Religion has always been part and parcel of the Thai society. It is an indispensable element in the Thai culture. This in fact has turned to be one of the distinctive marks of being Thai.1
Religious persecution or conflict, in its true
nature, has never been heard of in the country. Even though the traditional
and national religion is Buddhism, the people of the land have right and
freedom to embrace and practice other religions. There are in existence
many religions in the land, such as Islam, Confucianism, Hinduism, Sikhism,
Christianity and other traditional tribal religions.2
Name |
Adherents |
Percentage |
| Buddhists | 54,136,676 |
95.0 |
| Muslims | 2,287,618 |
4.0 |
| Christians | 306,797 |
0.5 |
| Brahmins-Hindus-Sikhs | 3,656 |
0.0 |
| Others | 66,459 |
0.1 |
Table 4.1 Religious Adherents in Thailand3
Theravada Buddhism (also called Hinayana or Small Vehicle) is the official religion of Thailand and the religion of the great majority of the population, with 29,859 monasteries and 283,527 monks.4
The number of persons in monasteries fluctuates because of the traditional requirement that each adolescent should sometime spend 6 months to 2 years in residence in a monastery. It is in Thailand that the movement for the renewal of Buddhism is most accepted. This movement is part of the program of the great universities of Mahâmakuta na Mahâchulalongkorn which steer monks towards social service to the lay community and prepare students for teaching posts in the provinces. Monks in the provinces are supposed to follow where possible a social education course at the Phra Kiihiwuttho Center in Chonburi, a suburb of Bangkok. Of importance also is the movement towards a deep renewal of monastic and religious life under the influence of Bhikkhu (monk) Buddhadâsa, the head of the Wat Mahadhatu monastery in Chaiya, South Thailand, who attempted to create a degree of uniformity in Buddhist doctrine by mixing traditional Theravada with aspects from Mahayana. His disciple, Khun Sunya Dhammasakti, president of the most important lay group, spreads his doctrine among the populace.
Bangkok is the central headquarters of the World Fellowship of Buddhists (WFB), founded in Sri Lanka in 1950, which works for peace and the well-being of peoples through following Buddha's teaching principles, and which has regional centers in 34 countries of Asia, America, Europe and Oceania. Thailand also serves as the center for Theravada in its mission of conciliation between the various orientations of Buddhism.
Islam is Thailand's second largest religion. Mostly Sunnis of the Shafiite rite, Muslims are found in the south where they are the predominant group, and include almost the entire Malay population as well as others. The region of Bangkok-Thonburi has about 155 of the country's 2,917 mosques. A national Council of Muslims in Thailand was established in 1945, and provincial councils exist in areas of heavy Muslim population. Qurantic schools (pondoks) are also numerous.
Confucianism maintains its importance among the Chinese, who place special emphasis on the ancestor cult. Usually termed Chinese folk-religionists, Confucianists are usually also adherents of Mahayana Buddhism (Great Vehicle).
Hinduism and Sikhism are religions professed by immigrants from India, the majority of whom are artisans and merchants in the larger cities.
Traditional tribal religions still exist among the Montagnard peoples, the Karen, Meo, Tin and Yao. The supreme being among the Karen is called Y'wa; although they have been strongly influenced by Christianity, many remain animists.
Although citizens, Thailand's Christians are often considered foreigners due to their ethnic origin. Most Catholics are Vietnamese and Chinese with a growing number of Montagnards. Protestantism is strongest among Chinese and has also made recent gains among Montagnards. Christianity's inability to penetrate the Hinayana Buddhist world contributes to the conviction that a Thai cannot become a Christian without abandoning the Thai community. On the other hand, its success with Montagnard peoples shows that it appeals to animists. Numerous Christians are found among North Vietnamese refugees, but it has not been easy to integrate them into local communities.
According to the 1991 census, 95 % of the Thai population was Buddhists. This fact alone demonstrates how influential Buddhism is in Thailand. Original Buddhism, however, did not constitute a complete religious system in that it did not attempt to explain all phases of man's relationship with the supernatural world. The basic Buddhist tenets said nothing about the existence of supernatural beings, and very little about the nature of the universe. In the same sense, however, the functioning religious system of Thailand is complete; in it Buddhist doctrine is embedded in an amorphous mass of customs, attitudes, traditions, and daily actions. Religion was in the past, and still is to some extent today the keystone of Thai culture. Cosmological and astrological beliefs dictated the concept and form of the governmental structure and rituals and affected the timing of human activities. The concepts of supernatural power and of the deities continue to affect human relations, agricultural and other rituals, and the arts. The Buddhist code of ethics determines the ethical and moral system, influences the belief in an afterlife, and forms the raison d' être of the monkhood. In the past it also completely dominated literature and architecture. Buddhist religious beliefs and institutions are changing, but the basic concepts remain intact. The modern faith is a continuation, modified somewhat, of the traditional system.
