Buddhism of the Theravada confession is the principal religion of the country. 94% of the country's population adheres to it. Schools teach Buddhist tenets and morals as part of the curriculum except in Muslim areas in the South.
All Buddhist religious ceremonies center at the Wat, a combination of monastery and temple. There are about 32,000 Wats in the country. It is socially expected that every Thai male will become a monk at least once in his life for a period of about 3 months in order to study Buddhism and live the Buddhist way in the monastery. The present King Bhumiphol Adulyadej became a monk in 1956 and took residence at Wat Bovornivet. Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn, the only son of the King was ordained a monk in 1978.
Buddhism is probably the most tolerant religion of the world, and it can coexist with any other religion (though most other religions aim to be exclusive and cannot accommodate Buddhism at the same time). Accordingly, Thailand has a long history of religious tolerance. Though traditionally he has to be a Buddhist, the King besides being the head of state is the upholder of all religions professed by his people.
As obtaining anything through power or force is completely against the logics of Buddha's teachings, Buddhism is not only considerably more tolerant than most religions but also less institutionalized. There is nothing like a Buddhist Vatican. Therefore, much of the more earthly matters, from land ownership to the preservation of Buddhist architectural monuments, is handled by the Thai government through the Department of Religious Affairs in the Ministry of Education.
It's also rather the Thai government that defines religious offenses and prosecutes offenders as Buddhism itself is too gentle to concern itself with such matters. The voluminous "Traveller's Guide to Thailand", published by the Tourism Authority of Thailand, explains:
"Thai law has a number of special sections concerning religious offenses, and these cover not only Buddhism, the religion of the majority of the people, but also any other faiths represented in the Kingdom. It is, for instance unlawful to commit any act, by any means whatever, to an object of a place of religious worship of any community in a manner likely to insult the religion. Similarly, 'whoever causes any disturbance at an assembly lawfully engaged in the performance of religious worship or religious ceremonies' is subject to punishment, as well as 'whoever dresses or uses a symbol showing that he is a priest or novice, holyman or clergyman of any religion unlawfully in order to make another person believe he is such person.' In less legal language, here are a few tips on what to do and what not to do on a visit to a religious place:
- Dress neatly. Don't go shirtless, or in shorts, hot pants, or other unsuitable attire. If you look at the Thais around you, you'll see the way they would prefer you to be dressed - which, in fact, is probably not very different from the way you'd dress in a similar place back home.
- It's all right to wear shoes while walking around the compound of a Buddhist temple, but not inside the chapel where the principal Buddha image is kept. Don't worry about dirt when you have to take them off; the floors of such places are usually very clean.
- Buddhist priests are forbidden to touch or to be touched by a woman or to accept anything from the hand of one. If a woman has to give anything to a monk or novice, she first hands it to a man, who then presents it. Or in case of a woman who wants to present it with her hand, the monk or novice will spread out a piece of saffron robe or handkerchief in front of him, and the woman will lay down the material on the robe which is being held at one end by the monk or novice.
- All Buddha images, large or small, ruined or not, are regarded as sacred objects. Hence, don't climb up on one to take a photograph or, generally speaking, do anything that might show a lack of respect."
It's beyond the scope of this text to evaluate Buddhism as a religion or a philosophy. As it deserves it, numerous thick tomes have been written on the topic. Short reviews of the religion and its history naturally tend to be simplistic, and when they appear in guide books written by Westerners, they are often lacking in respect as well. However, as most visitors to Thailand will not find the time to read thick volumes on the country's religion there certainly is a need for some abbreviated information on Buddhism. Therefore we quote here verbatim an explanation on Buddhism given in the above cited "Traveller's Guide to Thailand", published by the Tourism Authority of Thailand.
While some of the sentences may not sound particularly elegant, they nevertheless transport more than just the factual information on the Kingdom's religion. As the quoted part was obviously written by a devout Buddhist, it also gives a glimpse on how Thais believe and shows the respect they have for anything related to their religion. The quoted text is not neutral in its language. The language used makes clear that the author is convinced that Theravada Buddhism is the one correct religion, and many statements that would be regarded as a matter of religious opinion in Western culture are made in a matter of fact voice. The Western reader may qualify them according to his or her religious inclinations.
