Thai Monks Research Articles

The Thudong Bhikkhu Pilgrimage

Thousands of kilometres travelled by 32 thudong monks from Thailand to Indonesia was not only a spiritual moment for the participants but also a historical event in Indonesian interfaith relations. Given the abundance of enthusiasm, this article aims to explain the purity of interfaith harmony created by local communities and Thai monks, who also contributed to promoting interfaith dialogue discourse among grassroots communities. By delving into the internet, a netnography approach is used to get a deeper and broader understanding of the events by comparing one digital document with another. In the interfaith encounters along the pilgrimage highway, both parties exhibited reciprocal behaviours of shared feelings and kindness that encouraged them to complete the ritual mission together. They were able to dismantle the religious barriers that frequently impede harmonious interfaith relations as a result of warm acceptance, hospitable interactions, and engaging dialogue onsite and via social media.

Online Task-Based Language Learning to Enhance Thai Monks’ Speaking Performance

This research aimed to achieve two main objectives: (1) to assess the learning achievements in online task-based language learning, and (2) to evaluate satisfaction with the utilization of the online task-based language learning model. The study’s population comprised Buddhist monk students from four provinces in Thailand: Chiang Rai, Phrae, Phayao, and Nan. A total of 80 participants took part in a 30-hour English language training program that focused on task-based language teaching (TBLT) implemented through online technology to enhance Thai monks’ speaking performance. Zoom and free online tools such as Pronunciation Checker App were integrated into the TBL learning cycle to deliver this online training. The research process can be summarized four stages consisting of orientation stage, pre-practicing stage, practicing stage, and post-practicing stage. The comparison of learning outcomes before and after the implementation of the instructional model for monks revealed a significant difference in the average scores. The overall score before training was 38.78 (S.D. = 5.85), while the post-training learning outcomes had a higher average score of 47.34 (S.D. = 4.99). The assessment of satisfaction was divided into four dimensions: (1) content and language usage; (2) English instructional activities for monks; (3) teaching and learning process; and (4) development of English-speaking skills. Overall, participants expressed high levels of satisfaction across all four dimensions of the instructional design approach, with a mean rating of 4.49 and a standard deviation of 0.56.

Innovation, adaptation, and maintaining the balance

The environmental crisis has challenged faith traditions to take a stand and act both globally and locally. Statements and action build on reinterpretations of tradition, which also produce a variety of ritual applications. Environmental rituals, for example, deal with the grief and anxiety caused by environmental crisis or seek to have a concrete impact on local environmental problems. The anthropologist Roy Rappaport (1926–97) examined religious environmental rituals, firstly as a way of regulating ecological balance. Secondly, he saw religiously motivated environmental rituals as a way of changing human thinking and behaviour in an era of environmental crisis. These perspectives can be applied in at least three ways: firstly, by looking at how rituals are used in religious communities that are directly dependent on the natural environment; secondly, by examining how religious communities use rituals in various situations related to environmental issues; and thirdly, by focusing on how Rappaport’s ideas could be used to engage in environmental action. In this article, I focus on religiously motivated environmental rituals and the perspectives that Rappaportian ritual approach provides for examining them. As examples, I use the struggle of the Canadian Mi’kmaq indigenous community over the fate of their sacred mountain and the ordination ritual of Thai monks, who ordain trees under threat of felling in a Buddhist monastic community.

The Effects of Health Behavior Changing Program for Systolic Blood Pressure Reduction Among Thai Buddhist Monks, Thailand.

Thai Buddhist monks' lifestyle has made them likely to get non-communicable diseases. Therefore, the Ministry of Public Health of Thailand has conducted a health behavior-changing program for non-communicable diseases prevention among Thai Buddhist monks. This study aims to examine the effectiveness of the health behavior-changing Program for Non- communicable diseases prevention among 4,786 Thai Buddhist monks who were risk group. They were on the program for 6 months. from January 1st, 2021 to June 30th, 2021. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the characteristics of the subjects and Paired t-test was used to compare the mean difference. The results showed that the health behavior-changing program can reduce Fasting Blood Sugar, Body Mass Index, Risk score, Hypertension, and Smoking scores. Therefore, this program should be used for reducing risk factors of non-communicable diseases among Thai monks in the Upper Northeast region of Thailand.

Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar’s Image and Thought as Perceived in Thailand From 1975 to 2017

Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (1891–1956), popularly known as Babasaheb Ambedkar, was an Indian jurist, economist, politician and social reformer who inspired the Dalit Buddhist movement and campaigned against social discrimination against untouchables (Dalits) while supporting the rights of women and labourers. This article examines how Ambedkar is characterized in Thai language academic and general writings published between 1975 and 2017. The paper is based on textual analysis that interprets the books and articles on Ambedkar in Thai language as primary sources for understanding his image and thought as portrayed in Thailand. Ambedkar’s forward-thinking ideas on democracy impressed Thai writers because Ambedkar attempted to dispense with the caste system and promote liberty, equality and fraternity among underprivileged communities in India. Ambedkar also served as chairman of drafting committee of Constitution and leader of the Dalit movement and community. Furthermore, Thai writers see Ambedkar’s ideas about Buddhism as qualifying him as a messiah or bodhisattva who revived a neo-Buddhist movement in India. Thai monks have served as significant intermediaries in narrating Ambedkar’s interpretation of Buddhism to the Thai Buddhist community because they have direct experience such as studying and staying in India. Academics and famous writers have also conveyed Ambedkar’s ideas about Buddhism and democracy, which qualify him as a modernist and maha manav [great man].

From Medicalizing State to Sacralizing Status of Thai Buddhist Monks in Secular Space: A Case Study of the Priest Hospital

This paper examines the sacred status of Thai Buddhist monks who have been engaging with the modern secular healthcare system, which also contrasts with their monastic traditions. It questions how modern medication has affected the sacred figure of Thai monks and what is their reaction to maintain their sacred status in such a secular space? Participant observations and informal interviews have been conducted, and data are conceptualized through the ideas of the birth of the clinic and biopower proposed by Michel Foucault. It finds that the traditional healing previously played by Thai monks has been challenged by modern medication eventually the monks also access the modern hospital. This phenomenon helps to change the idea of the cause of sickness, from demons to germs. This is interesting when some Buddhists request the monastic code-based healthcare system and monk patients’ zone. This paper argues that such an effort aims to maintain the sacred status of monks, who are perceived as holy persons and should not be seen by laypeople especially when they are in sickness, pain, and sorrow, which portray their ordinary human natures. Therefore, zoning management in the government hospital is needed to sacralize the monks’ status.

Invented Identity of Thai Monks in Indonesia

Thai missionary monks are viewed as passive in the new land on the grounds that though they work abroad, they still serve Thai communities rather than adapt Buddhism to attract the locals. Missionary work in Indonesia is, however, exceptional. This article questions how Thai monks attracted Chinese followers, who have a different background of beliefs. Ethnographic methodology was conducted in Central Java and Sumatra for three months. It found that in order to negotiate with educated lay religious leaders, Thai monks choose to invent an identity of traditional forest monks who are experts in meditation as found in Northeast Thailand. This special figure cannot be found among the laypeople who are immersed in worldly matters like the family and business. Thus, meditation masters from Thailand are often invited to Indonesia not only to provide meditation guidance but also to invent a new identity of Thai Buddhism in Indonesia.

Буддийские ценности как возможная экономическая детерминанта развития тувинского общества