The original austere way of living as practiced and recommended by the Buddha Gotama in the 6th century B.C. was popularized largely by the incorporation of numerous indigenous beliefs and customs. A reaction against this dilution of the Dhamma, together with the inability to agree over the application of Vinaya rules, resulted in a split in the ranks of the Indian Buddhists into two schools: Hinayana (the small vehicle, the "compact raft" of the South) and Mahayana (the great vehicle, the "distended raft" of the North). The former, however, prefers to be known as Theravada, doctrine of the elders.
In its early stages Buddhism in Siam was exposed to the influences of the various doctrinal trends in the older form of the Buddha's teaching and to its various cultural expressions. The view that Siam was already reached by the Buddhist apostles sent out by Emperor Asoka of India has never been unequivocally confirmed. On the other hand, there is definite proof of the ascendancy of Theravada Buddhism in the former capital of the Lawa Kingdom, Dvaravati, the modern Nakorn Pathom, substantiated by numerous archeological finds. The incursion of Mahayana Buddhism into Siam took place from Magadha, modern Bihar, in India. Even stronger, however, was the influence of the Mahayana school of Indonesia, where, starting from India, it spread through Sumatra and Java and first reached the mainland in Cambodia. In 757 the Srivijava empire extended from Sumatra over the Malay Archipelago to Southern Siam. The influence of Mahayana was then further intensified during the period of Southern Siam's political dependence upon Cambodia. Not until the 11th century, when the dominion of the Burmese King Anurudh of Pagan was extended to include Siam, did the latter experience a renewed influx of Theravada Buddhism which had already been introduced into Burma from India.
When the Thais advanced from the north, they first came under the influence of this Burmese Theravada Buddhism. Later, as they expanded towards Cambodia, they took over not only the Mahayana School of thought that was dominant there, but also the numerous traditions of Brahmanism, in which the Indian influence lived on in Cambodia. Thai Buddhism then received its decisive and final stamp from Ceylon, the oldest missionary region of Theravada Buddhism of the Asoka period. This time, however, the missionary influence was exercised in a different manner. It was not Ceylonese missionaries who made their way to distant Siam; rather, Ceylonese monkhood under the patronage of King Prakramabahu exercised such a power of attraction over the countries of Southeast Asia that many monks from Burma, Pegu, Laos, Cambodia and Siam thronged to Ceylon to study the Pali scriptures and put them into practice according to the Ceylonese method. King Ramkhamhaeng of Sukhodaya fostered the activities of the Thai monks returning from Ceylon and created the basis for dominance in Siam of Theravada Buddhism, which to this day dominates Thailand's spiritual and cultural life.
Buddhists as people are divided into two main categories: members of the Sangha or monks and the laity. The statistics of 1991 show that in the whole country there were 388,176 monks and novices as compared to a population of 56,961,030 people, which gives a ratio of one member of the holy order to 147 lay persons or one to 73 males.8
Apart from being a large institution the Sangha has a very different status and way of life from that of the ordinary populace: it has the aim of leading a separate way of life, it has the order and discipline for fixing its way of life differently and it has been elevated by the people to an exalted and honored status, so that it can really be called a separate society.
But the fact that its status and way of life are different does not mean that the Sangha does in fact separate itself rigidly from the population and live by itself. The aim of living a pure life is, in fact, an aim for every person. Becoming a monk is a means of achieving this aim more comfortably and quickly. Once a man is a monk, he must rely on the population for the four material necessities of life, ie., food, clothing, lodging and medicine. Also, when a monk has successfully attained greater wisdom it is his duty to teach it to the general population which has given him the four necessities of life. Thus, a mutual bond arises in the form of giving and taking which is material on one side and spiritual on the other. It is not, however, buying and selling or borrowing because it is spiritual. The bond requires faith or confidence on one side and compassion on the other. This bond of spiritual values causes the mutual dependence which can be clearly seen throughout the history of Thai Buddhism right down to modern times.
