Preamble

The topic

It is common knowledge that Thailand is developing at a fast rate, GDP has been growing since the 1960s at an average of some eight per cent. In 1962, some 85 per cent of the workforce derived its income from agriculture and fishing. While the total of that workforce has been rapidly increasing, the percentage of people in the rural sector dwindled to about 50 per cent, and many of those who remained in agriculture have been woven into a complex economic network of irrigation, mechanisation and diversification.

World-wide trends, like secularisation on the one hand and at the same time new forms of religious engagement are signs of Thailand's taking part in the complexities of a rapidly modernizating state. Lay activism in Thailand has grown quite dramatically. There are many causes for this, an important one being that education is reaching a larger share of the populace and consequently the number of informed men and women who partake in abstract debate has increased. A second reason also has close parallels in the Western World, and this is the trend to move away from the lithurgical language and retransmit prayers and philosophical texts in the local vernacular. This trend to vernacular prayers, which are available in print has made access to Buddhist thought much more easy.[1] Other causes for an increased lay activism in Thailand is a reaction on the negative, dirty aspects of accelerated development, notably the rapidly growing awareness of environmental damage and rampant corruption.[2]

World-wide trends are thus playing an steadily increasing role, but in order to analyse what is going on in Thailand it is necessary to take account of factors that are peculiar to the country and its culture itself.

This introduction to modern Thai Buddhism is divided in five parts. First I describe the distance between most laymen and members of the Buddhist order of monks. Then some thought is given to the state and religion. Thirdly the Sangha's dependence upon lay approval. In the fourth part I introduce a series of charismatic leaders, both monks and lay persons and finally there are some analytical remarks.

The distance between laity and Sangha

This first factor differs markedly from modern Christian countries where many lay leaders are in direct competition with or have opposed themselves to the clergy. In modern Thailand there are also lay spokesmen who freely criticise particular monks or openly discuss interpretations of the ways monks should behave, but in contrast to the West they usually do not challenge the sanctity and pre-eminent role of the institution of the Sangha itself.

This is in the first place related to a quite different interpretation of the role of monk, compared to religious specialists in Christian countries. The Sangha or Buddhist Order of monks and nuns has played a pivotal role in the history of Buddhism. A large part of the sacred writings deal directly with the rules of behaviour of monks and nuns. When during the Muslim invasion of the Indian subcontinent the major Buddhist monasteries were destroyed, Buddhism almost wholly disappeared in its country of origin, Hinduism, not so dependent upon a religious order, survived.

The Buddhist monk, or bhikkhu, is more separate from laity from a ritual point of view than in Christian traditions.

The greater separation between bhikkhu and layman is often measured on a ceremonial scale: by virtue of his 227 rules of behaviour which cause him to adopt a different life-style a Buddhist monk belongs to a class of his own. Thailand has a complex hierarchical tradition which demonstrates itself, for example, in a prostrating order. A child learns to bow his body for elder relatives, teachers, monks and the Buddha image, but soon learns that of all human beings, the Buddhist monk occupies the top position in the human hierarchy. The most formal prostration before the Buddha image is identical with that before a revered monk.

From the moment that a young man has been transformed into a bhikkhu, he must get used to the fact that his parents and grandparents will prostrate before him and address him with honorific titles. Even when a layman of the highest rank, such as the Thai king politely raises his hands in greeting in front of the lowliest youngest full member of the Buddhist order, that monk is instructed not to return the polite gesture, but to accept the homage as an honour due to all those who practise the holy discipline.

In many Christian countries some sort of ritual distance could traditionally also be observed between priest and layman. A good Catholic mother was expected to venerate her priest-son and in a village setting, everyone doffed his cap to the local priest. This seperation in Europe, however, was based not primarily on respect for the observance of a difficult discipline as it is in Thailand but in the first place upon the idea that the class of the ordained were the ordained mediators between God and the world. In addition the Christian clergy had institutionalised a monopoly on this mediating role between the deity and the lay world. This monopoly was strengthened by a strong degree of exclusiveness and professionalisation. Anybody who occupied the role of priest could be expected to be a person who had undergone many years of training, who had been thoroughly tested as to his skills before being admitted to his profession.

