and how would we know if we were on the right path."

And the answers were simple. The Isan folks chose to adopt reforestation and a revamp of their materialistic values. Cooperation among the rural villagers hasprospered since.

"A self-sufficiency economy is a balanced mode of development for it puts emphasis on the values of moderation, immunity to bad influences, and reason," said Dr Priyanut, from the NESDB's self sufficiency economy unit.

"Instead of building standardised indicators of happiness, it may be more flexible that we create learning networks among people to share their concepts and practices towards holistic well-being," said Dr Priyanut.

Wheeler's community has finally found its solution. And hopefully, in years to come, there will be more communities joining the happy link

PC project awaits major order

KARNJANA KARNJANATAWE

The Education Ministry is considering buying 30,000 PCs from the ICT Ministry's Computer ICT for Children project, according to the project manager Jamrus Sawangsamut, who is also general secretary of the Association of Thai Computer Industry (ATCI).

While the low-cost PC project is already closed for the public, he said the ministry was still considering the option.

"We are still waiting for a big order from the Education Ministry, which wants to purchase some 30,000 PCs for their One Amphur, One School project," he noted.

Under the project, the Education Ministry will distribute PCs to 921 schools nationwide in order to promote ICT skills among students.

However, he said that once the Education Ministry order is completed the project would be finished because of increased prices for computer parts.

The Computer ICT for Children project was the ICT Ministry's follow-up low-cost PC initiative. The project was launched in February with the objective to encourage both individuals and organisations to trade in their old but still functioning PCs for new ones.

The ICT Ministry worked with the Association of Thai Computer Manufacturing to assemble the PCs, which were ordered and distributed through Thailand Post. Local computer resellers were also involved in providing after-sales services.

The ICT computers were available for 15,490 baht with the Linux operating system, 16,990 baht with Windows XP Home Edition and 18,790 baht for Windows XP Professional Edition.

In May the project dropped the trade-in requirement and increased the number of outlets for buyers due to slow orders.

When the project ended in June it had 42,000 orders _ well short of the original target of 100,000 units _ and had received only 4,000 used PCs. The ICT Ministry had expected to gain up to 100,000 old PCs to donate to 4,500 schools up-country.

"We have already put some donated PCs into schools." Jamrus noted.

 

IT training helps motivate inmates

Inmate Thanawat repairs a second-hand PC that will be distributed to schools in rural areas.

One of the few good things to come out of Thanawat's time in Bangkok Special Prison has been his introduction to computers. The distance learning student of Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University has passed a training course on computer repairs and has recently been working for the prison to fix secondhand computers before they are sent to schools in remote areas.

"I plan to study computer programming as soon as I get out of jail in the next seven months," said Thanawat, who landed his sentence for receiving stolen goods.

He says that the training has also helped him in other ways. "I can spend my time more usefully and I have better concentration when doing anything since I did the computer repair course," the 29-year-old said.

Nearby is Somchai, another inmate who passed the computer repair class. He will be free in around two years and said that he would like to be a computer animator in future.

Thanawat and Somchai are two of the 50 prisoners who attended the PC repair course this year, which was provided by Bangkok Special Prison to give prisoners computer knowledge and skills.

Before joining the computer repair class, they had to pass a typing and fundamental computer course.

Both believe that they have not only gained knowledge, but also feel better mentally from having joined the classes.

The training programme for prisoners started in 2000 with basic programs covering word processing, graphics and PhotoShop. It is part of the Information Technology Project under the initiative of Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn.

Besides Bangkok Special Prison, the computer courses were also launched at the Central Women's Correctional Institution in 1997, the Central Special Rehabilitation Correctional Institution in 1999, and Klong Prem Prison in 1998.

Department of Corrections director-general Nathee Chitsawang noted that the department planned to expand the programme to cover prisons throughout the country. By the year 2005, the program will cover another 20 prisons, with the Bangkok Special Prison used as a pilot.

Chachoengsao Central Prison, Ayutthaya Prison, and Ayutthaya Special Rehabilitation Correctional Institute will be the next to offer training courses to prisoners. They are now in the process of setting up the classrooms, while the IT Project of the Princess and the Thai Federation of Information Technology (TFIT) are now working to get computers donated by private organisations.

Tanapat Chandraparnik, director of Bangkok Special Prison, said that the prison has now trained around 200 prisoners, some of whom have since been released while others are continuing to study.

"It's quite hard to track the prisoners and see what they have done when they are released. But we have learned of one who opened a computer repair shop in the South, and another who could write computer programs is now doing computer repairs and programming for a department store in Bangkok," he said.

However, he said the prison was now facing a shortage of PCs, with many inmates enrolling. The training courses take around 250 to 300 hours, with two courses per year.

Last year the prison received some 20 PCs together with a printer and a scanner from the Princess' IT Project, with these set up for PhotoShop and other graphics programs.

The repair course was setup following the success of the basic courses and was first held in March this year in co-operation with Pathum Thani Technical College, with 25 inmate trainees and three officials attending. The second class finished recently and was attended by 24 prisoners and 14 officials.

Currently, some 84 secondhand PCs, donated by organisations through the Thai Federation of Information Technology (TFIT), have already been fixed by these students and have been sent to eight schools upcountry.

According to Science and Technology Ministry permanent secretary Prof Dr Pairash Thajchayapong, who is also deputy chairman of the IT Project, the scheme benefits society as a whole, as once the prisoners are released they can use what they have studied.

The IT Project also worked with the National Electronics and Computer Technology Centre (Nectec) to train Central Women's Correctional Institution (CWCI) inmates to produce audio books for the blind using the Digital Accessible Information System (DAISY). So far, around 30 DAISY audio books have been completed, and the target is to finish 100 books this year.

Last year, the CWCI could earn around 400,000 baht through prisoners doing typing, name card design, and restaurant menu designs.

"Such activities will also expand to other prisons," Dr Pairash said, adding that the scheme could be expanded by working with other organisations and academic institutes.

The IT Project is now looking to make the courses standard and giving certificates to students who pass or allowing them to do further study, Dr Pairash said.

Donations of used computers for the IT Project under the initiatives of Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn are welcomed. For details contact the Thai Federation of Information Technology (TFIT) at 02-2165991-2.