The monk's duty of helping the lay population intellectually and spiritually does not arise from this bond in compensation for their help but arises form spiritual virtue and compassion. The idea of helping others out of suffering and raising them to a state of happiness can be seen in the moral behavior of the Buddha himself and in all his teachings.
Apart from monks who dedicate their whole life to the Sangha, it is a tradition in Thailand that a layman enters the Order temporarily. To serve in the monkhood even for a short period is considered a great merit-earning attainment by the Thai Buddhists. Even Kings follow this old custom. The present ruler also became a fully ordained monk for a brief period. In rural districts the general tendency is still to give more deference to those who have already served in the monkhood. Such people are supposed to be more "mature" than those who have never been ordained. Government officials are also allowed leave with full pay for up to four months in order to serve in the Sangha. The idea is to enable young men to gain knowledge of Buddhism from the inside and thereby to become good citizens. Monkhood gives them practical experience of how an ideal Buddhist life should be. Although the majority of Thai monks fall short of that ideal, the lay people do have a chance to realize how hard it is to follow the Noble Eightfold Path. This makes laity and monks understand and appreciate each other's ways of life much more meaningfully.
In Thailand there are about 29,8599 wats. Wat cannot merely be translated as temple or monastery, for it is not only the residence of monks and novices, but also used to be and is still regarded as a seat of learning where all men, irrespective of life position, can go and avail themselves of educational benefit. This is especially so in the case of the economically handicapped males of the countryside. Instances are not lacking in which people have climbed high up life's status ladder after obtaining education while in the monkhood. There is neither religious restriction nor social discrimination against monk's returning to lay life if and when they find themselves unable to discharge their duties as monks. Even today, when modernism has penetrated deep into Thailand, about one half the primary schools of the country are still located in wats.
Wats are also centers of Thai art and architecture. Thai culture, to a considerable extent, flows from wats. Wat-lands and construction thereon are donated by royalty, wealthy people and the public in general. The wat is the most important institution in Thai rural life. The social life of the rural community revolves around it. Besides carrying out the obvious religious activities, a wat serves the community as a recreation center, dispensary, school, community center, home for the aged and destitute, social work and welfare agency, village clock, rest-house, news agency and information center. In a wat, besides the monks and novices, there are also the "temple boys" who assist those in the brotherhood in various ways, such as bringing and arranging food, cleaning dormitories, washing dishes, etc. These boys are either related to resident monks or their parents know the monks one way or another. Their food and lodging are free of charge. Most of them are students, whose homes are far away. In the old days they would be taught by the monks, but nowadays they usually go to schools or colleges. This is especially so in Bangkok and big cities where accommodation is difficult to get and where higher seats of learning are situated. The census of 1954 reveals that there were 119,044 "temple boys" in Thailand.10
Although most of them are now not taught by monks, their behavior is still influenced by Buddhist ethics.
Apart from observing the disciplinary rules in general, engaging themselves in doctrinal studies and putting them into practice, monks are expected to be "friends, philosophers and guides" of the lay people. Preaching to the masses face to face or over the radio and TV is one of the commonest ways by which monks help the promotion of moral stability among various members of the society. In most of the ceremonies and rituals, whether private or public, monks' cooperation and blessing are indispensable. Indeed, in the life of the average Thai Buddhists, from the cradle to the grave, monks are persons to whom they constantly turn for moral support. The role of monks in rural districts is even more important, for there the local wat is not only the religious but also the social center of the community. It is at the wat that people come together and experience a sense of comradeship. Religious rituals and ceremonies held at home or at wats are usually accompanied by social activities: they are occasions for people, especially the young, to enjoy themselves. Even the Thai funeral is an occasion for joy rather than sorrow. This aspect of the religious service helps the common folks to relax and satisfies their need for recreation.
Buddhism, in the first place, does not rest on blind faith but on scientific investigation, on logic and on reason. It encourages the questioning mind to seek the ultimate Truth. It guides seekers to right living and thinking, and to the goal of supreme understanding and deliverance from suffering.
The core of the Buddhist message looks very simple and consists principally of the fourfold Noble Truth: Suffering, cause of suffering, cessation of suffering and the way to the cessation of suffering. However, to comprehend it rightly, certain systematic understanding from within itself is but needed.