В статье актуализируется изучение буддийских ценностей в свете их благотворного влияния на социально-экономическое развитие общества Тувы. Этому способствуют имеющиеся научные исследования успешных экономик мира, обзор которых приводится в работе.После распространения буддизма на Западе в середине XX века древние знания и практики стали доступны для урбанизированного населения развитых стран. Зарубежные исследователи обратили внимание на актуальный их потенциал при ведение финансовой, производственной деятельности. Среди западных экономистов начало разработки этой тематики положил Э. Шумахер (1973). Среди азиатских исследователей важный вклад сделал тайский монах и философ П. Пайотто.В имеющихся исследованиях, связывающих религию и экономическую культуру, буддизм как не поощряет к бедности, и не призывает отказу от материальных благ. Его неверно интерпретировать как аскетичную религию. В буддийских текстах существуют прямые указания, касающиеся способа зарабатывания денег, смысла благосостояния. Современные учителя также дают советы мирянам относительно экономической активности. Хотя в буддизме практикующие стремятся, прежде всего, к духовным целям — освобождению от страданий, достижению состояния Будды, миряне включены в социальную жизнь и Учение учитывает это. В буддизме считается, что богатство не способно принести подлинное счастье. Поэтому для практикующего мирянина достижение высокого материального благосостояния не является жизненной целью.В статье приводятся результаты современных исследований экономистов, психологов нейробиологов, подтверждающих, что эмпирическая корреляция между увеличением доходов и счастьем является незначительно. Приводятся примеры того, как буддийские ценности помогают предпринимателям. Так, в результате веры в закон кармы проявляется большая степень честности при деловом взаимодействии, появляется долгосрочная ориентация на бизнес. Убежденность в непостоянстве помогает принимать рискованные решения, необходимые в предпринимательской деятельности. Актуальность показывают и буддийские практики управления эмоциональными состояниями. Во многих мировых корпорациях (Google, Twitter, Ebay) внедряют программы по практикам осознанности. Это помогает сотрудникам справляться с ежедневным стрессом, усталостью.Все это побуждает обратиться к обществу тувинцев, для которых буддизм является традиционной религией. Сегодня в Туве повышается престиж буддизма, наблюдается живой интерес со стороны молодежи. Формируется сообщество мирян, получивших современное образование и компетентных в области буддизма. Автор делает вывод, что молодое поколение тувинцев в перспективе сможет применить духовные ценности в практической экономической деятельности.