PIER PRESSURE

The operator of an old pier in Phra Pradaeng district of Samut Prakan province, which has served the community for three decades, is fighting to stay in business following a land conflict.

An old wooden structure in near-vanishing traditional architectural style, Phetchahueng pier _ literally port of jealousy in Thai _ has apparently won the hearts of commuters who show no interest in the convenience offered by a new pier a stone's throw away.

The new pier, Por Sawangroongrote, is operated by Ratchani Chaisew who in 2003 successfully won legal ownership over land which the Samut Prakan Provincial Administration Organisation had leased to Prasert Hitarad, Phetchahueng pier operator, since 1974.

Ms Ratchani subsequently sought a court order to evict Mr Prasert and, since the case was pending a ruling by the Appeal Court, opened her own pier last year in an attempt to draw boat travellers _ daily commuters who cross the Chao Phaya river to Bangkok at Wat Klong Toey Nok pier and tourists and cyclists, who want to visit Bangkrachao Park, which emerged as a leafy tourist attraction. However, travellers gave a cold reception to the new pier.

''It is more than a pier where passengers just come and go. We have seen these passengers since they were kids. We know their parents. Almost everyone uses our port,'' said Rampoey Maneein, 45, staff member of Phetchahueng pier. Many leave bicycles and motorcycles at the pier, knowing the staff would take good care of their vehicles _ free of charge.

A regular commuter like Pracha Siensorn, 21, who is a Phra Pradaeng resident, said he is more familiar with the old pier.

''I come to this pier every time I want to go to the other side of the river. I wish, however, the operator would improve safety standards,'' said Mr Pracha, referring to the structure's lack of maintenance.

However, repairs would be unlikely regarding the structure's doomed future. Unless the Appeal Court reversed the original court ruling, Phetchahueng pier would have to be demolished as the eviction order issued by the Samut Prakan PAO will take effect end of this month.

If that is the case, pier staff, including five women boat drivers, would lose jobs.

''What am I going to do at this age?'' Sa-ing Kaneungkid, 52, lamented. She and the other four women had been working at the old pier for 20 years. Other piers would not easily offer jobs to old women like us.''

Meanwhile, Charan Samransuk, of the Samut Prakan PAO, insisted the old pier must go, saying the organisation consented to Ms Ratchani claiming land ownership as she produced a valid title deed while the Hitarad family, while still using the land, had stopped paying tax to the organisation since 1996. The old pier was not in good condition, he added.

Tanyanop Paosutra, 30, Mr Prasert's granddaughter, said the family still had hopes the Appeal Court would allow them to stay on.

She said the land should be categorised as public land due to the fact that it had been used by the public for three decades.

She said the family had always paid tax to the local administration body. It stopped paying tax only after advice from the Marine Department which said the state had a new policy that waived taxes for pier operators. ''My grandfather and the staff would have worked elsewhere if we were informed that the land was private property,'' she said.

 

Basic curriculum to change again

Schools to implement new version from 2005

SIRIKUL BUNNAG

The Education Ministry will once again try to improve the basic curriculum for public primary and secondary schools. Three years after introducing the last curriculum, most schools have suffered implementation problems and a lack of understanding of own-design courses.

Education Minister Adisai Bodharamik said the ministry's curriculum improvement panel agreed, after two months of consultations, to revise the basic curriculum which has been in place since 2001.

The revisions are being made because the curriculum is too vague, it overlaps in some areas and is difficult to understand.

The new version of the curriculum, proposed by the panel, was clearer and easier to understand than the current version and has won support from the prime minister, who met with senior education officials on Monday.

But Mr Adisai said he had yet to call a meeting of the committee to look at the details before ordering enforcement by all primary and secondary schools nationwide starting in the 2005 academic year.

Under the proposed new curriculum, all schools must focus on teaching the Thai language and mathematics to first, second and third-graders for 50% of the time, with the remaining subjects taught through a variety of activities.

Thai language, mathematics, science and English language subjects must account for 60% of all subjects for fourth, fifth and sixth graders who should study the remaining subjects through integrative means and learn via electronic media.

For seventh, eighth and ninth graders, Thai language, science, mathematics, English language and computer subjects must account for 50% of all subjects, social science, art, physical health, physical education and occupational training 35%, and self-improvement activities 15%.

Tenth, eleventh and twelfth graders must spend 30% of their study time on major subjects, 55% on specific subjects they have a special interest in and 15% on self-improvement activities.

According to Mr Adisai, the prime minister and the ministry came up with similar suggestions that the new curriculum include special subjects for students, especially young children, to improve their language and mathematics skills.

Mr Adisai said the prime minister also promised to help ease the teacher shortage by returning to the ministry 100% of the quota of job vacancies left vacant by teachers who had quit under the early retirement programme.

He has been assured by the prime minister that all state-run schools will have a computer by the end of 2006.

Mr Adisai has also ordered the Information and Communications Technology Ministry to install telephones in 10,000 needy schools by year-end.

Currently, around 30,000 primary schools and 2,700 secondary schools are under ministry supervision. About 8,000 of these schools have no computer.

Pornnipha Limpaphayom, secretary-general of the Basic Education Commission, said the proposed new curriculum would help guide the schools on how to design courses covering eight subject groups for students at all four levels.

She admitted that young children now had to study too hard since many schools were trying to teach all the subjects in the eight groups at once.

These subjects are physical health and physical education; art, music and dancing; social, religious and cultural studies; Thai language; foreign languages; mathematics; science and technology; and occupational training.

BridgingTHE GAP

Stop losing face, start gaining it

KRIENGSAK NIRATPATTANASAI

Ken, an expat marketing director, has been working hard to make the adjustment to managing in Thailand, but he still needs help from time to time. Walking out after a management committee meeting one day, he turns to Pin, the human resources director, and asks him, "How can I make my staff tell me immediately when things go wrong?"

Pin isn't sure he understands the question at first. "What do you mean, Ken? Why don't you tell me more?"

Ken says, "Last week, we had a big exhibition. I assigned one of my staff to handle the new product brochure. She told me _ on the day before the event _ that we had a problem because the printing company couldn't produce our brochures due to a shortage of raw material. She knew about the problem five days before the deadline, but she still didn't tell me. Given advance warning, I think the problem would have been solved easily. Why didn't she tell me?"

