Local Wisdom for Poverty Alleviation in Thailand’s Rural Communities

Abstract

This study proposes a framework for poverty alleviation that integrates community wisdom with the Sufficiency Economy philosophy. It analyses poverty concepts from mainstream, moral, and critical theories, together with the multidimensional vulnerability–disempowerment–service-access views of the World Bank and the United Nations. A case study of Ban Mai knife-making and other lower-northern Thai villages shows that community wisdom can triple local product value, cut vulnerable household expenditure by 28 %, and strengthen market bargaining power. Four inter-locking factors are identified: (1) adopting the Sufficiency Economy to reshape individual attitudes and curb consumerism; (2) applying indigenous knowledge to process natural resources into value-added, income-distributing goods; (3) creating collaborative governance—temple funds, cooperatives, communal irrigation—that reduces structural inequality; and (4) establishing participatory welfare (rice and herbal banks, community-based elder-care) that lowers state costs while building grassroots safety nets. Integrating community wisdom with the Sufficiency Economy thus offers a sustainable, culturally embedded strategy for poverty reduction in Thailand.