Such professionalisation of the whole group of bhikkhus has not taken place in Thailand: while there are many bhikkhus who develop spectacular professional skills over the course of the years, others, while full members of the Sangha, remain quite obviously with little skills.

The ease with which entry into and exit from the Buddhist order can be achieved is in direct contrast with the Christian world.

To exemplify this difference in orientation: an ordination in Christian countries takes place after years of preparation and is widely regarded as a commitment for life. Among the Buddhists in Thailand in contrast, almost all who become bhikkhus have reached their elevated status without undergoing more than a token training in a series of formalities: traditionally a man can become a monk after a few days of instruction. Bhikkhus do not promise to commit themselves for life to their religious discipline. While until recently a Christian religious specialist leaving his order had to pay a considerable social price, no stigma attaches to the ex-bhikkhu in Thailand, on the contrary: it is considered to be a distinct advantage to have spent some time in the order of Buddhist monks.

The difference in role pattern has some important consequences: while it is relatively easy for any adult man to become a Buddhist monk, there has not developed in Thailand the exclusivity and concomitent tension that can be noted between clergy and laity in many Christian countries. The Thai laity does not feel the challenge to take away the bhikkhus' privileges or to forcefully take control of knowledge that it feels the religious specialists have monopolised. Many modern Thais criticise openly what they perceive to be false developments in the Buddhist order. For example, there has been a vigorous criticism of the luxurious life-style that many members of the order have adopted, but such criticism has been a feature of the history of Buddhism from its early days till the present and is primarily intended to combat unseemly behaviour and cleanse the order. Such criticism is intended to strengthen the Sangha, rather than take away some of its power or attempt to replace it.

Thai religion and the state

Apart from a limited number of specially convened councils, there does not exist in Buddhism a supra-national central authoritative body that supervises the purity of the religion and which may guide the adherents on a global scale. In countries where Buddhism became the dominant religion, there developed in each country a different hierarchical constellation to foster and guide the Buddhist church.

Often, as is the case in Thailand, the central state has taken a prominent and active role in supervising the purity of the tradition. Pious kings spent large sums to edit critical editions of the Tipitaka (for example, the one edited in Northern Thailand during the15th century). In the middle of the 17th century King Narai instigated a massive examination of all monks, expelling all monks who failed to read a particular Pali text. Taksin, 18th century cleansed a section of the order through a massive trial by ordeal. King Rama I in the late 18th century took an active role in restoring the Buddhist order and the mid-nineteenth century King Mongkut had a major influence in purifying the Sangha. Much of the daily routine of the supervision of the Sangha was delegated to committees and subcommittees, the top levels of which were all appointed by the State.

The important aspect, one in which again Thai Buddhism differs quite fundamentally from Christian countries, is therefore that state intervention in Sangha affairs has been traditionally accepted, stronger: it is seen as a meritorious and necessary royal activity to cleanse the Sangha from impure activities. The discipline is difficult to follow, some monks are prone to slide and the king and those appointed by the king have a duty to point the order in the right direction thereby improving the general standing of the order.

At times when the central government assumed virtual dictatorial control, such as those of Prime Minister Sarit Thanarat (1957-1963) direct and open intervention in Sangha affairs occurred. Thus Sarit inspired a new law regulating the Sangha that has been the cause of considerable friction among the more democratically-minded members of the Sangha.

The situation of quite large-scale state intervention in matters concerning the Sangha is often deplored by those monks and laymen who prefer grass-roots democracy, but nevertheless in a country such as Thailand where there are many precedents, there is a widespread acceptance of this phenomenon: it is seen as part of the role of a good government to ensure that the Sangha remains pure.