The Lord Buddha had discovered many more truths when he attained Enlightenment, but he transmitted to his disciples only what he considered useful to them for the deliverance from the universal suffering. From his own teaching as well as the sacred text, it is not difficult to find out that the sole preoccupation of the Buddha was that of indicating the Path for humanity in order for it to find the solution to the enigma of existence. Theravada Buddhism is indeed a Project of self-Liberation.11
In the Fourfold Noble Truth, Buddhism sees in the human world and reality the universal condition of suffering, something pathological and abnormal which renders the human life unbearable and oppressive. Under this condition man is not the real self, but lives in the illusive world of evil. It is noteworthy that this suffering is not a mere phenomenal, physical and psychological pain, but it is a metaphysical one, that is, it is the deeply rooted suffering that underlines the life process itself.
Under this pressure, Buddhism discovers that the cause of this anomaly lies in the Craving ensnared by Ignorance (Tanha and Avijja). It comes to the conclusion that there must be a way out. And that way must lead to the extinction of the root cause of suffering. Thus, we have the Eight fold Way of Liberation which, at a closer look, will present itself as Wisdom, Morality and Meditation (Panya, Sila and Samadhi).
It is a positive project of construction because at the closing of process there is a definite and positive end called Nibbana (Nirvana) as the supreme goal of liberation from this present pressing and oppressive condition.
Theravada Buddhism is not only a Project but also a Project of Self-Liberation. In general, the phrase self-liberation can be taken to mean either liberation from the Self or liberation by oneself. However, it is in the latter that we mean here. As a religion of self-liberation, self-reliance and self-sufficiency, Buddhism denies the assistance of the gods, of the redeemer, of the priests, of external rites and sacrifices, or prayer and intercession which aim at the suspension of the law of cause and effect. Buddhism is thus the religion of individual effort.
As the religion of the individual effort, it denies the assistance of the gods under the pretext that the gods are either part of the conditioned world or samsara12 and thus subjected to the law of suffering as we are and thus have nothing to do with us who are in this conditioned world of change. Moreover, the problem about the existence of the gods forms part of those on which Buddha did not compose an answer, and this is so because it is not needed for the liberation. This is true for the assistance of the redeemer, of the priests, of rituals and ceremonies. Concerning the rites and prayers, Buddhism as a religion of cause and effect (Dependent Origination) negates their efficiency for they would suspend the law of conditionality. It denies the remission of sin because that would mean the attempt to wipe out the result of wrong doing, and not wishing to pay for its consequences.
From all these denials it results that the only way of liberation comes from the personal effort, strength and energy, which consists in following the Middle Path of the Buddha. It is of personal choice to begin the path, and it cannot be imposed upon nor granted gratuitously by an external agent.
The path is the way of reason, for it aims at the extinction of the fire of Ignorance by the attainment of the Enlightenment. This is what we mean when we say liberation by means of Truth. The Enlightenment is the insight into the true nature of things (vijja). This insight leads to the non-attachment to existence; thus it brings to an end the volitional activities that would create the condition for the rebirth and the re-becoming.
Buddhism is a practical system designed to reveal
to us the what is what. Once we have seen things as they really are,
we no longer need anyone to teach or guide us. We can carry on practicing
by ourselves. One progresses along the Ariyan Path just as rapidly as one
eliminates the defilements and gives up inappropriate action. Ultimately
one will attain to the best thing possible for a human being, what we call
the Fruit of the Path, Nirvana. This one can do by oneself simply by means
of coming to know the ultimate sense of the WHAT IS WHAT.13
To understand this, it is sufficient to look at the Buddha. He had gone out, armed only with understanding, to seek the way out of the pathological condition of man. After many trials and failures, he realized a project which he termed the Middle Path which is based fundamentally on understanding (the first factor of the Path). Another theoretical confirmation is found in the fact that Buddhism is not a revealed religion; it cannot base itself on something outside the experience and capability of man. The Enlightenment of Buddha is not a kind of inspiration as we understand, but an insight into the truth by his own effort. The Path which presents itself as having the beginning and the end in the Right Understanding is the clear indication of the rational characteristics of this practice.
When we speak about the truth, we refer to the teaching of the Buddha about the Fourfold Noble Truth and other related doctrines that reveal the true nature of the reality. It is a vital truth that leads to a corresponding practical consequence. The understanding of the cause leads to the breaking of the chain, which will put an end to the suffering.