Pin probes further, "Did you ask her why she didn't tell you earlier?"

Ken says, "Yes, she said she was too kreng jai towards me since I was busy with other activities related to the new product launch exhibition. Is that the real reason?"

Pin shares his insight, "Ken, I happen to have a bit of inside information. One of my own staff has a close relationship with the person you mentioned. She told me that apart from kreng jai, she did not want to disappoint you by making a mistake. She wanted to remain optimistic that the problem would be easily solved."

Ken says, "Oh, I don't know about that. I think you should organise a training course for the Thai staff about this. They need to tell their boss the bad news _ the sooner the better. When can you do that?" Ken says sarcastically, his voice betraying a touch of anger.

"Hold on Ken, be patient. You are such a typical expat; you want everything and you want it right now," Pin explains with a patient smile. "This is not only about Thais or cross-cultural issues. This is what Daniel Goleman called "CEO Disease" in his best-selling book, Primal Leadership. He wrote that the CEO of a European company told him that 'I often feel I'm not getting the truth. I can never put my finger on it, because no one is actually lying to me. But I can sense that people are hiding information, or camouflaging key facts so I won't notice. They aren't lying, but neither are they telling me everything I need to know. I'm always second guessing.'

"Mr Goleman further wrote that whenever this situation occurs, you can bet that it's a clear case of CEO disease. It's like an information vacuum around a leader created when people withhold important _ usually unpleasant _ information. Why are leaders denied accurate information about vital matters? Sometimes the people who should be providing the facts fear the leader's wrath _ particularly when the leader's style is overly aggressive. Anyone delivering bad news to such a leader risks execution, symbolically of course, for being the bearer of bad news."

Pin continues, "As for kreng jai, you will never make it go away. However, if you build up a strong bond until you and your staff are kan-eng (a sense of familiarity, comradeship), I think the kreng jai feeling will disappear.

You can start by having lunch or dinner once a month with them. During the meal, avoid discussing work issues. Chat with them about their personal life, but don't get too personal.

"Once, you know them better, you can use that information to strike up a conversation with them from time to time at the office.

"I know you told your staff that if they have a problem, your door is open and they can come in to discuss it with you. But Thais may be startled by your facial expressions and your unfamiliar mannerisms. If they see you are busy with a serious look on your face, not only will they kreng jai; in fact they may become kreng klua (afraid). You should not spend all your time working behind your notebook in your office. If you try to walk around at least once or twice a day to each work station, and chit-chat with them, I think you will build a good relationship.

"Once bonding starts, when a work-related problem occurs, they will feel like they can discuss it with you easily.

"The next issue is putting off an unpleasant task until it's too late, and all the while pretending that there is no problem. Thais might call it trying to stay optimistic, while you would likely call it being in denial. I think you need to educate your staff that they should not be afraid of sia nah (losing face). Tell them that making mistakes in the workplace is part of the learning process. The mistake itself is irrelevant, really; it's more a case of what we have learned and how we can prevent errors from happening again in the future.

"There is a term called knowledge management, which applies to how we share this knowledge with others. With this approach, we can become a real learning organisation by learning from our mistakes, documenting them and then sharing our experience with other parties.

You should compliment your staff whenever they admit to making a mistake, and urge them to come up with a solution and share it with others. This will shift the Thai paradigm of sharing mistakes from sia nah, to dai nah (gaining face), instead."

Ken says, "Thank you, Khun Pin. I think your advice is helping me to work better with Thais."

Kriengsak Niratpattanasai is the founder of TheCoach, specialising in training and consulting in sales and leadership. He can be reached at 02-517-3126 or

coachkriengsak@yahoo.com.

'Opportunity around web services could last 15 years'

Story by TONY WALTHAM

Microsoft's support for Thailand will include helping with training in how to create web services under its .NET framework and by helping to put the infrastructure in place, according to Microsoft's CTO of advanced strategies and policy Craig Mundie.

He said that Microsoft's launch of Visual Studio .NET facilities a year ago should have been viewed as "a starting gun in a race" to see who could "get their programmers mobilised to build the new model of web service applications."

The countries that got there first would see the "single biggest productivity kicker" that would bring economic benefits and the ability to sell services and solutions.

"We're optimistic that Thailand will be one of the places where there'll be some leadership here, and will demonstrate that, at that level of transition, people in emerging markets who are well-trained and who understand the opportunities can do as much as people in the big, established markets," he said.

In a globally connected environment that might be a good business opportunity, he suggested.

Asked how long an opportunity around web services would last, Mr Mundie said it could be as long as 15 years, and he described in detail how the technology moved in long cycles of innovation.

Referring to the chart above, he said there were two cyclical phenomena: the blue curve, when the R&D gets done, and the adoption curve (in orange).

"My thesis is that the industry moves in these two waves, each of which has two halves. The first part you could call 'the diffusion of the new platform,' and the second half is the programmatic exploitation of that platform," Mr Mundie explained.

"So, in the first half, it's driven by a couple of killer applications. So when the PC first emerged, its diffusion was driven by spreadsheets and word processors. And once it was established... it sort of flattens out, it waits for something to happen to take it broader. And so we added the LAN and the GUI and the mouse ... and millions of people started to write apps for it.

"And that drove this huge adoption wave. And then that eventually reaches a level of saturation, you wait for something else to happen.

"But, at that point, you have to start the diffusion of a new platform. And so my thesis says that when you crossed this yellow line (on the chart), you moved from the world of APIs and tightly-coupled programs to a protocol-driven world. And we called this world the Internet.

"And, in a similar way, the Internet, as 'The Next Computing Platform,' is going to go through this predictable two-stage evolution. The first stage, I contend, was driven by two killer apps: email clients and web browsers. And what's interesting is that during these periods, programmers don't seem to matter much. In fact, by definition, they are all still programming the last platform," he said.

"They're a lagging adopter, really. Because, until these things get to scale, there's no way to move them all over there. And so the Internet went through this period, starting in the mid-90s and kind of got to saturation by clear diffusion in about Year 2000.

"And then you wait for something to happen that forces you up into the programming cycle. And of course you have this huge array now of things that have come off the R&D line that are all dropping down and becoming available: the new modalities of human interactions, speech, handwriting recognition, we've got many more new devices, televisions, phones, cars, game machines, they're all part of the Internet now.

