Dr.Teruo Higa’s
Living A Dream

#33 New Developments in the Evolution of EMTM in Thailand

At the EM Forum held last November in Okinawa we welcomed a number of dignitaries from abroad, including the Minister of the Ministry of Social Development in Thailand, both the Vice-Minister and Agency Chief of the Egyptian Ministry of Agriculture, as well as the Agency Chief of the Ministry of the Environment. EM^TM has spread to over 150 countries around the world, and though in the majority of them EM^TM is led by the private sector with government backing, there are some countries where, as in Egypt, the Ministries of Agriculture and Environment have their own EM^TM manufacturing facilities and the government has led EM-related efforts from the beginning.

In Thailand EM^TM workshops and the training of EM^TM leaders is carried out mainly at the Nature Farming Training Center in Saraburi Province. For over twenty years the center has trained more than one million people in how to apply EM^TM. At present EM^TM is used not only in local schools and hospitals but in all fields, and related government departments are active participants. Thailand is making steady progress toward becoming a model EM^TM nation.

Issara Somchai, Minister of the Ministry of Social Development in Thailand, visited Okinawa twice last year. The first visit was to check on the status of EM^TM activities, and the second time to attend the EM Forum and use that opportunity to exchange a written agreement with the EM Research Organization (EMRO). The EM^TM activities of the Thailand Public Housing Corporation include sewage treatment and sanitation, food waste recycling, subsistence gardening, home construction, and other such large-scale projects as the cleaning of large dams. The Public Housing Corporation is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Social Development.

The new Minister of the Ministry of Social Development, Mr. Somchai, has for over ten years been actively promoting EM^TM in his home province, Ubon, to help poor farmers become more economically independent, and has himself been designated as an EM^TM technical expert. Since his appointment as Minister, he promoted a policy of using EM^TM, not just in the Public Housing Corporation, but in the Ministry of Social Development as a whole. In order to accomplish this he decided that he needed the cooperation of EMRO, which led to his second trip to Okinawa.
 
The Role of EM^TM in Thailand Ten Years From Now

After the agreement was signed I was invited by Minister Somchai to give a special lecture to commemorate the 36^th anniversary of the Thailand Public Housing Corporation, and on February 15 in Bangkok I spoke on the topic “The Role of EM^TM in Thailand Ten Years From Now.”  More than eight hundred people attended and the venue included displays of a variety of EM^TM case studies and EM^TM products for sale, and it was quite a lively atmosphere, with great enthusiasm shown for EM^TM.

Before my talk there was a report on EM-related activities undertaken in southern Thailand with the aid of the Ministry of Social Development, in particular the results of projects to help poor Muslim farmers achieve independence, and the use of EM^TM in the Wat Sing Provincial Hospital.

The southern region of Thailand, a heavily Muslim area, has been beset by numerous terrorist bombings, with there have been many military casualties. The situation is so bad that the UN has criticized the Thai military for going too far, but we heard a report on how projects to encourage self-reliance by a “Sufficiency Economy” using EM^TM have yielded satisfactory results that are leading towards solutions. I will write more about this in my essay next month.

The EM^TM activities of the Thailand Public Housing Corporation have been reported on at EM Festa for the past few years, but what stood out in the report this time was how the scope of their activities has expanded, and how they have systematized a long-range vision of producing and applying Activated EM-1®. In other words, in place of a labor-intensive, ad hoc system they have changed to a system wherein EM^TM is applied consistently, where, for instance, laundry is done without detergents. In water purification and measures to treat waste, and in various health measures to eradicate flies and mosquitoes, they now rely on EM-1® instead of first turning to chemicals. The cost is less than one-tenth, and through the cooperation of local residents there have been many extra benefits, and the application of EM^TM has spread to the construction and health fields.

In the Wat Sing Hospital EM^TM is not only being consumed orally, but EM Technology^TM is also being applied in a variety of areas including water treatment, laundry, waste disposal, and cleaning, and the hospital has become prominent as an EM^TM model hospital. Expenses for drugs have decreased to less than one-twentieth the former cost, and EM^TM has become an indispensible element in managing the hospital. When I visited four years ago I was told that thirty provincial and national hospitals were incorporating EM^TM into their hospitals, but now over eighty public hospitals use EM^TM.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare has taken note of these developments and has begun to actively promote the use of EM^TM. Wat Chai, the hospital’s director, has given numerous lectures on EM^TM at meetings sponsored by the Ministry.
 
A “Sufficiency Economy” Made Possible by EM^TM

After hearing these three reports, I spoke on what the role of EM^TM in Thailand will be ten years in the future. I began by explaining how the fundamental effects of EM^TM are the result of its anti-oxidant and anti-ionizing properties, as well as the revitalizing energy imparted by catalytic three-dimensional waves, and how it has positive effects on everything in the world, both organic and inorganic matter.

Next I explained how, in order to maximize its effects, EM^TM should become an essential part of daily life, as commonly used as water and air; if it is applied to every aspect of life the environment will be dramatically cleansed, agriculture will contribute to improving people’s health, natural resources will be more abundant, and a new “Sufficiency Economy” will materialize that is not controlled by money. It will be possible for public property such as buildings and roads to last 3-5 times longer, to save energy, and extend the life of building materials. If EM^TM is incorporated into every aspect of society, citizens will become healthy and content, and at the same time the national budget can be cut to one half or one-third. This shows us an ideal nation-building model for the future, and I called on the Ministry of Social Development to actively help spread EM^TM so that ten years from now EM^TM can play this role.

At the end of the lecture, Minister Somchai remarked, “The reason I look ten years younger than my age is that I have been drinking EM^TM for over ten years. I have seen EM’s results in numerous areas, and as Dr. Higa proposes, I would like the Ministry of Social Development to promote the spread of EM^TM even more vigorously from now on. In order to do that, first of all I believe that people should drink EM^TM with their meals in order to not become ill.” And then, on stage, he actually drank some EM^TM.

The next day, I gave a lecture entitled “A ‘Sufficiency Economy’ Made Possible by EM^TM” to people in both the public and private sectors at a meeting jointly sponsored by the Thai Army and the Nature Framing Environmental Foundation. Since 1997 Thailand has been hit by several economic crises, and the King of Thailand has been leading the country to a lifestyle that is more independent and self-sufficient, one not controlled by a monetary economy. The successful model for this has been the independence achieved in the drug-growing region of Ubon Province in the so-called Golden Triangle where Thailand, Cambodia and Laos come together. Ubon Province is the home province of both Minister Somchai of the Ministry of Social Development, and Gen. Pichate who successfully led a counter-terrorist campaign in southern Thailand. Both men helped lead this project.

In my lecture I said the following: “A ‘Sufficiency Economy’ is like Buddhist enlightenment, but it is difficult to reach enlightenment when you are struggling with poverty. The essence of a ‘Sufficiency Economy’ is, without the expenditure of money, to transform all waste material into resources for production, to be able to produce, in enjoyable ways, the right amount of food, to value objects and use them efficiently and so they last a long time, and to establish the conditions whereby people do not become ill. At the same time, it is essential that people know their existence can be a benefit to society. It’s already quite clear that if one uses EM ^TM effectively these goals can be achieved by anyone. I believe all of you are well aware of this.” The questions that followed my talk were quite profound and I could sense a new evolution taking place in the use of EM in Thailand.


Commemorative photograph taken of the Minister of the Thailand Social Development Ministry and Dr. Higa

Minister Somchai drinking EM ^TM

A commemorative photograph taken with the executives of the Public Housing Corporation

Photo with Minister Somchai of the Social Development Ministry (aged 62)