The Baha'i Foundation
of Thailand
Statement of the Purpose and Underlying Philosophy
The Need for a New Direction
Baha'is believe that the primary disease
that is afflicting mankind and generating the ills that are
crippling society is the disunity of the human race. As Baha'u'llah,
the Founder of the Baha'i Faith asserted, "The well-being of
mankind, its peace and security, are unattainable unless and
until its unity is firmly established." Baha'is believe that
until this is acknowledged and addressed, none of the major
problems tormenting mankind will be solved because all the major
challenges of the age we have entered are global.
The unification of mankind is neither an
impossible dream nor even a matter of choice. It is the next
unavoidable stage in the process of social evolution on Earth.
Indeed, mankind is passing through stages equivalent to the
periods of infancy, childhood, and adolescence in the lives
of human beings. The journey has brought us to the threshold
of our long-awaited coming of age and maturity as a united human
race. However, as mankind struggles towards its destiny of world
unity, the human race needs to develop a shared vision, new
attitudes, new perceptions, and also a new understanding about
the nature and purpose of development, in addition to new institutions
that will be suited to the new age, and which will replace those
that have supported a fragmented and materialistic world view.
The Purpose of the Baha'i Foundation
of Thailand
The Baha'i Foundation of Thailand (BFT)
exists to further the social and economic development of Thailand
by pursuing a holistic approach to social and economic development,
which promotes unity, and develops the spiritual, material,
intellectual and social well-being of the people of Thailand.
Its role includes facilitating, encouraging and supporting the
creation and implementation of social and economic projects
at the grass roots level through a process of consultation,
action and reflection, developing the human resources needed,
educating communities about the Baha'i approach to social and
economic development, helping to ensure that material resources
become available to the development efforts, and coordinating
the flow of such resources.
The BFT's Approach to Social
& Economic Development
Inspiration
The BFT's approach is inspired by its belief that the principles
and Teachings contained in the Writings of the Baha'i Faith
offer mankind an invaluable source of guidance regarding the
social and economic development of the planet.
Concept of the Individual
In developing the well being of the people of Thailand, the
BFT rejects the prevailing philosophies of materialism, and
instead sees man as a spiritual being, whose higher spiritual
nature must be developed in order that the unity of mankind
can be achieved, and his well being attained. Unless man's spiritual
qualities, such as love, care, sacrifice, and service are developed,
there will be no balancing force to hold in check his baser
tendencies, which have caused so much social upheaval and disunity
on a global scale. Social and economic development that ignores
the importance of spiritual development is doomed to failure
because man is organic with the world. His spiritual state shapes
society and is itself also deeply affected by it. Each acts
upon the other.
Development Must be Holistic
Indeed, the sterile materialistic approach to development, which
is commonly used, has shown beyond a shadow of a doubt that
development deprived of spiritual principles merely leads to
increased human suffering and a global imbalance between wealth
and poverty. As the Baha'i Universal House of Justice has written:
"There are spiritual principles, or what some call human values,
by which solutions can be found for every social problem.
The essential merit of spiritual principle is that it not only
presents a perspective, which harmonises with that which is
immanent in human nature, it also induces an attitude, a dynamic,
a will, an aspiration, which facilitates the discovery and implementation
of practical measures."
Material development must go hand in hand
with the personal development of individuals in a community.
Material development of a community cannot be effective while
people are weak in moral behaviour, and strong in self-centered
qualities. Similarly, personal development is more effective
when man works with and receives the support of social structures
and institutions like the BFT, that encourage and foster strong
moral behaviour and a commitment to service, as well as develop
intellectual capacity, knowledge and skills. Facilitating and
coordinating all these aspects of personal and material development,
as well as creating new social structures and institutions in
all areas of society to support and reinforce the transformation,
is a central role of the BFT.
Baha'i Foundation of
