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The best-known Sikh temple (Gurdwara) in Thailand is located in Bangkok. The structure that stands today, the Siri Guru Singh Sabha, was originally built in 1933. Located in the Phra Nakhon district, known to the locals as Little India, this six-story temple, trimmed in gold and topped by a gold dome, is steeped in Sikh culture and heritage.
Owing to the sizable Nepalese community in Thailand, there are also a number of Nepalese temples in the country, including Phuket. A temple stands at the top of Patong hill and is immediately recognizable and distinguishable from Thai Buddhist temples owing to the use of more vibrant and mixed colors and, of course, the representation of the multitude of Hindu gods.
THE IMPORTANCE OF THAI BUDDHISM
If you’re an early riser in Thailand and regardless of whether you’re in the metropolis of Bangkok or the smallest village in Surat Thani, it is likely you will see orange-robed monks walking through the neighborhood giving blessings and receiving alms.
Around 95 percent of Thais are Buddhists, the highest percentage of Buddhist nationals in the world. The Thai version of Buddhism is chiefly derived from the Theravada or southern school of Buddhism, which originated in Sri Lanka, but over time has incorporated elements of Thai myths and folk stories and, owing to the large Thai Chinese population, various Chinese gods. Thai Buddhism has also been heavily influenced by Hinduism.
In 2013, following the death of Kanchanaburi born Supreme Patriarch Somdet Phra Nyanasamvara, who was also Sangha Leader of the Buddhist World as bestowed by the World Fellowship of Buddhists, King Bhumibol ordered a 30-day national mourning period.
The importance of Buddhism in Thailand cannot be understated. Around 50 percent of Thai boys and young men typically enter the monkhood or become ordained at least once in their lifetime. King Mongkut himself was a monk for 27 years. In days gone by, the king of Thailand was seen as a protector of the religion. Kings, queens, princes and princesses therefore take part in religious ceremonies, attend services and make merit each year.
MAKING MERIT
Thai people ‘make merit’ (do good things as prescribed through religious doctrine), whether giving alms to monks or visiting temples on birthdays, significant dates and religious holidays. They make merit to bring inner happiness, become successful, gain guidance and cease earthly desires.
It is quite common for a Thai home to have some sort of Buddhist shrine, complete with Buddha image, to which family members pray, meditate or make merit. Outside homes and places of business, daily food offerings are made to the spirits and ancestors in a bid to appease them.
MULTIPURPOSE MONASTERIES
Many Buddhist temples in Thailand double up as retreats or places of rehabilitation. Each year, thousands of young Thai offenders are dispatched to their local temple for guidance, instruction or therapy. Treatment often involves taking an alcohol or drug vow against the use of either for a certain period of time. Attendees also purge themselves regularly and drink herbal concoctions that make them vomit into large trough-like areas in the temple.
A much-revered monk, who ran the country’s largest drug rehabilitation program at Wat Thamkrabok in Saraburi province, was former police officer Phra Chamroon Panchan. His treatment of those suffering from narcotic addiction was internationally recognized. In the 1970s, at the end of the Vietnam War, the temple also became a shelter for up to 30,000 hill tribe (Hmong) refugees from Laos. Controversy has, however, surrounded the temple since it was first used as a rehabilitation center in 1959, and in 2003 the Thai military sent hundreds of troops to the temple to investigate accusations that the temple was being used as a base for drug and arms trafficking. As a result, the Hmong were fenced into the temple grounds for more than a year. The fencing has since been removed.
Novice monks accept morning alms at Amphawa Floating Market.
Monks set out to get their daily food donations.
MONKEY BUSINESS
Although Buddhism in Thailand is arguably as strong as it ever was, there is a gradual sense that many, especially among the younger generation, are becoming somewhat disillusioned. The year 2013, especially, was not a good one for Thai Buddhist monks, with many being caught on camera carrying Louis Vuitton bags, shopping for iPhones and even endorsing air humidifiers. Such ‘vulgar’ displays of consumerism and earthly objects are strictly against the principles of Dharma (law of nature) and, as such, were met with much condemnation in Thailand. According to the National Office of Buddhism, there are around 61,000 monks in Thailand.
The disgraced, disrobed Luang Pu Nen Kham.
Phra Chamroon Panchan died in 1999, aged 73, but the temple still offers help to Thai and foreign addicts who wish to experience a Buddhist approach to drug rehabilitation. There have been a number of famous Westerners who have completed treatment at Wat Thamkrabok.
ISLAM IN THAILAND
Islam is Thailand’s largest minority religion and is practiced by around 7.5 million people, or about 12 percent of the population. The majority of Thai Muslims are ethnically Malay, and speak Malay as well as Thai, but there are also many of Middle Eastern, Bangladeshi, Pakistani and Cambodian origin.
Although Thai Muslims and mosques are scattered throughout the kingdom, the highest concentration of Thai Muslims is in Bangkok while 18 percent live in the southernmost provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani, Yala, and Satun bordering Malaysia. The former Islamic sultanates of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat were handed to Thailand by British Malaya as part of the Anglo-Siamese Treaty of 1909 that defined the modern border between the two nations.
In many areas of Thailand, Muslim communities live peacefully side by side with Buddhist communities. However, there is serious and very real unrest in southern Thailand, with an increasing level of fighting between Muslim military insurgents and the Thai army in the three main Muslim provinces. The conflict has seen almost 6,000 people—Muslims and soldiers—killed since 2004. A large percentage of residents in the majority Muslim areas in the south feel they are under-represented at a political level and would like to have independence from Thailand, and insurgents are therefore fighting for autonomy.
Thai Muslim girls enjoy a cold drink.
Bang Tao Mosque.
OTHER RELIGIONS IN THAILAND
Despite a relatively small number of followers, Hinduism has had a huge impact on Thailand’s culture and its interpretation of Buddhism. The clearest example of the religion’s influence is the adoption and adaptation of the Hindu epic Ramayana into the Thai version, the Ramakien, which came to be used as inspiration for Thai theater productions, dances, songs, art, and even modern-day Thai soap opera plots.
There is also a small community of Sikhs, mostly engaged in the business sector in Thailand, with high numbers in the larger cities of Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Phuket.
Christianity
