On the eastern edge of the Himalayas, nestled between India and Tibet, lies the tiny nation of Druk Yul, better known as Bhutan. In Bhutanese, the name means “Land of the Thunder Dragon,” a nod to the powerful storms that hammer the rugged mountain peaks and flood the rich valleys.
Bhutan is a remote Himalayan nation, known as “the last Shangri-La.” It is fiercely proud and protective of its traditions. The country is rich in natural beauty and Buddhist culture, where national happiness takes priority over economic growth.
Bhutan has closed itself off from outside influences for centuries. The nation didn’t open its doors to tourism until the 1970s and has chosen to take a novel approach to westernization, creating a concept known as the “Gross National Happiness Index.”
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But don’t be fooled by the name. The index is not just a measure of how much people laugh and smile. It’s a holistic approach to sustainable development that gives as much value to human flourishing as it does wealth.
Bhutan’s Prime Minister, Dr. Lotay Tshering, took office in November 2018. He explained:
We in Bhutan are very unique; our democracy is very, very unique … in the sense we all are grounded very strongly by our national values. We do not put personal interest ahead of national interest.
When we say Gross National Happiness (GNH), it is not the celebrative ‘Ha ha — Ho ho’ kind of happiness that we look for in life. It only means contentment, control of your mind, control of wants in your life. Don’t be jealous with others, be happy with what you have, be compassionate, be a society where you can be more than happy to share.
Our king rightly calls Gross National Happiness as development with values. If the policy does not have a good amount of happiness index, if the policy is not every environment friendly, if the policy will not be able to ensure that it will result in the well-being of Bhutanese, that policy will never be approved in the country.1
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To measure Bhutan’s GNH, the Centre for Bhutan and GNH Studies is administers Gross National Happiness surveys. They ask questions such as “How happy did you feel yesterday?” and “How often do you practice meditation?”
Every five years, they measure nine key areas of happiness – psychological well-being, health, education, good governance, ecology, time use, community vitality, culture, and living standards.
The nation has conducted two surveys so far, in 2010 and 2015, with another one due in 2020.
The survey conducted in 2015 sampled more than 7,000 Bhutanese from across the country. It yielded some impressive results. Tshoki Zangmo, a researcher at the Centre, said:
The harder components like living standard, health, access to health or access to education and so on, they’re improving in Bhutan. But the softer components like psychological well-being or the trust indicator that we have in our community vitality domain, those were deteriorating. The trust indicator within urban areas in the country, they were deteriorating.1
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So, sadly, Bhutan is not the happiest country in the world. In fact, it ranks 95th out of 156 countries in the 2019 World Happiness Report. Much of that has to do with the nation’s poverty and the challenges of bringing economic and social equity to a predominately agricultural society.1
Most of the rural population relies on subsistence farming in a high-mountain environment that is vulnerable to weather. Rugged terrain, frequent floods, and landslides hinder development; urban-rural connectivity is poor. Television was only introduced in 1999, and there are still no traffic lights in the capital city. Tshoki said:
There’s another misunderstanding … that Bhutan has claimed that we’re the happiest country. I don’t think we’re the happiest country.
But what sets Bhutan apart from the other countries is that our vision is clear.
Our vision is to reach a state where societies have all the enabling conditions intact, not only the economic aspects but the other aspects as well, such as the environment, the community, having access to health and education and so on.1
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Prime Minister Dr. Lotay Tshering, 50, is the perfect example of Bhutanese life. He exercises every day of the week, but Thursdays are special because he pedals up a steep hill outside Thimphu, the capital city of Bhutan. His goal is the 169 foot Buddha Dordenma statue, one of the largest in the world. His goal each Thursday is two-fold: exercise to strengthen his body, and prayer and meditation to strengthen his mind. Dr. Lotay says:
When we say stronger, it just does not mean the muscle strength. It means the mental strength, the strength of your neurons. So those are the ingredients to help your neurons to be very strong.1
After his bike ride, the Prime Minister journeys to the hospital for rounds. He says being a doctor is essential to his happiness. He has been a urologist and surgeon for more than 20 years. He makes time on Thursdays and Saturdays to pursue his passion, which also reflects his values. Lotay says:
Since I come from a traditional family, I always thought we should help others. I thought being religious is the way forward, so on that note I really wanted to be a monk. My mother said why not be a doctor so that you can be really of help to the needy ones and so … I decided to be a doctor.1
Lotay tries to share the same values he has practiced as he makes his hospital rounds with interns and residents. He also tries to bring these values to how he approaches two of Bhutan’s top priorities, which are education and universal health care. The Prime Minister says:
Health and education are the most powerful social levelers. So based on that, we have free health and free education in our country. While it is free, it is not easily accessible, easily available for everyone that needs the service.
I thought we could improve the accessibility of health care services to especially the needy ones, those who are based in the villages, this pair of hands can only do so much. A surgical blade can only operate a patient at a time.
I joined politics to see mainly if I can bring in some policy changes, so that with the stroke of my surgical blade, I treat one patient. With the stroke of a pen I can treat the whole nation.1
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Even though Bhutan doesn’t rank highest in happiness, yet, it has made major strides. Thousands of miles of roads have been built, and phone lines installed. Run-of-the-river hydroelectricity accounts for the largest share of its economy.
According to the World Bank, Bhutan is a developmental success story, with decreasing levels of extreme poverty and improvements in gender equality, as well as a stable political and economic environment. Lotay said:
Just over the last three to four decades our life expectancy at birth has increased from near 50 to over 70. With modernization, with decent access to good health care, more nutritious food and health awareness being better day by day, so many Bhutanese now live longer.1
Bhutan sets a tight control on tourism, including visits to a sacred Buddhist site on a cliffside called the Tiger’s Nest. Because of the country’s natural beauty and native culture, ecotourism is enormous. To manage it within the country’s Gross National Happiness mandate, Bhutan imposes an ecotourism tax of $250 a day per person. They use this to offset the environmental impact of thousands of visitors. It’s been so successful that Bhutan says it’s not only carbon-neutral, it’s carbon-negative.1
For years, the country has partnered with the World Wildlife Fund to protect native wildlife in numerous parks. Bhutan has banned plastic bags since 1999. Tobacco has been banned since 2005, making Bhutan the world’s first smoke-free nation.
The Bhutanese constitution orders that at least 60 percent of the country remain under forest cover. Lotay said that they are at currently at 70 percent.
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Despite the desire for economic growth, the Prime Minister is certain those priorities will not change for the Bhutanese people. He added:
When we know that monetary wealth and material wealth will not translate to what you actually want in your life … peace of mind and happiness … then why should we target that as our main objective?
We have to think about the next generations to come. So, these are the values of Gross National Happiness that we practice. That’s why economically we may not be doing very well because all those checks and balances will ensure that whatever we initiate will be sustainable, will be for generations to come.1