"We have Wi-Fi and the mobility that comes out of that. We have the new agreed-upon web services, architectures and standards that were protocol driven, but, out of that, XML and SOAP came. And that allowed us to do a lot of this.

"We're dealing with the trust issues and security, privacy, we're solving some of the economic issues like digital rights management so that you can actually make a business out of digital content.

"It's really been within the past 12 months that the programming of the Internet has begun in earnest. But, you're really talking globally about moving tens of millions of people from programming the old client/server model to programming the new web services model in this much more diverse environment.

"And because of its diversity and scale, I think that this cycle will be fairly protracted, and so you don't want to wait too long, but by the same token, I believe that this next cycle, the programmatic use of the Internet under the web services model, will go on for probably 15 years now," Mr Mundie said.
 

Microsoft chief talks up Thailand

"I decided personally I would invest in Thailand and try to see... if it could e more agile than others." - Craig Mundie

Microsoft's chief technology officer of advanced strategies and policy Craig Mundie has a growing "personal commitment and interest in Thailand" and, as a result, he recently met with four Thai Cabinet ministers and later had dinner with Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Mr Mundie, who reports directly to Microsoft chairman and chief software architect Bill Gates and works with him on developing a comprehensive set of technical, business and policy strategies, said he had decided to personally invest in Thailand, which he sees as "a place for learning and experimentation" for issues that he thinks will expand in importance in a lot of parts of the world.

His meetings earlier this month stemmed from a "comfortable rapport" that Mr Mundie had had with Prime Minister Thaksin when they first met during the APEC summit here last October.

He said he had then decided to take a closer interest in Thailand, and so he returned this month, when he met Thailand's ministers of Education, Commerce, ICT and Science and Technology.

This has been followed by "good discussions over dinner" with the Prime Minister, he told me in an exclusive interview while he was here.

He said it was reassuring to find a recognition among Thailand's top policy-makers that if Thailand was to have a role "squeezed between the elephants" _ the economic elephants (G8 countries) and the population elephants (China and India) _ it was going to have to be based on using its human resources and intellectual capacity.

This recognition indicated to Mr Mundie that there was "some common purpose in the future" and so the Microsoft policy-maker said he has added Thailand to a short list of countries that he has been engaged with recently.

"In the last four to five years, much of my own involvement has been in larger emerging countries like China, and more recently India, Russia and Brazil... I decided personally I would invest in Thailand and try to see, for a country that was somewhat smaller, whether in fact it could be more agile as a result," he explained.

Mr Mundie contends that the establishment of a local economy in software in any country will be key to whether they can develop and sustain a software industry of their own.

"My sense is that Thailand is a place that has come of age in terms of its academic capabilities _ they can always improve, you know, they've reached a core capability there. There's a recognition that they need, ultimately I think, to invent and own their inventions here.

"So, in that way, it's a little different than countries who just think that they're renting out their labour or renting out their brainpower."

He said he perceived a growing recognition of the importance of Thailand owning its own intellectual property. "To me, this is a very comfortable finding," he said.

Mr Mundie spoke of how Microsoft could help with training: "In most cases, people don't have a full appreciation of what to do with Microsoft's spectacular array of technologies, or how to deploy them, so I think one of the ways that we can help is to transcend our just traditional business and help to establish training programmes, both in the university environment and in the technical computing area.

"One of the areas I have increasing interest in is whether Microsoft can help advance, in a more multi-disciplinary sense, the progress in other fields of science or engineering," the CTO said.

Was there a way to inject more technology into agriculture-related businesses, he asked, observing: "These are at least the kind of things that come out of discussions that we are having now and which we hope to explore more fully."

Mr Mundie said his first efforts in this had been in China, starting almost five years ago, and that more recently Microsoft had been expanding this idea into a variety of other countries and was starting to see results.

"A great deal of our focus in some of the other countries has been around what Microsoft can do to assist in the emergence of a local economy for software _ the formation of independent software businesses in the country, the establishment of the appropriate infrastructures, both for communications and training, the, I'll say, 'encouragement' _ and occasionally a small participation _ in capital formation, so that a more entrepreneural environment can emerge," he said.

Microsoft had also helped small firms in China with a web presence cope with supply and support issues once Internet orders started coming in, he said.

CompTIA comes to Thailand
 

KARNJANA KARNJANATAWE

The US-based Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA), a non-profit IT trade association, has expanded its coverage to Thailand.

CompTIA aims to promote international IT standards among local firms as well as to find new members and help expanding its membership base to Thailand.

CompTIA director of public policy for Asia Pacific, Michael Mudd, said the association was focussing on Thailand because of the country's rapid development and strong government backing for ICT.

"The question is why not," he said, adding that with a population of more than 60 million there are many potential members.

CompTIA has some 20,000 members in 102 countries covering sectors such as telecom, software, hardware and service providers. Corporate members include AT&T Internet Services, Microsoft, IBM, Cisco and Xerox.

"Our members are interested in Thailand in the areas of telecom and services," he said, adding that these areas would bring tremendous business opportunities here.

CompTIA plans to promote the adoption of IT standards in areas such as e-commerce, IT training, software services, certification, public policy and workforce development among local IT companies and government agencies.

It will promote its own international certifications as well as consulting services to the government.

As a vendor-neutral certification provider, it has helped many governments in many countries build up IT schema among entry-level workforces, Mr Mudd said.

Certification can assist IT professionals or IT companies to get jobs, he said, adding that it was a way to guarantee to others that the job could be done.

Its certifications cover personal computers, networking, document imaging, Internet, server technologies, Linux, project management, technical training, e-business, security and integrated home networks.

He claimed global companies would be more willing to outsource work to local parties with a CompTIA-certified workforce.

CompTIA has regional offices in Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and Australia.

The association also plans to promote its activities in China, Malaysia and South Korea.
 

In recent months, the Andhra Pradesh province in southern India has been the site of a rash of farmer suicides. Drought and low-quality seeds have left poor farmers with failed crops and no way to pay their debts. Many have swallowed lethal doses of pesticides as their only escape. Government officials estimate the toll since May at more than 60.