The ideal of Buddhism is to seek knowledge or to be enlightened in order to destroy all nescience so completely that it cannot be recreated (in this conditioned existence). Since we are created by Ignorance, we must try to discover knowledge. When we find knowledge, we shall extinguish life, passion, sin, birth, old age, pain and death. By the power of enlightenment we shall not have to be reborn.14
Acting as a moral and ethical example, monks are the
most venerated persons in the Thai countryside, remaining very close to
the hearts of the people. In times of crisis, it is to monks that people
bring their problems for counsel and encouragement. In urban areas, however,
the wats and monks have lost much of their former prestige and leadership.
This is due to the fact that the Sangha has not been able to adjust itself
to the new phenomenon of urban life and the rise of the new middle class.
Students in the modern schools and colleges also have lost contact with
the wat's atmosphere of calm and happiness. The modern curriculum, mainly
based on Western standards, also stresses material success rather than contentedness.
Cinema and television are now replacing the fun and feasts of the Buddhist
festivals. No member of the new generation has yet said anything against
Buddhism, although every now and again there are some critical remarks to
the effect that perhaps monks do not deserve the Thai attitude of respect
and honor shown to them by the laity.
At the same time there are monks like Bhikkhu Buddhadâsa, whose intellectual and spiritual attainment have put members of the new elite in awe. The aforementioned monk in particular has done much, through his way of life, writing and speaking, to express his concern for a modern Buddhism which reflects the essential teachings of the Buddha in a way appropriate to a world of mass media communication. He is regarded as a reformer in a most profound sense of that word. That is, he wishes to restore the eternally valid truths of early Buddhism - beyond any sectarianisms - in a way that will be meaningful and relevant for the people of Thailand today. His approach has won a number of followers and admirers, within the Sangha itself and among the laity, especially university students, who seek temporary ordination at his forest hermitage in the south of Thailand. The impact of his approach , however, has not yet made itself on a wide scale. This is due to the fact that the Sangha is so traditional and conservative, that it is not yet capable of offering any significant encounter with a fast-changing world.
The two Buddhist Universities, however, have been making strides toward modernizing their institutions. Their curriculum has been broadened beyond the traditional courses in Pali, Thai and Buddhist doctrine and practice. Courses are now offered in sociology, hygiene, economics, government and law, as well as studies in art and archeology, geography, history and Southeast Asian area studies. This broadening of the curriculum and expansion of the teaching staff to include teachers from government universities and various professional services represent an effort to respond to the felt need of equipping Buddhist monks with a range of knowledge more relevant to the contemporary world. As one member of the Sangha put it,
These "modern" monks, the graduates of the two Buddhist Universities, are, in a sense, convinced that the Sangha can survive in today's world only if it studies and understands the way of the world while members of the Sangha still keep fast to the ancient path of purity as laid down by the Buddha. Lacking the knowledge of the modern world, they feel that Buddhism will become an irrelevant part of Thailand's heritage rather than being involved in a living present. At the same time, if monks do not tread the Noble Eightfold Path seriously, they fear that the Sangha will become very much like many church organizations in the West which are involved in the social and political welfare of the people while losing their spiritual leadership altogether.
To help fulfill their aims, the Buddhist Universities support a number of up-country programs for their graduates and also bring in local abbots for further training to make them more relevant to the modern world. For example, there is the Buddhist Sunday School movement which was begun at a university in 1958 and is now providing religious instruction for approximately 1,500 students between the ages of 6 and 25. The two universities also sponsor a program to encourage graduates to take teaching positions in rural areas. At present there are more than one hundred graduates serving in almost all the 73 provinces. There is also a joint project of the two universities for a training program in community development. Begun in 1966, the project conducts training on two levels, for monk graduates and for monks selected by ecclesiastical provincial authorities. Training includes not only subjects dealing specifically with Buddhism, but also public health, community improvement, vocational promotion, village leadership development, public relations and applied psychology. Classes conducted in Bangkok are supplemented by field work in provinces. Now there are also coordinated training programs in three provincial monasteries, one in the North and two in the Northeast. These are not unrelated to government pacification drives.
The changes at the Buddhist Universities have not been made without criticism, nor have they always been successful. Despite vexing problems, however, the progress of monastic higher education remains one of the important means to a relevant and enlightened Buddhism in Thailand.