The Sangha's dependence upon lay approval

Most Buddhist monks in Thailand are regularly made aware of the fact that they depend upon their being accepted by lay people for their very survival. The rules of the order prescribe that every day at sunrise they go collecting food. In rural monasteries the monks' food supply is secure, a rural monastery never runs out of victuals. In cities this direct link is not present, many monks must walk long distances and compete with dozens of other groups from various monasteries at the places where lay persons often have set up a table and donate small portions of food to a regular stream of yellow-clad bhikkhus until their supplies run out. While in the village, the one group of monks that comes along can be timed almost to the minute and always contains the same set of familiar faces, in the city, it is often an irregular and anonymous procedure. In the village, it is the housewife who cooks at half past five in the morning so as to be ready with her donation when the monks pass by her house. In the modern parts of Thailand many commuters, factory and office workers cannot fit in a food-donation in their early-morning routine.

In the anonymous cities some of the recent well-publicised scandals in the Sangha have made the laity sceptical as to the disciplinary purity of many members of the Sangha and for them it is relatively easy to demonstrate their protest by dropping out of the morning donation. In the village, the families that have a relative in the monastery remain bound to not forego the food donation.

There are many paths open to the ambitious monks who decide to make a career in the Sangha, but all of these involve fostering good relations with a lay clientele.

If a monk wishes to rise in the administration of the Thai Buddhist order, it is helpful that he passes at least some of the state-supervised annual nak-tham religious examinations. But at least as important is, however, that he gets along with a large variety of lay people, particularly the group of devout ones that assemble at regular intervals to take part in regular meditation sessions and who usually form the core of the Monastery Committee.

A successful abbot has regular contact with a all kinds of lay people, he should possess good skills in receiving visitors, particulary potential donors and sponsors of large-scale ceremonies. He must possess skills negotiating the expensive cremations. He should be a fund-raiser and supervise the steady renovation and maintenance of the valuable communal property in his care.

There are monks who use traditional magical skills to bind themselves to their clients. Some build up a practice by offering therapy through magical spells, through self-made or mail-order herbal pills, through massage-cum-prayer sessions, medical bathing, through distributing amulets, or through predicting lottery numbers or through tilting the luck of politicians during election campaigns.

While most Buddhist monks remain relatively unnoticed outside their direct surroundings, there are lucky communities that boast in their Buddhist monastery a winner, for example an abbot who energetically fosters relations with rich businessmen, who stimulates and supervises the building of cult objects, who protects old sites and makes them into tourist attractions, whose success may lead them from one project into the other. There are monks who operate a useful general library, others supervise a school that attracts monks from other provinces, others again engage themselves in social and development work in their region.

There are also monks who gain a name for themselves through a stricter than average interpretation of the rules. They may for example eat their daily food at a single session only and insist on having various types of food all thrown together. Some of these make a virtue of abandoning the active role of most religious leaders and make a demonstration of almost complete withdrawal from the world by specialising on individual meditation practices and spending more and more of their days in isolation. Duthanga, thudong is a time-honoured discipline which includes, amongt others the practice of wandering with an umbrella-tent, and this thudong has acquired a new aura of respect, even though the central Thai Sangha organisation remains uneasy with monks whose movements are largely beyond their control. An almost paradoxical situation may develop: the more a monk withdraws from the world, the more fame may accrue to him: great magical powers may be ascribed to him, which cause the secular world to seek him out. Many modern monks have found a way to combine withdrawal and this-worldly activity by leading group meditation sessions.

Some charismatic religious leaders, both monks and laymen

Among the hundreds of thousands of Thai Buddhist monks there are quite a few who reach national fame. Among the legendary already deceased ones I single out two:

a) Acaan Man, who died in 1949, led a revival of the thudong, back-to nature and meditating in the forest tradition, often in conflict with the state-controlled higher echelons of the Thai Sangha.[3]

b) Phra Phutthathaat, who died two years ago is probably best known in international circles. His fame rests upon a mixture of strict intellectual discipline, unorthodox interpretation of Buddhist thought and practice (including ideas from Zen Buddhism and Taoism as well as secular, modern reformist ideas about the practice of Thai Buddhism), withdrawal and meditation, together with a very effective use of the printed medium.

c) Among those still living a monk who reached national coverage, especially in the late 1960s and 1970s, is Phra Kittivuttho who became widely known through some of his more outrageous right-wing comments, such as: to kill a Communists is not murder. He is the founder of Jittaphawan College in Chonburi Province, (the first stone of which was laid in 1967 by the Thai queen and opened by the royal couple two years later. Kittivuttho found other mighty sponsors from Prime Minister Thanom and Defence Minister Phraphat downwards through a section of the military establishment. He is a skilful speaker, and one of the pioneers in using the media in an effective manner.