The Apology Speech Acts of Thai Monks

The Apology Speech Acts of Thai Monks

The God of the Christians in the Eyes of Buddhists

불자와 그리스도인들의 대화에서는 오해가 생기기 쉽다. ‘신’의 개념이 그중 하나다. 불교는 무신론의 한 형태로 보아야 하는가? 경전의 많은 구절들은 부처를 마치 바라문교 신자들과 비판적이며 때로는 긴장된 관계에 있는 것처럼 묘사한다. 바라문교 신자들에게는 ‘데바’(deva, 범천: 梵天)가 초인간적인 천상의 세력들을 의미한다. 이들 남성 또는 여성 ‘신들’은 우주와 인간 사회에서 각자 나름대로의 역할들이 있다. 각각의 신은 비[雨]나 건강 또는 승리를 보장해 주며, 기도와 제사를 봉헌받는다. 그러나 그들은 고통으로부터의 자유, 깨우침으로 가는 길을 제공하기에는 무력하다. 이들 신들은 그러한 것과는 관련이 없는데, 특히나 유일한 목적이 열반인 불교 승려들과는 더더욱 무관하다. 창조주이며 보호자인 더 위대한 ‘신’도 그들과는 무관하고 그들에게는 무용지물일 것이다. ‘연기설’(緣起說)은 우주 기원과 작동의 문제에 대한 답을 제시한다. 불교가 후일 아시아의 여러 지역으로 퍼졌을 때, 그들 지역의 전통적 혼령이나 신들도 같은 방식으로 취급되었다. 그리고 대부분의 불자들은 그리스도교적 신개념과 마주칠 때, 그 개념을 비슷한 선상에서 이해하는 경향이 있다. ‘인격적’ 하느님의 개념은 말할 것도 없고, 성경에 나오는 질투하는 신이나 분노하는 신의 이미지들은 그 개념을 악화시킬 뿐이다. 그러나 일부 불자들은 성경적인, 그리고 그리스도교적인 가르침의 보다 심오한 의미를 이해하려 시도한다. 예를 들면, 태국의 승려 ‘부다다사’는 이렇게 지적한다. 그리스도인들은 다소 소박하게 의인화된 언어의 포장으로 궁극적 존재에 대해 말하려 한다는 것이다. ‘신’에 대한 그리스도인들의 담화가 적절하게 순화된다면, 보다 분명하고 설득력 있는 개념 ― 예컨대, ‘다르마’(dharma, 진리)나 ‘니르바나’(nirvana, 열반) 같은 ― 에 어느 정도까지는 비교될 수 있을 것이다. 하지만 그렇다 하더라도, 삼위일체 하느님 개념에 대해서는 어떻게 할 것인가? 대승 불교의 구체적 가르침은 새로운 길을 열어 주고 […] 새로운 도전을 제시한다. ‘공’(空) 또는 ‘무’(無)에 대한 강조가 허무주의적 결론으로 연결되는 것은 아니다. 그러나 우리는 생각과 개념을 포함한 모든 물체와 현상은 비영구적인 것에 속한다는 사실을 기억하고 있다. 따라서 그러한 일시적인 존재들에 대한 집착은 적절히 피해야 한다. 신이 ‘하나의 사물이 아니’므로 신은 곧 ‘무’라고 말할 수 있을 것인가? 현대의 일부 불교 사상가들은, 특히 ‘교토학파’ 사상가들은 서양 철학과 그리스도교 신학에 대한 보다 심도 있는 연구를 해왔다. 아베 마사오 교수는 ‘공’과 ‘케노시스’의 비교를 제안했다. 신약성경의 필리피서를 인용하면서, 그는 ‘케노시스’의 개념을 그리스도로부터 아버지 하느님에까지 확장시킨다. 그러나 불자들과 그리스도인들에게, 그러한 교의적 토론은 해방에 대한 영적 추구 그리고 무상으로 주어지는 깨달음의 경험에 상응할 때에만 유의미하다.Misunderstandings do take place in the conversation between Buddhists and Christians. The conception of ‘God’ is one of them. Should Buddhism be considered as a form of atheism? Many passages in the Scriptures picture the Buddha in critical and sometimes tense relations with Brahmins. For them, ‘deva’ means a large number of supra-human, celestial powers. Each of these male or female gods has some role to play in the cosmos and human society. Each one is offered prayers and sacrifices to insure rain, health, or victory. They are, however, powerless to grant liberation from suffering, access to enlightenment. These deities are thus irrelevant, particularly for Buddhist monks, whose sole aim should be nirvâna. Even a greater ‘god’, a creator and protector, would be irrelevant and useless: the law of ‘dependent origination’ answers the question of the origin of the cosmos and the way it operates. When Buddhism later spread to many parts of Asia, their traditional spirits and deities were treated in the same way. And most Buddhists, when they come across the Christian conception of God, are likely to understand it along similar lines. The biblical images of a jealous or wrathful God make it only worse, not to mention the notion of a ‘personal’ God. Some Buddhists, however, attempt to understand the deeper meaning of the biblical and Christian teachings. The Thai monk Buddhadâsa, for instance, is ready to recognize that, under the wrapping of a rather naïve anthropomorphic language, Christians attempt to speak about the Ultimate. If duly purified, the Christian talk about ‘God’ may to some extent be compared with clearer and more rigorous notions such as dharma or nirvâna. Even then, what about the Trinitarian conception of God? The specific teachings of Mahâyâna Buddhism open new paths […] and offer new challenges. Their emphasis on ‘emptiness’ or ‘nothingness’ does not lead to nihilistic conclusions. But we are reminded that all objects and phenomena, including thoughts and conceptions, belong to impermanence: attachment to such provisional entities should be duly avoided. Could we then say that God is ‘no-thing’ in the sense that He is ‘not-athing’? A few contemporary Buddhist thinkers, particularly in the ‘Kyoto school’, have made a deeper study of Western philosophy and Christian theology. Professor Abe Masao suggested a comparison between ‘emptiness’ and ‘kenosis’: quoting Philippians, he extends the notion of kenosis from Christ to the Father, to God. To Buddhists and to Christians, however, such doctrinal debates are meaningful only to the extent that they correspond to a spiritual quest for liberation and an experience of gratuityous awakening.

Buddhist Holy Man Khruba Bunchum: The Shift in a Millenarian Movement at the Thailand–Myanmar Border

The study of holy men active in Thailand, Laos and Myanmar between the seventeenth and the twentieth centuries has associated them primarily with millenarian movements. In the twenty-first century, the Thailand–Myanmar border has seen the emergence of a holy man to whom the concept of millenarianism is, in the current changing religious environment, not applicable. Khruba Bunchum, a contemporary Thai monk with a significant ethnic minority following in Myanmar, rose to fame in Thailand after being forced to leave Myanmar and spending three years meditating in an isolated cave. He has gained followers among wealthy and middle-class Thais. His case illustrates the effect of mobile media technology in transforming the practice of venerating holy men. It suggests the need for a new approach to studying religious movements, one that draws on religious, political and media sources.

