What role does religion play in daily life in Thailand

Factual Questions
1

I have been watching shows on subjects like HIV, bird flu or the tsunami and the idea that Thailand is a buddhist country and as a result has respect for all life and more laze faire attitude helps with these issues.

Is that true though? In the US we are considered by many to be a Christian nation but for the vast majority of people it has no effect on how we live our lives. On the other hand in places like Saudi Arabia or North Korea (which practices Kim Il Sungism, worship of Kim Il Sung is unofficially the state religion) religion plays a major role in day to day life. Is Thailand like western Europe, mostly secular but still identified with a certain religion by most people (in that case christianity) or is it closer to places like North Korea or Saud Arabia where the religion plays a major role in how people live their lives and how the government operates?

2

Really?

I guess this is a hijack, but it seems to me that no matter how much I try to dodge religion, I can’t. Christian values are everywhere in the US - especially nowadays with Bush and the Fundies being the governing party. I hardly characterize my life as being unaffected by religion, even though I’m not religious myself.

As for Thailand, I have no clue. I just jumped in here to derail everything from the get-go. :smiley:

3

I’ve just spent a couple of months living in Thailand, so I can give you an anecdotal response. However, as you will see, it’s not necessarily definitive.

My general impression is that religion there is not in your face at all, but does very subtly influence day-to-day life, behaviour, and opinions, though many of these I would define as culturally based, rather than religious, though of course there’d be crossover.

I was on an island off the south-west of Thailand. It is about 80% Muslim, 15% Buddhist, and 5% Christian/whatever expatriates.

The impression I got with both the Muslims (of whom I only ever saw 5 or 6 attending the mosque, out of a population of a couple of thousand) and the Buddhists (for whom there was no temple), was that their religion influenced their behaviour within certain strict rules, but they were largely governed by a) their culture, and b) superstition that did not directly relate to their religion, and probably dates from pre-Buddhist animism.

Examples:

Buddhist friends were indeed laissez-faire, but had certain rules - no touching of the head, don’t put your feet anywhere near anything at all unless you want to disrespect it, no women were allowed to sit on the front of a boat.

Muslim friends would allow us to come into their house drunk, but not to bring non-ingested alcohol inside. We were allowed, if we wished, to leave the booze outside and go out to have a drink there when we wanted, much as a smoker might go for a cigarette outside in the West.

Both the Muslims and the Buddhists would take a nickname (changeable, as well, which was confusing), because of a belief that bad spirits can take a person whose name is known. And indeed, unless it was a woman with a headscarf - which was entirely optional and the decision of the woman herself - you really couldn’t tell what religion someone practiced.

As for:

No, not really any different. Well, different, but equally shitty in parts. OK, law and order didn’t degenerate after the tsunami like we saw reported after Katrina, but I’d put this down to societal ideas of respect, rather than religion. Generally there were both amazing acts of compassion, and a small number of assholes. E.g. after the tsunami, there were isolated cases of complete disrespect for the dead - jewellery being stripped from still-warm bodies, and pirates coming to the island the night after the disaster to go looting; on the flipside there were thousands of acts of heroism that I can’t even list here without getting all choked up.

Regarding other issues in Thailand, pre-tsunami, the king chose to try to counter Muslim terrorism in the south of Thailand by air-dropping millions of origami peace cranes on the affected areas, which could be seen as somewhat Buddhist in intent and practice. (The effect? Jack shit. The killing still continues.) Compare that, however, with the totally extrajudicial Thai shoot-to-kill policy on drug dealers, which now has a death toll in the mid-thousands.

In conclusion, therefore, with the above confused post, I’d largely say “not really”. Hope that clears things up. :wink:

4

Do you consider Christian values good or bad?
Would you rather live in a society with Christian values or in one without any value system, social anarchy if you will? A place where everyone does anything that pleases him/her?

5

Is it only black or white?

I believe you are confusing “Christian Values” with good old-fashioned “common courtesy” and “good neighbor” values.

Those, of course, were codified in the Old Testament as the Ten Commandments, but just because a person does not choose to live a Christian lifestyle, doesn’t mean he or she cannot be a good person.

Besides, what about the Jewish folks and the Hindu folks and the Buddhist folks? They are not living Christian values, but the majority are living “common courtesy” and “good neighbor.”

And just about every religion or “non-religion” has a version of Jesus Christ’s second commandment in Mark 12:29-31 (KJV):

What’s so hard to understand about that? “Love your neighbor as you would yourself.” That would eliminate a lot of problems in this world, wouldn’t it? And if you look at that statement, there’s really nothing religious or Christian about it, just common sense good neighbor, right?

6

An interesting bit of trivia is the King of Thailand is constitutionally required to be Buddhist.

Thailand as a whole is 90-95% Buddhist and it is the state religion. Religion plays a role in varying degrees. However, much like here in the United States, religion seems to play less of a role in the big city as the rural areas. Even though religion is intertwined in the culture I would be hesitant to compare it to something like Saudi Arabia. There is religious freedom in Thailand and it is unlikely that a Buddhist will force religion unto you.

7

I consider Christian values good. And I wish that the Religious Right would begin practicing them. I also consider that derailing an argument by introducing a pet peeve and defying the Fallacy of the Excluded Middle is neither good manners nor particularly Christian.
With regard to Thailand, I have a couple of online friends, expatriate Englishmen who have “gone native,” so to speak. Both are practicing Buddhists. I’d have to say that the general national attitude, based on their behavior and example, is one of cultural custom and what might be paralleled to a “secular faith” over here. The Buddhist philosophy permeates thought, religious custom is persevered in in much the way Christmas and Easter, and the occasional invocation at meetings, are practiced here, but much like America, there’s a divide between devout practitioners and the general population, who are nominally and sincerely Buddhist but do not make it the center of their daily lives.