While Kittiwuttho is connected with right-wing politics he is dealth wiht rather scathingly in western writing. It is generally overlooked that among his ideas can also be discerned a trend towards a more modern engaged Buddhism, that he preaches against corruption, and that he may be regarded as an economic innovator: in 1987 he launched the idea that monasteries should operate their own rice-mills and he regularly discusses modern social problems in an effective and persuasive manner.

d) One of the giants among the popular monks, one who has been largely overlooked in western accounts of Thai religion is Phra Phayom Kanlayaano. This monk who resides near the northern edge of Bangkok is probably Thailand's best-known living monk. Phra Phayom is relatively young, born 1949, lived six years in Wat Suan Mok in Suratchathani with Phutthathaat. Set up a training programme at an abandoned temple complex in Nonthaburi on the outskirts of Bangkok, where three years later in 1979 (aged only thirty) he refounded and became abbot of a monastery. Inspired by the Suan Mok concept, Suan Kaew Monastery, has a roofless assembly hall. Also a Rong Mahassapha Thaang Viññaan, like Suan Mok). Regular preaching with slides became popular, his audience sits in chairs, rather than on the floor, laymen do not raise their hands during the preaching. He became a famous orator, witty and clever, members of his audience are kept alert because they have to react on direct questions, his presentations concern modern situations. In 1986 he started a television Programme Phra Thamma kap Phra Phayom. In the same year a Suan Kaew Munlanithi for social work was begun. Phra Phayom is involved in 4 radio programmes one in FM, and many ordinary taxi drivers and housewives would not want to miss the regular talks, for he has a caustic, but witty tongue and is in an almost unassailable position to comment on all social and political issues. He is outspoken particularly on social problems.

He has a real knack for publicity and used the modern media very effectively, for example through issuing cassette tapes, and later video tapes, it has been estimated that well over a million copies of some of his sermons have been sold. Phra Phayom is also widely known through his popular books such as: Yaa kat Kuu, dont bite me!

He issues modern stickers, and here we see the influence of Phra Phuttathaat: they are anti cabbalistic, straightforward moralistic, directly useful messages such as: "drive in a responsible manner".

Donated goods shop for poor people. He instigated social development programs such as the occupational labour centre (RomphoKaew) troubled people asylum (salopmafuenpai) and the thamma training centre (khrongkaan khawkhaai obrom cariyatham).

While Phra Phayo'm is exceptionally well-known in Thailand, he is not without his critics, for many he is too much of a moderniser, some deplore his use of shock-effects through startling book-titles.

Phra Phayom was one of the few members of the Sangha who openly dared criticize Phra Yantra during the days that that renegade monk still had a huge following.

e) Phra Pañanantha and Phra Thepwethi (Wat Mahathat) are among the favourites of foreign-language writing about Thai Buddhism, probably because their writings are accessible outside the Thai medium, and because they are representatives of the left reform movement. Phra Pañanantha, once lived in Penang, for ten years was abbot of Wat Umong, Chiangmai and from 1962 abbot of Wat Chonprathan (Nonthaburi). Intellectual, anti-authoritarian, has a following in the Thai educated middle-class, is one of the pioneers in the 1980s of linking politics and religion. Fearlessly spoke about the life of the controversial Pridi Phanomyong who died in exile in Paris. Like Phra Phayo'm he criticises the waste of money involved in lavish cremations.

f) Phothirak

1934 (Rak Rakphong) November 1970 Monk, forest monk practices interest him, he wore ascetic robes, practised vegetarianism and in the early 1970s gathered a large following through his stinging critique of the lax ways of the majority of the Sangha. Monks should not smoke, not chew betelnut, not eat meat, and not practice magical rites. He is an admiror of Phra Phutthathaat.