As a result of the advancement in the field of science and social sciences, new knowledge and information about man and his society has shaken and unsettled many traditional beliefs and the great historic faiths - Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, Confucianism, etc. - as well as the institutional system based on them. These beliefs have become alien, obsolete or old-fashioned for members in modern societies which are characterized by industrialization. This has created an acute theological crisis to all faiths in industrialized societies. Religious leaders have tried to translate important traditional religious elements into modern terms to make religion more relevant to modern societies. As the traditional sources of religious authorities have come more and more into question, religion has become more privatized and individualized. As a result, religious influence has decreased, at the same time, religious conflicts and differential religious sects sprung up. Existing religious institutions and teachings are indeed facing challenges from social changes, and the resulting religious development.17
Buddhism, which is the dominant religion of 95% of the Thai population, is not without problems. In spite of the great effort in making Buddhism relevant to the Thai people of today, as mentioned above, deep down, Buddhism did not seem to keep pace with the social change that has been developed for a few decades, particularly among the urban people. The dropping of the significant role of religious influence in the everyday life of the urban people is quite alarming. The Thai value studies have showed that while rural Thai placed religious value at the most important top ranking order, the urban Bangkok people's value for religion has drastically dropped to a non-significant rank order.18
This could be both a result of the materialistic oriented society today, and the inefficacy of the sangha to deal with the changing perception of the people. Evidently, the clergy has not done much to meet the alienation of young people today, instead, as Sulak Sivarak an expert on Thai culture and religion pointed out, the clergy confined itself to performing rites and rituals, and concerning itself too greatly with materialism and capitalism. At present, there are 283,527 monks in 29,859 temples19 across the country. And the proliferating monks' business of selling amulets or demonstrating magical powers are all contrary to religious law.20
Others are telling fortunes, giving lottery tips,
including Acharn Suan, the famous Buddhist monk who made his fortune
by distributing phallic symbols to faithful followers. Not to mention those
monks who blatantly misbehaved, for instance, riding motorcycling, engaged
in sexual relations with girls (i.e., Smee Jiap) as appeared on the
papers in the last few years. How materialism is sweeping through Buddhism
in the form of luxurious monasteries as well as materialistic obsession
behaviors, is self evident. Therefore, Buddhism has been viewed by many,
only as culture and tradition. And for many others, Buddhism's function
has been reduced to serve as a psychological refuge in mistaken means.21
On the one hand, the significant
dropping of religious influence in today's people, can be attributed to
the inability to make Buddhist teaching more relevant to modern society,
as the social critic Sulak Sivarak has stated:
On the other hand, the problems and dissatisfaction
within the Sangha itself have been there and have triggered off the emergence
of different groups of thinking. Amid the criticism of the Sangha's laxity,
there are three prominent schools of Buddhism that have emerged in the past
two decades, for the frustrated people to turn to. They are Phra Buddhadâsa
of Suan Mokh or the Garden of Liberation, Phra Bodhirak of Santi
Asoke and Phra Dhammachaiyo of the Dhammakaya Temple. The first two
are reformist and the last is traditional.23
Their conflicting views, as analyzed by some social scientists, reflect conflicts in Thai society as a whole. Each group's value system has been influenced by its own social background and aspirations.24
Basic to these conflicts can be seen as the inability of the existing religious institution in response to the social changes that have occurred, to meet the needs of the people. And the religious institution itself tremendously need more serious undertaking, as the Director-General of the Department of Religion has publicly admitted.25
Without doubt, industrialization and materialism of the new Thai society have brought spiritual emptiness to the people, and deeper challenges to the existing mainstream Buddhism, with the latter being unable to fill the emptiness for the people, while struggling for its own survival against pressures for change and reform from within.26
2 Cf DAVID B. BARRETT, ed., World Christian Encyclopedia. A comparative Survey of Churches and Religions in the Modern World AD 1900-2000. Nairobi, Oxford University Press 1982, pp. 664-665.
3 Cf THAILAND. THE RELIGIOUS AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT, Religious Adherents Record 1991, Bangkok, Ministry of Education 1992.
4 Cf THAILAND. THE RELIGIOUS AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT, Religious Adherents Record 1991.
5 The topic on The Catholic Church in Thailand will be dealt with in great detail in the next chapter.
6 Cf Thailand in Transition: The Church in a Buddhist Country, in Pro Mundi Vita 48 (1973) 14.
7 Cf Thailand in Transition: The Church in a Buddhist Country, pp. 14-16.
8 Cf THAILAND. THE RELIGIOUS AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT, Religious Adherents Record 1991; THAILAND. NATIONAL STATISTICS OFFICE, Population and Housing Census 1991. Bangkok, 1992.