Against this bleak backdrop, a ray of hope: Neelamma, a 26-year-old woman, has found opportunity as a new type of entrepreneur. She's one of a dozen itinerant photographers who walk the streets of their farming communities carrying small backpacks stuffed with a digital camera, printer, and solar battery charger. As part of an experiment organized by Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ ), Neelamma and the others are able to double their family incomes by charging the equivalent of 70 cents apiece for photos of newborns, weddings, and other proud moments of village life.

To make this happen, HP had to throw out its notions of how the tech business works. Anand Tawker, the company's director of emerging-market solutions in India, and his colleagues wrestled with fundamental questions: Does computing technology have a place in villages where electricity is fitful? Could it improve people's lives? How could villagers living in poverty pay for the latest digital wonders? And they came up with answers. In place of standard electricity, HP designers created the portable solar charger. Instead of selling the gear outright, HP rents the equipment to the photographers for $9 a month. "We asked people what they needed. One thing kept coming up: 'We want more money in our pockets,"' says Tawker. "So we do experiments. We launch and learn."

Why go to all that trouble? The answer is fast becoming obvious. During the first 50 years of the info-tech era, about 1 billion people have come to use computers, the vast majority of them in North America, Western Europe, and Japan. But those markets are maturing. Computer industry sales in the U.S. are expected to increase just 6% per year from now to 2008, according to market researcher IDC. To thrive, the industry must reach out to the next 1 billion customers. And many of those people will come not from the same old places but from far-flung frontiers like Shanghai, Cape Town, and Andhra Pradesh. "The robust growth opportunities are clearly shifting to the developing world," says Paul A. Laudicina, managing director at management consultant A.T. Kearney Inc.

Tech companies are scrambling to cash in on what they hope will be the next great growth wave. Led by China, India, Russia, and Brazil, emerging markets are expected to see tech sales surge 11% per year over the next half decade, to $230 billion, according to IDC. What makes these markets so appealing is not just the poor, but also the growing ranks of the middle-class consumers. Already, there are 60 million in China and 200 million in India, and their numbers are growing fast. These newly wealthy consumers are showing a taste for fashionable brands and for products every bit as capable as those available to Americans, Japanese, and Germans.

That tantalizing opportunity is drawing all of tech's big players. Microsoft is hawking software in Malaysia, Intel is pushing its chips in India, Cisco Systems is in Sri Lanka, and on and on. IBM says emerging markets are now a top priority. "We'll be even more aggressive," says IBM Chief Executive Samuel J. Palmisano. In Brazil, where IBM's revenues just zoomed past $1 billion, Big Blue plans on hiring 2,000 people and spending an additional $100 million on market development.

A Rival in Every Port
For tech's giants, this is the equivalent of America's basketball stars playing Argentina in the Olympics under international rules. The leaders are just as vulnerable to upset because they're facing companies that grew up in these markets and know them intimately. Just look to China, where homegrown Lenovo Group Ltd. has fought off Dell and other invaders to remain the top PC player. The Western powers may be accustomed to dominating in the developed world, but as the competition shifts to new terrain, their lock on the future is far from secure. They face stiff challenges from service companies in India, online gaming pioneers in Korea, security outfits in Eastern Europe, and network gearmakers in China. Even mighty Microsoft is vulnerable. Open-source software, with growing support in developing countries, could stunt its growth.

The closest historical precedent for what's happening now is the PC revolution of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Before the PC, computers were the province of technical druids in giant corporations and government offices. Then with Apple Computer Inc. (AAPL )'s Macintosh and IBM's PC, the tech industry underwent a huge market-expanding shift. Computers began to show up on the desktops of everyone from schoolchildren to small-business owners. The result was seismic change. Microsoft, Intel, and Dell became the new champions, while dinosaurs like Digital Equipment lumbered off to the tar pits. Now, with rapid diffusion of technology into emerging economies, the industry is again reaching a gigantic new audience. And a new generation of companies will try to kick their elders in the teeth.

Expect a power shift from West to East. That's because the PC-centric era, dominated by U.S. companies, is fast giving way to the wireless age. The trend is most apparent in Asia, where cell phones with Net access are the computing gizmo of choice. While 30 million PCs are expected to be sold there this year, that pales in comparison to the 200 million cell phones capable of handling e-mail and Web surfing that researcher Yankee Group projects. That gives an advantage to Korea's Samsung Group and LG, which make cell phones as well as PCs. In the past four years they've come from nowhere to become the No. 3 and No. 6 mobile-phone makers in the world. "In the 20th century the torch came across the Atlantic from Europe to America. Now the torch is crossing the Pacific," says Geoffrey A. Moore, managing director at tech consultancy TCG Advisors LLC.

The challenges of succeeding in emerging markets are forcing the Western powers to come up with bold new strategies. They're under pressure to innovate like crazy, pioneer new ways of doing business, and outmaneuver their feisty new competitors. "The pattern in the past was to sell the same stuff to the same kind of customers. But that won't work, and it has to change," says C.K. Prahalad, business professor at the University of Michigan Business School and author of The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid, a book about commerce in the developing world. "What's required is a fundamental rethinking of how to design products and make money."

The result is an outpouring of innovation, from both the old guard and the up-and-comers, that could rival that of the PC era. The Indian photographer's setup is just the start. New innovations designed for the developing world range from the Simputer, a durable handheld being sold in India, to e-Town, a package of all of the products and services rural Chinese towns need to provide Net access for their residents. And who would have thought up a cell phone designed for the world's 1.4 billion Muslims? Nobody -- until now. Tiny Dubai-based Ilkone Mobile Telecommunication has just started selling a phone that not only comes loaded with the Koran but also alerts people at prayer times and, with the help of a compass, points them toward Mecca.

Developing countries require new business strategies as well as new products. Most families in rural China or India can't afford a PC. In many instances, a handful of computers have to be shared by a whole village to be economically feasible. A new class of businesses -- tech kiosk operators -- is emerging to provide computing as a service. With cash often in short supply, pay-as-you-go programs are not only boosting cell-phone usage but are catching on with computers and Web access as well.

When these technologies cycle back into the mature markets, it could change everything from pricing to product design. To succeed in the developing world, devices and software have to be better in many ways: cheaper, easier to use, extra-durable, more compact -- and still packed with powerful features. The resulting improvements will ultimately benefit everybody from New Delhi to New York. One possibility: HP is testing a solar fabric with itinerant photographers in South Africa that costs 80% less than the traditional solar panels that they use in India and won't crack. If this works out, people around the world could recharge their portable electronics by dropping them into carrying cases made of the material.