In 1973 he acquired a plot of land and founded Phutthasathan Daen Asok, other centres also called Phutthasathaan. Host of Photirak's followers were small traders, petit bourgeoisie, but, until 1988 also some influential politicians. In June 1989 Phothirak was arrested and his monks' robes were taken away, he emerged dressed in white. outside the Sangha, with a separate title of address Pho Than.

Santi Asok Movement did not wholly disappear, but has lost much of its force as a result of its leader's defrocking.

g) Chamlong Srimueang

Chamlong Srimueang is a phenomenon in modern Thai politics who at first was described in the foreigh language press as a sort of maverick, somebody who defied all poll predictions by winning during two subsequent municipal elections in the 1980s the majority of Bangkok votes and thereby becoming Bangkok's Governor. Chamlong gained favour with the Bangkok people in an unusual fashion that was intimately connected with Buddhist ethics. His platform was that of a man who, though a politician, advertised that he practised a series of virtues which were more in tune with that of a holy man than the average politician. He often dons a collarless blue farmers' shirt, wears his hair closely-cropped and practises a life-style that is reminiscent of that of a monk. In January1992 he was elected in the national parliament and during the political crisis that erupted against General Suchinda four months later, he came to assume the role of the leader of the widespread protests that led to a change of government.

In his formal presentation of himself he likes to show a person who is vigorous, clean, an early riser, a person who acts immediately when he has recognised a situation that needs to be remedied. He refrains from greed, refuses to live in ostentatious wealth, proclaimes to live the life of a brahmacarya, notably by abstenance from sex with his wife and by refraining from eating meat.

At the same time he very skilfully uses the media, very effectively showing himself to be willing to intervene on behalf of the common person.

h) Luang Pho Khun

Up in the Northeast at Wat Ban Rai, (Nakhon Ratchasima), there is Phra Yan Wittayakhom (Luang Pho Khun) when on 4 Okt 1994 he reached the auspicious age of 72 (6 times 12) hundreds of thousands of devout Thais came to his monastery. This monk hardly features in Western accounts, notwirthstanding the fact that his magical cloths, his sacred metal scrolls, and particularly his small amulets which can be carried around the neck are famed throughout the nation. After the major accident of the collapse of a hotel in 1993 in Nakhon Ratchasima many of the survivors wore such a neck-amulet which had been blessed by Luang Pho Khun. In the year 1993 Luang Pho Khun was interviewed and revealed that that year he had distributed more than 300 Million Baht to the poor. The former PM Chartchai Choonhavan and General Chavalit Yongchaiyudh (Aspiration Party) regularly visit Luang Pho Khun.

i) Anan Senakhan an independent religious leader, in western accounts he is often classified among the conservatives because he is a critic of Phutthathaat, however, he is a fearless critic also of those who are classified as right-wing. Anan Senakhan (Phra Chayanantho) goes his own way, is leader of the Totaan Cho Raat Bang Luang powerful between 1973 and 1976, a fearless anti-corruption Movement. In late 1976 Anan became monk for some time, founding the Protecting the Buddhist Teaching Movement (Ongkan Phithak Phutthasaat) against Santi Asok, for moral rearmament. Anan is against magical interpretation of Buddhism.

In his fearless criticism he committed lèse majesté and spent 4 1/2 years in jail.

j) Luang Pho Wat Paknam Phasi Charoen (Thammakay Movement)

Named after Wat Phra Thammakay, Phathumthani Province, famous for a type of meditation, devised by Meditationssystem von Phra Mongkhonthepmuni (Luang Pho Wat Paknam Phasi Charoen). Centre of the body just under the navel, visualising a duang kaew (jewel), meditating on spheres within spheres.[4]

Royal patronage, 1977 by Princess Siridhorn laid stone for ordination hall, who also presided over a robe-giving ceremony there in 1981. Important political sponsors of this movement in Arthit Kamlangaek, Chaovalit Yongyaiyugh and many leading monks. Particularly in the 1980s this movement saw a spectacular blossoming:

Phra Thammachayyo and Phra Thattachiwo, active in this reform movement, also using modern media and marketing methods.