The Life and Writings of Edmond Pezet (1923–2008)

The Life and Writings of Edmond Pezet (1923–2008) Pierre Gillet and Jonathan A. Seitz In the context of Buddhist-Christian dialogue in Thailand, the life and writings of Fr. Edmond Pezet (1923–2008) are remarkable. He lived among the poor and in a Buddhist monastery, and he also experienced the eremitic life in the forest. According to the Indian Zen master Ama Samy, “Pezet gained an intimate experience and knowledge of Buddhism by living with Thai monks.” Here I introduce a recent Society of the Auxiliaries of the Mission (SAM)1 work that offers a biography and some writings of Edmond Pezet, Edmond Pezet, a Priest among Buddhist Monks in Thailand.2 This publication is a collection of various writings of Edmond Pezet: correspondence and nine articles published in various magazines in French, Thai, and English. It has been edited by Henri Huysegoms, a Zen practitioner in Japan for the last forty-five years, and Pierre Liesse, an activist who worked for a couple of years in Thailand. These authors have been impressed by two characteristics of Pezet. First, because he was born in a very poor family in rural France, Pezet identified himself with poor people working hard to earn their living. Second, he was a very committed scholar who successfully learned to speak English, Thai, Lao, Sanskrit, and Pali. Edmond Pezet did his military service in Vietnam, where he was the helpless wit was the helpless witness of torture committed by his regiment fellows on Vietminh suspects. This led him to return there in the future as a missionary, to compensate for the harm he saw caused to the Vietnamese people. Back in France, he completed his study of theology. In 1947, his father was crushed by a truck in front of his eyes. He managed to combine his study and work on the land to provide for his family’s needs. He served as a priest in the diocese of Cahors (France) for a few years. Afterwards, he joined SAM in Belgium. At the end of 1956, he was sent in the northeastern part of Thailand. Faithful to the objectives of SAM, he wanted to serve the local bishop unconditionally, but he quickly noticed a painful reality. Christians and clergy alike followed “a religion, with a dreamlike heaven, rose-water-scented, as its goal, and, in order to get there without fail, certain ‘tricks,’ recipes, ceremonies and representations accompanied by a goodly number of rags and trimmings, where one cannot very easily see the connection between the two things.”3 He wrote that he was stunned to see the way religion was taught to catechumens. They were asked to assimilate, by memorizing [End Page 195] questions and answers, dogmatic assertions expressed with words borrowed from Sanskrit that nobody understood. This inadequate education went hand in hand with a lack of knowledge of Buddhism, sometimes accompanied by scorn. “The Christians were deliberately uprooted from the spiritual richness and religious experience of their race … especially the clergy! (kept apart from their people from the age of 10 to 27). They were taught to administer on the model of the French parish priest of last century.”4 His Thai bishop, to whom he opened his heart, did not see any problem in that situation and advised him to get used to it, but for Pezet it soon became unbearable. In 1970, Pezet’s life took a decisive turn. He went to Bangkok. There, he learned Sanskrit and Buddhism at the university level, and for three years lived in the house of a Buddhist monk, helping him to write introductions to Buddhism for foreigners. It made him discover a world of spiritual wealth he had not suspected. What he learned was not a new doctrine presented as absolute truth, because Buddhism does not present its core teaching that way, but a “doctrine” that is expressed exclusively in existential values, something not to be taught, but experienced. Buddhism, he discovered, does not deal with transcendence, because it does not engage in speculative discussion. In Buddhism, this transcendence can only be perceived in the depth of immanence. In a letter of that time, he noted that his bishop had warned him not...

Theravada Buddhism: The View of the Elders by Asanga Tilakaratne (review)