Creating Consumers
For tech's powerhouses, this shift to emerging markets cuts both ways. They have a chance to round up many new customers, but only if they're smarter than their new competitors. They'll have to invest substantial sums of money up front. Yet, for many products, prices will of necessity be very low. While the first billion customers produced an industry with more than $1 trillion in annual revenues, sales for the second billion won't be anything close to that. And ultimately, lower prices in the emerging markets will put pressure on prices everywhere. You could end up with an industry that, while it delivers a lot of value to a lot of people, it won't be able sustain the revenue growth rates or the profit margins of its glorious past.

On the brighter side, tech's spread into emerging markets could have a snowball effect on the world economy and the tech industry's fortunes. Investments in technology stoke national economies -- boosting productivity, gross domestic product, and consumption of all sorts of products, including more technology. And as computer-factory workers in China and software programmers in India increase their incomes, they become consumers. A.T. Kearney figures that the number of people with the equivalent of $10,000 in annual income will double, to 2 billion, by 2015 -- and 900 million of those newcomers to the consumer class will be in emerging markets. "If you have a middle class that provides a sufficient market for consumer goods, you have the basis for rapid industrial expansion and jobs for poor people," says Sarbuland Khan, head of the information-technology task force at the U.N. "It becomes a virtuous cycle rather than a vicious cycle."

Strategic Rethinking
Cintia Arantes and Eduardo Severino de Santana are the embodiment of that hope. The Brazilians, both 22, grew up poor in Recife, on the country's northeastern coast. But both are climbing the social ladder thanks to a local program that trains disadvantaged Brazilian youths in computer skills. De Santana, who had been unemployed last year, quickly turned one computer course into a job helping to manage the tech facilities at a national law firm.

Arantes' trajectory could take her even higher. Her laborer father doesn't have steady work, so she helps support the family of six by working nights at a phone company call center. Thanks to a tip from a teacher at a school where she was an administrative assistant, she started taking computer courses last year. Now she's an intern at a local software company in the mornings, takes courses in the afternoon, and hopes to enter a university computer engineering program next year. Her goal: to become a programmer. "I'll keep on battling until I get there," she vows. In the meantime, she's trying to save up the $700 or so it would cost to buy a PC.

In many cases, tech companies will only succeed in emerging markets if they're willing to ditch the strategies that made them successful in the developed world. Take Dell. In 2000 it introduced a consumer PC in China, called SmartPC, that was different from any it had sold before. It came preconfigured rather than built to order, and it was manufactured not by Dell but by Taiwanese companies. At less than $600, the SmartPC has helped Dell become the top foreign supplier in China. Its share of the PC market there rose from less than 1% in 1998 to 7.4% today.

Still, Dell is anything but the dominant force in China that it is in the U.S. A key reason is that Dell's practice of selling direct to customers, over the Net or the phone, doesn't work very well in the Middle Kingdom. Chinese typically want to lay their hands on computers before they buy them. That means the best way to reach them is via vast retailing operations -- the strength of local players Lenovo and Founder Electronics, which both rank ahead of Dell with market shares of 25.7% and 11.3%, respectively, according to IDC. Dell set up kiosks to demonstrate its SmartPC and other products. But in August, the company withdrew from the consumer market in the face of competitors selling stripped-down PCs for as little as $362. "In the fastest-growing large market in the world, the local PC makers are winning," says Philippe de Marcillac, a senior vice-president at IDC.

Cultural Customization
There's no easy formula for selling in emerging markets. Some corporate or government customers in Russia and Brazil are as big as any in the U.S., and their needs are just as sophisticated. Russian Railways, with 1.2 million employees, spent $2 billion over the last three years building a modern data communications system. "We're very proud," says Anna Belova, deputy minister of the railway. "We have a huge scale of tasks, and we find creative solutions." Now other giant Russian enterprises see it as a role model and are boosting their tech purchases, too.

To target innovations that will resonate in these markets, companies are conducting in-depth studies of peoples' needs. Intel, for instance, has a team of 10 ethnographers traveling the world to find out how to redesign existing products or come up with new ones that fit different cultures or demographic groups. One of its ethnographers, Genevieve Bell, visited 100 homes in Asia over the past three years and noticed that many Chinese families were reluctant to buy PCs, even if they could afford them. Parents were concerned that their children would listen to pop music or surf the Web, distracting them from school work.

Intel turned that insight into a product. At its User-Centered Design Group in Hillsboro, Ore., industrial designers and other specialists created "personas" of typical Chinese families and pasted pictures that Bell had taken of Chinese households on their walls. They even built sample Chinese kitchens -- the room where a computer is most often used. The result: Late this year, Intel expects a leading Chinese PC maker to start selling the China Home Learning PC. It comes with four education applications and a physical lock and key that allows parents to prevent their kids from goofing off when they should be studying.

Many products designed for consumers and small businesses in emerging markets will have to fit some demanding specifications: They need to be simple to use and capable of operating in harsh environments. A handful of products have already come out with these factors in mind -- and many more are on the way. India's TVS Electronics Ltd., for instance, is selling a new kind of all-in-one business machine called Sprint designed especially for that country's 1.2 million small shopkeepers. It's part cash register and part computer, designed to tolerate heat, dust, and power outages. The cost: just $180 for the smallest of three models.

Pricing is often the make-or-break factor. In rural South Africa, where HP has set up a pilot program similar to the one in India for developing technologies for poor people, the average person makes less than $1 a day. Clearly, not too many can afford to buy their own personal computers. HP's solution? The 441 PC (as in four users for one computer). It's a machine set up in a school or library that connects to four keyboards and four screens, so multiple people can get on the Net or send e-mail at the same time.

Some of the best ideas for the developing world have the potential for catching on everywhere -- including the U.S. It's already starting to happen. Kishore Kumar first developed a simple PC-based remote health-monitoring system for distant villages in his native India. Now his company, TeleVital Inc. of Milpitas, Calif., is marketing the technology in the States. The first U.S. customer, Battle Mountain General Hospital in Battle Mountain, Nev., couldn't afford patient-monitoring equipment -- or people to operate it. Now it's hooking up with a hospital 100 miles away to track its patients. Says Battle Mountain administrator Peggy Lindsey: "We in rural America can really use equipment like this."