9 Cf THAILAND. THE RELIGIOUS AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT, Religious Adherents Record 1991.
10 Cf Thailand in Transition: The Church in a Buddhist Country, p. 15.
11 Cf S. VIVAT - J. BANCHONG, Buddhism and Evangelization, in The Far East: Culture, Religions, and Evangelization. Roma, Salesiani, Dicastero per le Missioni 1989, pp. 37-42.
12 Cf BUDDHADÂSA BHIKKHU, Handbook for Mankind. Bangkok, Karn Pim Pranakorn Ltd. 1984, p. 32. Samsara refers to a vicious circle of three events: desire Í action in keeping with the desire Í inability to stop desiring Í having to desire once more Í action once again Í another effect Í further augmenting of desire Í and so on endlessly. The Buddha called this the Wheel of Samsara because it is an endless cycling on, a rolling on.
13 BUDDHADÂSA BHIKKHU, Handbook for Mankind, p. 26.
14 W. PETCHSONGKRAM, Talk in the Shade of the Bo Tree. Bangkok, Prae Pitthaya 1975, p. 74.
15 Cf Thailand in Transition: The Church in a Buddhist Country, pp. 16-17.
16 Thailand in Transition: The Church in a Buddhist Country, p. 16.
17 Cf S. KOMIN, Social Dimensions of Industrialization in Thailand. Bangkok, Research Center, National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA) 1989, p. 72.
18 Cf S. KOMIN - S. SMUCKARN, Thai Value System: The Measurement Instrument. Bangkok, Research Center, National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA) 1979, in Thai. See also S. KOMIN, Psychology of the Thai People: Values and Behavioral Patterns. Bangkok, Research Center, National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA) 1991, pp. 88-91. The research result revealed two different cognitive world views of the urban and the rural Thai, with the cognitive world views of the rural Thai characterized by other-oriented mutually-helpful community values and a characteristically high religious faith and spiritual life, with inner harmony and contentedness. The cognitive world of the urban Thai gave a different picture. In contrast, almost all values they held significantly higher than the rural Thai, were of self-oriented values, concerning personal happiness and achievement in life, material comfort, pleasures, and social recognition, with a drastic dropping of religious value to the non-significant rank order.
19 Cf THAILAND. THE RELIGIOUS AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT, Religious Adherents Record 1991, Ministry of Education, 1992.
20 Cf Bangkok Post, July 23, 1988.
21 Cf S. KOMIN, Social Dimensions of Industrialization in Thailand, p. 73.
22 Cf Bangkok Post, March 16, 1989.
23 Cf S. KOMIN, Social Dimensions of Industrialization in Thailand, pp. 74-75. Dhammakaya are the middle class, or higher, who are already part of the establishment. Dhammakaya like traditional Buddhism, teaches heaven and hell and rebirth. The difference lie in the emphasis on teaching Samadhi or concentration meditation and strict discipline as opposed to the Sangha's laxness. This kind of traditional teaching justifies the present hierarchical social structure. It teaches that one is rich or has power because one has made merit in past lives. Goodness has become an innate quality. Wealth and power become a manifestation of goodness itself. One is therefore required to respect to those who are his seniors and is prohibited from challenging authority.
These status quo oriented teachings are too frustrating for other middle class who have learned and achieved in their life through hard-working, self reliance, and perseverance. The teachings of the other two reformist Buddhism groups, which question authority and stress hard work and perseverance, are more attractive. Instead of teaching heaven and hell, the two reformist Buddhist groups teach Vipassana or insight meditation, stressing the Nirvana as a state of mind, as heaven here and now, which one can reach when one is free of worldly desires and attachment to the self. And this goal is determined by one's perseverance now instead of merits in the past lives. The two reformist groups differ in terms of level. While Suan Mokh stresses wisdom of the understanding of the nature of existence impermanence, states of conflict, and not self as crucial to one's spiritual liberation, Santi Asoke stresses strict moral conduct. Followers of Suan Mokh tend to be the middle class intellectuals who are frustrated by nepotism, corruption and social injustice in the system. Sharing the same dissents, Santi Asoke followers tend to come from the lower middle class and are more interested in practice than theory, the doers rather than the thinkers. What characterized this group is their strictly anti-materialistic practices.
24 Cf S. KOMIN, Social Dimensions of Industrialization in Thailand, p 74.
25 Cf Matichon, November 10, 1989.
26 Cf S. KOMIN, Social Dimensions of Industrialization in Thailand, p 75.