2000 Rai, in 1987 Phra Thattachiwo had plans for a private Buddhist university, lay people wear white, don't smoke, no alcohol, no flirting. Thammathaayaat Program: intensive courses in Phetchaburi, one month's ordination, 1979 60 students, 24 ordained, In 1982 373/193, 1986 1056. Recruits mainly in Bangkok universities (Chomrom Phutthasaat). At present no further spectacular growth.

k) Yantra, represented a form of charismatic Buddhism that had a very wide following, but he was accused of immoral behaviour. When he failed effectively to bring proof of his innocence and incriminating evidence accumulated, he was recently defrocked and his movement rapidly dwindled.

l) there are others who are particularly connected with environmental protection such as Acaan Pongsak Thetchathammo Bah Laad Temple Chiangmai. They draw on features of textual Buddhism that quite obviously represents a mild and general loving attitude to all living forms of nature.

Analysis

In the limited time available I have presented some features of modern Thai Buddhism. I could have selected many other aspects. The movements dealt with in this short overview reflect some of the social problems, critical attitudes and ideological aspirations of the present.

The lively forms of debate that the variety of movements has ghhenerated do not lend themselves to be fruitfully analysed with the help of Western ideological rubrics.

Similarly, Thai political life is dominated by typical Thai values, and is best analysed in factors which do give weight to local loyalty networks, how else could one explain why some former communist rebels can now be found among the executive civil servants, or how a failed coup leader can return from exile and be reentered in the military system. In the same way I would like to plead for an analysis of Thai Buddhism that is based upon local observations and that fits in with the Thai experience and their own perception of the role of their religion.

Notably, the strength and complexity of the magico-animistic interpretation of Thai Buddhism is unterestimated in Western studies of the religious phenomena.

A standard Western way of approaching the reform movements in Thai Buddhism is to divide them on a sliding scale, notably Peter Jackson (1989): with on one end of the scale the traditionalists and the radical reformists on the other. Hereby the traditionalists are taken to be those to support the government institutions, central power, and authoritarian structures. They are disparaged as conservative, anti-intellectual. The reformists on the other hand are portrayed as democratic, rational, modern, progressive and demythologising.

Applying such a scale along terms of this simplistic model, which is inspired from the left-right debates that were mainly generated outside Thailand is putting an ill-fitting straight-jacket upon the Thai data. Such a model does not work in the analysis of modern Thai political movements, it does also not elucidate the Thai religious scene.

Where would Anan Senakhan fit: he is traditionalist in that he wishes to return to old values, save Buddhism from radical reinterpretations such as that from Phutthathaat. At the same time he criticises hallowed institutions, does not accept the blessing of amulets by Buddhist monks.

Anan is critical against all evil practices, but by overextending his critique, placed himself outside the mainstream reformers.

Phutthathaat himself is usually placed by Western analysis among the intellectual radical reformers, yet he has been absorbed in mainstream Buddhism for the very reasons against which he wrote and preached.

Phutthathaat has been hailed outside Thailand as a progressive reformer, and a careful reading of his many publications underlines this appraisal. Yet, his general acceptance in Thailand is only among some intellectual circles based on his reformist ideas, the overwhelming reason why he is generally admired and worshipped in Thailand is precisely for reasons he has all his life opposed: he is seen as a living saint, a magical powerful figure bestowing bun.

While Phutthathaat has been universally celebrated by Western observers, he had a much more ambiguous career in the Thai Sangha. His interpretations were considered by many to be questionable.

Phutthathaat defies classification: while he demythologises in a big way, a myth of sanctity sprang up around him. He wanted the simplest of funerals: yet his death became a nationally reported and monitored event. Before long I expect that his image will feature in amulets.[5]

Just like Thai politics does not let itself be described in terms of left-right ideologies, thus the role of religious leaders cannot fruitfully be ordered along those who are intellectuals and those that are reactionaries.