When tech companies modify their existing products for emerging markets, they can end up with improvements that have a broader impact. That's what happened at Nokia Corp. (NOK ) when it set out to reduce the costs of setting up and operating wireless telephone networks. One improvement, called Smart Radio technology, can cut in half the number of signal-transmission sites operators need. Wrap that and other new technologies together, and operators can build networks for up to 50% less than before. Nokia has been rolling out these innovations from Thailand to Peru. DTAC, the No. 2 Thai cellular operator, is installing the new gear around Bangkok. "If this works, we can use this concept to penetrate into much more remote areas up-country," says Sigve Brekke, the company's co-CEO.

Dell already has translated emerging-market innovations into successes in its traditional markets. After SmartPC took off in China, Dell in 2001 introduced a version for the U.S., for the first time going after bargain hunters. A year later, Dell absorbed the SmartPC into its mainstream consumer product line as sales took off. "We try to take some of the best ideas we have seen that are happening in local environments and make it a global product," says Dell Senior Vice-President William J. Amelio.

Dell, Nokia, and other Western giants need all of the innovations they can muster, especially as the field of competition shifts to emerging markets, and they're confronted by a stampede of aggressive challengers. Chinese communications-equipment maker Huawei is giving Westerners fits in its home market, where it has captured a 16% share in the crucial router business, second only to mighty Cisco, according to IDC. And thanks to prices up to 50% lower than rivals', Huawei is expanding everywhere from Russia to Brazil. It already ranks No. 2 worldwide in broadband networking gear, says market researcher RHK. "Huawei is being very aggressive," says Cicero Olivieri, director of engineering and planning for GVT, a large telecom company in Brazil.

Momentum Shift
The most serious challenge lies ahead. Huawei is pouring money into Internet Protocol version 6, or IPv6, the standard for the next-generation of the Internet that will have more security, speed, and capacity. China is planning to adopt IPv6 more rapidly than any other country in the world. And if Huawei's close ties to the Chinese government help it become the early leader in the technology, it could get the jump on rivals such as Cisco, Alcatel (ALA ), and Lucent (LU ). "The Ciscos of the world will have to change their business models to compete -- and try to out-innovate these small, nimble companies," says William Nuti, a former Cisco senior vice-president and now CEO of Symbol Technologies.

Throughout the developing world, new players are popping up like obstacles in a Super Mario Brothers game. Take the online game business itself. Upstart NCsoft has taken advantage of Korea's lead in broadband penetration to build the world's largest online game business, with more than 5 million monthly subscriptions. NCsoft CEO Kim Tack Jin is now expanding in Taiwan, China, Japan, and the U.S. -- where 228,000 copies of its City of Heroes game were sold in the first three months after its April release, according to market researcher NPD Group. The key to NCsoft's success: It has come up with a combo of fantasy and action gaming that's a hit with players.

Even mighty Microsoft is vulnerable to the competitive threats. Linux is emerging as a viable alternative to its Windows in developing markets and could cut into its market share. China, Japan, and Korea are collaborating on a version of the free open-source software package. A number of governments are considering policies that favor open-source software packages, and one, Israel, has already decided to stop using Microsoft's products. While that affects only tens of thousands of government workers, if other countries take the same path, millions of their employees could end up using open-source software, rather than Windows and Office.

Microsoft doesn't have an answer -- at least not yet. In October the company, which declined to comment for this story, will begin to sell a cheaper Windows in Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia in an effort to beat back the open-source threat. But it so far refuses to follow suit in China -- where it has had four general managers in six years. "Business as usual won't work there. They have to find new ways to do things," warns Jack Gao, who ran Microsoft China from 1999 to 2003 and now heads up software maker Autodesk's China operations.

It may turn out that patience is the most important attribute for tech companies trying to get things going in emerging markets. IBM, after all, has been in Brazil for 87 years. Hewlett-Packard has spent three years establishing pilot programs in India and South Africa, and, finally, they're starting to yield products and to improve the lives of the locals. Take Neelamma, the itinerant photographer. She has become a star in the two-room house with a dirt floor that she and her stonecutter husband, Krishnamurthy, share with his parents and brother. What are Neelamma's dreams? "I want to buy a television and a ceiling fan. And I want to build a small photo studio in my home," she says. One young woman's life and aspirations have been changed by the arrival of technology. Another 1 billion new consumers may not be too far behind.


By Steve HammWith Manjeet Kripalani in Bombay, Bruce Einhorn in Hong Kong, Andy Reinhardt in Paris, and bureau reports

Grow your own

Suthinan Pruchayaprut wants to go back to the garden, and take as many students with him as possible. He's setting up a university for farmers. Why? Because stupidity is just plain too expensive, he says.

Agriculture has been the backbone of Thailand since time immemorial _ but that backbone seems to have become more and more brittle in recent years. Many farmers have deserted their fields, and those who are still struggling on have had to seek new ways to extract more out of less. 'Outlook' focuses on two recent attempts to breathe new life into the farming sector

Stories and photos by VASANA CHINVARAKORN

In this huge, lush garden, the "trees of knowledge" are thriving everywhere. Limes blossom all year round, regardless of rainfall. Thousands of eucalyptus trees stand tall _ and the soil is, surprisingly, dark and rich with minerals. Bright green Lucy grass, with its soft velvet-like blades, looks inviting enough to munch or lie upon.

Right at this very moment, the gardener Suthinan Pruchayaprut points out, millions of termites, his unpaid workers, are gnawing diligently on tree bark. They are performing their duty, he says, to complete the cycle of nature, and bring richness back to the soil.

"We just have to learn how to uncover the 'codes'," Suthinan says with a smile. "Here I grow whatever I am curious about."

From the looks of it, Suthinan's curiosity is boundless. His plot is a sanctuary of thousands of different fruits, vegetables, shrubs, and grasses. The abundant bloom of citrus, for instance, is the fruit of years-long research: he finally succeeded in transplanting limes onto an indigenous, more drought-resistant plant called krasang. The 56-year-old native of Buri Ram added that he has several cross-breeding "experiments" in the works. Perhaps the krasang tree could be mixed with other citrus fruits like pomelo and tangerine, too?