8

There’s a lot of space between “a society with Christian values” and “one without any value system.” You’ve put a red herring out here. It’s not an either/or proposal.

But to answer your question - like Rico said, the basic Christian values are those of common sense and courtesy, and of course I consider those good things. But there’s a lot of creed held up as “Christian Values” - especially by the religious right - that creep into my life that I don’t consider especially good. Like: Intelligent Design, birth control education, abortion rights, and Gay/Lesbian rights to name a few.

9

I’d say that Buddhist thought permeates Thai life and culture (there are of course, exceptions, as Jjimm has pointed out. But if you think of the USA as generally having protestant, Christian values which permeate society, even for those who do not practice that (or any) faith.

Likewise, in Thailand there is a more Buddhist mindset, even though many people don’t really actively practice this faith. For example, all Buddhist men of a certain age * are expected to enter the monkhood for a period of time. Death, birth, and many other things are not viewed quite the same as through the Judeo-Christian prism. You will see monks out allowing people to tam boon by offering food in the morning, even in downtown Bangkok. You will see people praying in the temples if you go there, although there is not a regular service like with most churches. In the countryside the local temple is often the primary venue for education as the parochial church may have been in days past. You will see pictures of famous monks inside of taxis and cars, just as you’d get dashboard Jesuses here. You will see small shrines, spirit houses, next to most buildings**.
Also, just about every business and home will have a shrine, dedicated to previous favorite kings, family and/or monks. Often they will also have a shrine to Lord Buddha.

When I lived there I was invited to a dedication ceremony for the spirit house outside of a new building at the factory where I worked. There was an offering, incense and some prayer.

Another way that Buddhism might influence daily life is that it’s not unusual in a case of civil negligence that the guilty party just is asked to apologise. I think this reflects the attitudes of karma, but I won’t venture to guess exactly how that applies.

Official holidays are mostly Buddhist, plus the King and Queen’s birthdays.

*Many Thai men enter the monkhood after they become an adult but before they marry. This way the “merit” that is made by doing this is passed to their parents alone, and is not diluted by the in-laws.

**Spirit houses are not really Buddhists, per se, but probably go back to old animist beliefs. Many Thais believe that there are spirits everywhere and that you must appease them for using their places or they will cause you trouble.

10

:rolleyes:

I’ve seen that done to death on another website, a lot of people plough in with the arguement that as Hitler and Stalin were allegedly atheists then all atheists alive today must be somewhat akin to them and any state that has an atheistic constitution or laws would be a fascist state etc etc…

11

What exactly is tam boon? I googled it and it just seems to imply giving food to monks or having dinner with them. Is it like leaving cookies for Santa (like you just leave the food outside and let the monks take it), is it more like having dinner with the boss, is it an opportunity to grow spiritually by talking to the monks and learning from them over dinner or is it something totally different?

That is interesting about civil negligence. Does that also apply to criminal law?

12

OK, this will probably be long and if it’s like anything else I’ve written, rambling. :stuck_out_tongue:

First of all, I’m plain old WASP American from Texas and Kentucky. My wife is a Thai Buddhist from Phitsanulouk, a rice farming area in north-central Thailand. We’ve been married for 21 years this coming May.

Anyway, Thailand is not really a secular country. Buddhism gets into most aspects of daily life and doing some disrespectful things to Buddha images or temples can result in trouble with the law. They won’t shoot you or anything, just make you stop whatever you’re doing.
If you are wondering about Buddhism possibly making the Thais less than enthusiastic about culling the bird population, there may be something to that idea. My wife apologizes when she swats flies and can’t stand to kill a fish or insect. On the other hand, she eats meat, chicken and fish regularly although she claims it is somewhat of a sin. I am usually the guy leaning on her to not be a vegetarian as she has a lot of medical problems at the moment and doesn’t need to introduce another variable.
My own guess on why the Thais don’t kill more birds is a combination of just being very laid-back and there might also be a bit of corruption involved. The Thais do have their fair share of corruption.

We’ve lived in the Middle East for most of our lives and she still has her tiny temple in the living room. She makes offerings of rice and vegetables, candles, flowers and incense every day before noon.

Wesley Clarke “Tamboon” is defined as a meritorious deed. Feeding monks is one, donating money or time to hospitals, orphanages, temples and similar institutions are all also Tam Boon.

Anyway, I hope that was helpful.

Testy

13

Most Thais I met, of any religion, eat as much meat and seafood as they can afford - nobody I met ever seemed remorseful!

Oh lord yes.

14

Wesley Clark, it means to make merit. The actual ritual is that the monks make their rounds very early in the morning, carrying their offering bowls. People along the way put food into the bowls. Then the monks eat it. I’m not sure of the exact logic on how this makes merit for the giver, other than they are aiding a spiritual person by helping them avoid the task of having to harvest/cook their own food.

The monks are supposed to eat whatever is given them, and only eat before noon. After that I think they give anything leftover to the poor. Mostly I’ve seen donations in tidy little plastic bags, so I don’t think the food gets all mixed in together. Also, there is of course a little cottage industry of street vendors who sell food for giving to people along the route (at least in Bangkok, probably not in every little village).

I’d guess, although I’m not sure, that the monk gives a little blessing each time that they receive food, and I’m sure there is advice and pleasantries dispensed as well. I’ll double check this with Mrs. Shibb who probably knows for sure.