Reviewed by: Theravada Buddhism: The View of the Elders by Asanga Tilakaratne Donald K. Swearer and Sid Brown THERAVADA BUDDHISM: THE VIEW OF THE ELDERS. By Asanga Tilakaratne. Honolulu. University of Hawai‘i Press, 2012. 186 pp. Theravada Buddhism: The View of the Elders is primarily a descriptive, comprehensive study of the Theravāda Buddhist tradition in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia. The book’s eight chapters begin with a brief general account of the life of the Buddha and the beginnings of the tradition in India, four chapters on the basic teachings of Theravāda (“The Triple Gem,” “The Basic Teachings of the Buddha,” “Karma and Its Results,” and “The Social Teachings of the Buddha”), two chapters that contextualize the tradition in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia, and a concluding chapter on diaspora Theravāda that highlights two topics—meditation and the Bhikkhuni order. The book’s broad scope is both its strength and weakness; however, it successfully negotiates a middle ground between those books that provide only a brief introduction to Theravāda, on the one hand, and more comprehensive, in-depth studies. The author characterizes Theravāda as a spiritual practice guided by the monastic tradition based on an “interpretation of the words of the Buddha adopted and developed by the tradition.” From this normative perspective, the author’s description and analysis of Theravāda doctrine includes generous quotations from the Pali Suttas. Tilakaratne “respects modern historical and philological scholarship”; however, he follows the tradition of Theravāda monastic interpretation that accepts the Suttas as the Buddavacanam (words of the Buddha) as organized by the early disciples, and characterizes the communal act of chanting as signifying “undivided allegiance to the word of the Buddha as approved by the leaders of the community.” From this perspective, the author deems Theravāda to be “remarkably homogeneous” (p. xxvi). Although in general terms Theravāda can be seen as more homogeneous than Mahayāna and Tantrayāna textual and doctrinal traditions, in more localized contexts—not noted by the author—it is also marked by varying degrees of diversity. For example, one thinks of the Thai monk Buddhadasa Bhikkhu (d. 1993), who was accused of being a “Mahayanist” for highlighting the doctrine of Emptiness (śunyatā), a central Mahayāna concept but of relatively minor importance in Theravāda. A former monk, Tilakaratne, professor of Pali and Buddhist studies at the University of Colombo, brings an understandable normativity to his description and analysis. Furthermore, the author’s background gives the volume a direct firsthand flavor. For example, in discussing the Pali formula extoling the virtues of the sangha that all Theravāda Buddhists learn by heart and repeat within a daily ritual context, the author observes that even though lay practitioners continue to use the formula throughout their lives, they may not comprehend its meaning. In his discussion of the basic teachings of Buddhism, the author addresses the common misinterpretation of the fundamental Buddhist teachings of not-self (anattā) and nirvāṇa as negative concepts. The teaching that an individual does not [End Page 219] exist independently affirms the phenomenology of the dynamic, interdependent nature of all things, and, more importantly from the standpoint of spiritual practice, affirms that with this realization (i.e., nirvāṇa) “one’s thirst in all forms becomes extinct” (p. 44). The author structures the basic teachings of the Buddha in terms of the traditional categories of the three trainings: morality (sīla), concentration (samādhi), and understanding (paññā). Apropos of the contextual flavor of the book, the author’s discussion of sīla for the laity situates the five precepts (abstaining from taking life, from stealing, from sexual misconduct, from telling lies, and from alcohol and intoxicants) within the ritual of taking the precepts as a daily practice at home, the temple, or at pubic ceremonies. Paññā or “seeing things as they are” addresses the fundamental Theravāda teachings of suffering (dukkha), impermanence, and not-self: “Suffering alone exists, not a sufferer; action alone exists, not an actor; extinguishment alone exists, not one who is extinguished; path alone exists, not one who treads on it” (Buddhaghosa) (p. 55). Given the prominence of the concept of...

Problems and Obstacles to Value Creation of Thai Monk-s Bowls: The Case Study of Ban-Baat Village, Bangkok

Problems and Obstacles to Value Creation of Thai Monk-s Bowls: The Case Study of Ban-Baat Village, Bangkok

Buddha‐izing a Global City‐State: Transnational Religious Mobilities, Spiritual Marketplace, and Thai Migrant Monks in Singapore

This article proposes an argument that transnational mobilities are culturally and religiously rooted. Religion and human mobility have been inseparable for centuries. I It either encourages border‐crossing movements of clergies and laypersons away from home, or channels human interaction as well as tension across the lines of ethnocultural and national differences. This article uses the case study of migrant Buddhist monks from Thailand, their cross‐border religious mission, and complicating aspects of their religious practices in Singapore to illustrate some subtle roles of religion in the broader context of transnational mobility and settlement in a multiracial and multicultural city‐state. Under Singapore’s racial and religious harmony policy, Thai monks have become mobile agents to spread the Dharma and to serve the Buddhist population under some regulating structure and scrutiny in Singapore.