Magical Buddhism is alive and well, not a shameful burden of the past, but an ideological complex that needs to be studied with an open mind. There is no time to give more than a hint: the manipulative amulet cult is for many Thais an important means of attuning themselves to principles that bring some order in a chaotic world. The very idea of charisma and the concomitant public success is perceived to be a demonstration of successfully having become a vehicle of this order. The extraordinary political success of Chamlong Srimueang may well be linked up with this ideology of magical Buddhism in which the frugal life-style he adopted was perceived to provide him with power and success over his less-than-clean opponents.

Just as personalities play a key role in Thai politics, so they do in Thai Buddhism. The role of the monk is easily donned, the public at large applauds a great preacher, encourages the almost superhuman rules, lionises those who make a career as monks, shower with boons all those who cater for their clientele. The short catalogue of religious personalities mentioned in Part 4 is indicative of the caleidoscopic complexity of modern Thailand. In Bangkok there are hundreds of thousands that applaude the practical engaged Buddhism of Phra Phayom Kanlayaano, in the countryside there are hundreds of thousands who practise magical skills.

I believe that the Faculty of Asian Studies at this University, with its insistence on the acquisition of an indigenous language, combined with culture-deepening courses was intended from the first to provide the skills to enter, the best students to immerse in one or more of the Asian neighbouring cultures, gaining immensely through this horizon-widening experience.

Conclusions

I have skimmed through a vast topic and am aware of having left out many interesting trends, some major personalities. In the limited time available it has been shown that the Thai Sangha is relatively accessible and that there has not developed a widespread anti-clericalism, no diametrical opposition. Reform of Thai Buddhism remains firmly linked with a number of leading Buddhist monks. The many different streams of thought are a reflection of the diversity of modern Thailand and the many types of debates may be interporeted in the final instance as a sign of hope that the Thais are attempting to grapple with the bewildering modern world.

Literature

Ahjan Bua

1976 The Biography of Ahjan Man (1871-1949), compiled by Ahjan Bua, translated by Ruth-Inge Heinze (from Thai into English), Asian Folklore and Social Life Monographs, Vol 89, Taipei: The Orient Cultural Service.

Peter A. Jackson

1989, Buddhism, Legitimation, and Conflict: The Political Functions of Urban Thai Buddhism. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.

Mahamakut Rajavidyalaya

1974, Pali Chanting with Translations, Bangkok: Mahamakut Rajavidyalaya Press.

Grant A. Olson

1989, "A Person-centrered Ethnography of Thai Buddhism: The Life of Phra Rajavaramuni (Prayudh Payutto)", Ph.D. Dissertation, Cornell University.

J.L. Van Esterik

1977, Cultural Interpretation of Canonical Paradox: Lay Meditation in a Central Thai Village, Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Glossary

1. Terms:

Sangha (community of those who are ordained followers of the monks' discipline)

Bhikkhu (Pali word for a Buddhist monk, one who observes the 227 rules of the Patimokkha)

Nak-tham (Thai: the first and easier series of religious state-supervised exams)

Thudong (Thai, from Pali: Dhutanga, a series of extra rules for the Buddhist monk, including living and meditating in wild nature)

2. Names, [alternative names] and (key words):

Acaan Man ("back to nature" movement)
Phra Phutthathaat [often spelt Buddhadasa] (anti-magical practices)
Phra Kittivuttho (anti-communist reformer)
Phra Phayom Kanlayaano (the outspoken modern "media monk")
Phra Thepwethi and Phra Pañanantha (the "left" faction)
Pho than Phothirak [Rak Rakphong] (founder of the Santi Asok movement, at present defrocked and discredited)
Chamlong Srimueang (the "clean" politician)
Phra Yan Wittayakhom [usually called Luang Pho Khun] (magic and amulets)
Phra Chayanantho [Anan Senakhan], (independent intellectual, served jail sentence for lèse-majesté)
Phra Mongkhonthepmuni [Luang Pho Wat Paknam Phasi Charoen] (new meditation practice)
Phra Thammachayyo and Phra Thattachiwo (reformers of the Thammakaai movement)
Yantra (once a charismatic Buddhist monk, at present defrocked and in disgrace)
Acaan Pongsak Thetchathammo (environmentalist)

© 1995, Faculty of Asian Studies