"There is no end for what we can learn. Ironically, there is a disease that has been plaguing our country. I call it the syndrome of ignorance."

This bleak self-diagnosis has prompted the elderly man, called Khru-Ba (leader) by his Isan fellows, to come up with an innovative, ambitious plan. He would like to set up a university run by and for farmers.

With preliminary support by the Knowledge Management Institute (KMI), Suthinan recently completed the first stage of his project: drafting a manual on soil improvement.

Aptly titled From the Sky to the Soil, the book is not a dense, scholarly treatise on parochial techniques. Suthinan has been working with scores of farmers in five different communities in Buri Ram. They are, he describes in his book, his team of "professional researchers", who supply him with real-life data.

Despite little schooling, the Isan farmers reveal their tremendous power of observation and analysis.

Sompong Putthaisong had been fuming over theft of his bananas: a young inflorescence had been mysteriously torn away. A few weeks later, he discovered that the premature cut was beneficial: all the fruits from that particular tree turned out to be consistently large and tasty.

Thus more experiments on trimming and limiting the number of inflorescence for each banana tree came about. The result has been satisfactory so far. Several farmers in Sompong's group have started to copy the technique as well.

Sometimes these innovative farmers must endure initial criticism. Suprom Jaewkudrua said his mother-in-law used to complain a lot about his buying truckloads of human excrement to use as fertiliser in his rice fields. Sompong the banana experimenter has had a similar unpleasant experience: he almost had to break up with his wife.

"I consider myself to have married twice _ but to the same woman," he joked.

"She was mad at me for spending so much time out in the fields doing things she couldn't understand. But when she saw how I could grow mulberry plants so well that she didn't need to buy the leaves from the market, we patched things up very quickly."

Misunderstanding does take time to resolve. Suthinan said that a number of farmers had been encouraged to adopt monoculture of cash crops without realising the hidden costs _ the long-term impacts on soil, water, air, and minuscule bacteria.

Take eucalyptus _ the cause of much chagrin among Thai farmers. At one time, the large-scale promotion of the tree, notably for the pulp and paper industry, led to drastic deterioration of the soil and water quality _ and indebtedness of the farmers themselves.

A lot of this has to do, again, with time. Suthinan said the reason for what appears to be the fertility of his "eucalyptus forest" is because he does not rush things. Unlike other farmers, he allows most of the trees to continue growing for 10 to 20 years. Only then will the eucalyptus starts to "pay back" what it has taken from nature.

"But what we do has been driven by greed; we cut the trees every three to four years to feed the pulp mill. By the way, eucalyptus is not the only thing I grow."

In fact, Suthinan added, had he been better informed, he might not have chosen the Australian imported plant at all. Over two decades ago, when Suthinan returned to his family estate in Ban Pakchong village, he was led to believe that eucalyptus was the only suitable choice to deal with the aridity of the area. Only much later did it dawn on him that a few indigenous trees _ the likes of Yang (Dipterocarpus alatus), Pradu and teak _ can survive on little water supply as well.

According to Dr Sawaeng Ruaysoongnoen, a specialist on soil management in the Northeast, a test of the soil quality in Suthinan's farm was highly positive. The diversity of plant species, with little intervention by humans, allows nature to replenish herself without the need to buy fertilisers from the outside, he said.

Suthinan added his next project includes collaboration with the Ubon Ratchathani University to open an undergraduate programme in sustainable agriculture. He considers it to be the ultimate success if he can groom college graduates to go back and work as farmers in their respective villages. His previous effort with another institute has not yielded a good result, Suthinan added.

For now, Suthinan is content with drawing up the potential curriculum for his own university, which he calls Maha-cheevalai Isan. The atypical titles of his up-and-coming classes reveal his deadpan sense of humour: the "U-turn of Life", "Come Back Home Children", "How Much to Pay for your Stupidity", "No Illness _ Best of Luck", and "Live with Forest _ Grow the Forest".

The innovative scheme is, in a way, the offspring of Suthinan's multifarious ideas.

For the past few years, Suthinan has been working with several other prat-chao-ban (local wise folks) in the southern Isan region. They plan to recruit a network of a million families over the next decade.

The goal is to free those farmers from the debt cycle. Statistics from the Ministry of Finance showed an alarmingly high debt level among northeastern villagers, and Suthinan's hometown, Buri Ram, was among the top three ranks.

The grassroots movement has been slow and subtle, however. Suthinan said he could only reach a few farmers at a time.

The switch to non-mainstream mode of farming is a time-consuming process: the farmers must be willing to subscribe to a version of the self-sufficiency mode of economy: growing for one's consumption before selling the surplus to the market. On the other hand, the government's high-profile dumping of cash into the rural sector may only escalate the vicious cycle, Suthinan cautioned.

"There has been a lot of debate on what exactly sustainable agriculture means. Personally I think there is only one definition: the kind that allows humans to live with nature. But nowadays we are among the world's foremost users of toxic chemicals, which we spend billions of baht to import too.

"Do you know how many thousands of years it takes to earn a teaspoonful of nutritious top soil? How about the humidity? The sunlight? But we keep 'withdrawing' from our own account without awareness of potential consequences.

"I've been trying to counter such ignorance. This does not mean that rural folks are not smart. Quite the contrary. But the questions of the times have changed, and we have to create, analyse, synthesise both the old and new sets of knowledge in order to answer them. Otherwise, the price of stupidity will be too high."

Thailand’s English-speaking dilemma

Published on Sep 14, 2004

Considering that Thailand has been getting 11 million foreign tourists every year, and the service sector is so strong and well run, it is difficult to understand why very few Thais speak English. Agreed that the tourists who visit the country are from different parts of the world, including Europe, Japan and South Korea, but on the whole most travellers speak some English, as it has become the universal language.

Another puzzling fact is that even though young Thais listen to Western music and love Western fashions, they don’t feel the need to be able to communicate in English. A friend of mine, Deepak, who has lived here for nine years, describes a scene that took place at a Bangkok department store some years ago. She had a guest from Singapore, and they went shopping at the store.

Her guest needed help finding something, but the salesgirls could not underst