A Comparative Study of Chinese Musical Activities in Chinese and Thai Cultural Contexts

This research explores the influence of Chinese music as it is reflected in cultural activities in China and Thailand. In China, music has been used since long before the time of Confucius (551-479 BC) as a learning tool, and the Chinese who migrated into Southeast Asia and ultimately Thailand brought their music with them. In Thai society, Chinese music has been used in traditional ways. Although the music remains closer to what was brought with the immigrants, it has been adopted into Thai society in ways that go far beyond the original Chinese use. This research found that some Chinese musical activities have become ingrained into Thai culture and society such as Lion Dance group performances in the processions for the ceremonial candle (Tian Phansa), the Khan Mak procession, and the Songkran Festival procession. The Lion Dance group also has a photo of a famous Thai monk on the front of a big drum. We also found that the khim is the most popular Chinese musical instrument among Thai people.

Prevalence, patterns, and risk factors of knee osteoarthritis in Thai monks

BackgroundPatterns and risk factors of knee osteoarthritis in Asian countries where most people have habitual knee bending activities remain unclear. The objective of this study was to evaluate the prevalence, patterns, and risk factors of knee osteoarthritis in Thai monks. MethodsThe study was a cross-sectional survey of monks who lived in temples in southern Thailand. Investigations included history, physical examination, and radiographic evaluation including weight-bearing antero-posterior, lateral, and skyline views. ResultsThere were 261 monks from 85 temples included in this study. The overall prevalence of radiographic knee osteoarthritis was 59.4%, with 29.6% having symptomatic radiographic knee osteoarthritis. The patterns of involvement were isolated tibiofemoral compartment (7.7%), isolated patellofemoral compartment (18.8%), and combined (32.9%). Obesity (OR 5.6, 95% CI; 1.6–19.8), age equal to or more than 60years (OR 3.0, 95% CI; 1.5–6.0), and age at ordainment equal to or more than 46years (OR 2.2, 95% CI; 1.1–4.6) were associated with risk of developing radiographic knee osteoarthritis. Obesity (OR 17.9, 95% CI; 2.4–132.1) and current smoking (OR 7.7, 95% CI; 2.4–24.3) were associated with symptomatic radiographic knee osteoarthritis. Severity of involvement was associated with obesity (OR 12.0, 95% CI; 2.3–60.9), older age (OR 3.8, 95% CI; 1.3–5.1), and older age at ordainment (OR 2.8, 95% CI; 1.3–6.1). ConclusionsThe prevalence of radiographic knee osteoarthritis with patellofemoral involvement in Thai monks is high and is more common among the elderly, those who were older at ordainment, and obese subgroups. Each pattern of knee osteoarthritis might have a different pathomechanism in the development of osteoarthritis.

Whorl on Scalp of Thai Monk and Nun

1. Viroj Vong, MD 1. Bangkok, Thailand Whorls on scalps are called “Quan” in Thailand. Thai treat Quan almost like a spirit whenever Thai do things. They have to wake up their Quan, which has been called “Tum Quan.” “Rub Quan” is a traditional Thai ceremony for welcoming anybody

A Buddha Kingdom in the Golden Triangle: Buddhist Revivalism and the Charismatic Monk Khruba Bunchum

Khruba Bunchum Yanasangwaror, despite his youth, has already been proclaimed by many, in the Yuan Buddhist world of the upper Mekong region, to be a ton bun (‘source of merit’). His charismatic reputation derives from his ascetic virtues, his assumed accumulation of merit in past lives and his Bodhisattva‐like compassion for others. His compassion is expressed through dedication to the building of religious monuments that allows the laity to acquire merit by contributing labour and money. Another dimension of the conception of ton bun is that of sacral kingship. In these and other respects Khruba Bunchum's religious career emulates that of Khruba Siwichai, the famous northern Thai monk of the early 20th century. However, Khruba Siwichai's religious activities were confined to northern Thailand, whereas Khruba Bunchum's peregrinations throughout northern Thailand, northern Laos, Sipsongpanna (in China) and northeast Burma mark out a sacred Buddhist space, focused on the heart of the notorious Golden Triangle. I argue in this paper that this imagined sacred space both transcends and challenges the dominant discourse of modern nation‐state.

Thai monks and lay nuns (mae chii) in urban health care

In the process of defining their identity in relation to other social institutions, Thai monks and increasingly, lay nuns (mae chii), have been adopting social and community roles in rural areas. Studies conducted in the early 1980s and repeated more recently indicate that these can be adapted to suit urban situations such as paramedical roles in hospitals in which mae chii may prove more effective than monks as counsellors. But although the young scholar monks whose views were solicited were mostly open to such roles on the part of the mae chii, the majority were opposed to their full ordination as bhikkhuni.