Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-r5fsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-04T01:18:25.912Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The Revival of Buddhist Nationalism in Thailand and Its Adverse Impact on Religious Freedom

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 April 2021

Khemthong Tonsakulrungruang*
Affiliation:
Chulalongkorn University

Abstract

Triggered by the sense of crisis, the Thai state and Thai Buddhism are renewing their traditional relationship kindled by the monarch-led reform over a century ago. Thai Buddhism is reviving its lost aura and hegemony while the political conservatives are looking for legitimacy and collective identity in a time of democratic regression. The result is the rise of the Buddhist-nationalistic movement, Buddhist-as-Thainess notion. The phenomenon has grown more mainstream in recent years. These extreme Buddhists pressure the government to adopt a new constitutional relationship that brings the two entities closer to a full establishment. They also target both religious minorities as well as non-mainstream Buddhists. The revival of Buddhist nationalism foretells rising tension as well as diminishing religious freedom.

Type
Religious Nationalism and Religious Freedom in Asia
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Asian Journal of Law and Society

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Analyo, Bhikkhu (2014) “The Hinayana Fallacy.” 6 Journal of the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies 931.Google Scholar
AP (2004) “Thai Buddhist Abbot Sentenced to 160 Years for Raping Girls,” 21 June, http://www2.irrawaddy.com/article.php?art_id=3568&Submit=Submit (accessed 12 November 2018).Google Scholar
Bangkok Post (2015) “Temple Asked to Reroute March,” 31 January, https://www.pressreader.com/thailand/bangkok-post/20150131/281539404367414 (accessed 12 November 2018).Google Scholar
Bangkok Post (2017) “Wat Phra Dhammakaya Suicide: Govt Sorry, Family Confused,” 26 February, http://www.bangkokpost.com/learning/advanced/1205252/wat-phra-dhammakaya-suicide-govt-sorry-family-confused (accessed 12 November 2018).Google Scholar
BBC (2018) “Myanmar Rohingya: UN Says Military Leaders Must Face Genocide Charges,” 27 August, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-45318982 (accessed 12 November 2018).Google Scholar
Benedict, Anderson (1979) “Studies of the Thai State: The State of Thai Studies,” in Ayal, E., ed., The Study of Thailand: Analyses of Knowledge, Approaches, and Prospects in Anthropology, Art, History, Economics, and Political Science, Ohio: Ohio University for International Studies, 193247.Google Scholar
Boonnoon, Channarong (2011) “การลดจำนวนของพระสงฆ์และผลกระทบต่อพระพุทธศาสนาในอนาคต [The Decrease of Monks and Its Future Effect on Buddhism].” 17 Journal of Buddhist Studies 729.Google Scholar
Charuvastra, Teeranai (2017) “DSI Denies Blockade Responsible for Death of Dhammakaya Disciple,” Khaosod, 2 March.Google Scholar
Committee for Reform of Guidelines and Measures for the Protection of Buddhist Affairs (2015) “Report on Study for Reform of Guidelines and Measures for the Protection of Buddhist Affairs,” http://library2.parliament.go.th/giventake/content_nrc2557/d032458–03.pdf (accessed 12 November 2018).Google Scholar
Dressel, Björn (2010) “When Notions of Legitimacy Conflict. The Case of Thailand.” 38 Politics & Policy 445–69.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dressel, Björn (2018) “Thailand’s Traditional Trinity and the Rule of Law: Can They Coexist?” 42 Asian Studies Review 268–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dubus, Arnaud (2017) Buddhism and Politics in Thailand, Bangkok: IRASEC.Google Scholar
Easum, Taylor M. (2013) “A Thorn in Bangkok’s Side: Kruba Sriwichai, Sacred Space and the Last Stand of the Pre-Modern Chiang Mai State.” 21 South East Asia Research 211–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gilquin, Michel (2002) The Muslims of Thailand, Bangkok: Silkworm Books.Google Scholar
Ginsburg, Tom (2009) “Constitutional Afterlife: The Continuing Impact of Thailand’s Postpolitical Constitution.” 7 International Journal of Constitutional Law 83105.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gray, Christine (1986) “Thailand: The Soteriological State in the 1970s.” PhD diss., University of Chicago.Google Scholar
Guynup, Sharon (2016) “Exclusive: Tiger Temple Accused of Supplying Black Market,” National Geographic, 21 January.Google Scholar
Harish, S. P. (2006) “Ethnic or Religious Cleavage? Investigating the Nature of the Conflict in Southern Thailand.” 28 Contemporary Southeast Asia 4869.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heikkilä-Horn, M.-L. (2010) “Santi Asoke Buddhism and the Occupation of Bangkok International Airport.” 3 Austrian Journal of South-East Asian Studies 3147.Google Scholar
Helbardt, Sasha, Hellmann-Rajanayagam, Dagmar, & Korff, Rüdiger (2013) “Religionisation of Politics in Sri Lanka, Thailand and Myanmar.14 Politics, Religion & Ideology 3658.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hewison, Kevin (2010) “Thaksin Shinawatra and the Reshaping of Thai Politics.” 16 Contemporary Politics 119–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Human Rights Resource Center (2015) Keeping the Faith: A Study of Freedom of Thought, Conscience, and Religion in ASEAN, Jakarta: Human Rights Resource Centre.Google Scholar
Isara News Agency (2018) “เปิดชัดๆ ระเบียบ ศธ.หลังสมาคมผู้ปกครองฯอนุบาลปัตตานีชงแก้-ปิดช่องสวมฮิญาบ [MOE Regulation: After Parents Ask for Rule Change],” https://www.isranews.org/content-page/67-south-slide/66390-rules.html (accessed 12 November 2018).Google Scholar
Ishii, Yoneo (1986) Sangha, State, and Society: Thai Buddhism in History, Hawaii: University of Hawaii Press.Google Scholar
IUCN (2017) “Thai Buddhist Council Announces Ban on Ceremonial Bird Trade,” https://www.iucn.org/news/thailand/201707/thai-buddhist-council-announces-ban-ceremonial-bird-trade (accessed 12 November 2018).Google Scholar
Jackson, Peter A. (1988) “The Hupphaasawan Movement: Millenarian Buddhism among the Thai Political Elite.” 3 Sojourn: Journal of Social Issues in Southeast Asia 134–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jackson, Peter A. (1989) Buddhism, Legitimation, and Conflict: The Political Function of Urban Thai Buddhism, Singapore: Institute of South East Asia Studies.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jackson, Peter A. (2002) “Withering Centre, Flourishing Margins: Buddhism’s Changing Political Roles,” in Hewison, K., ed., Political Change in Thailand: Democracy and Participation, London and New York: Routledge, 7593.Google Scholar
Jerryson, Michael K. (2011) Buddhist Furry, Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jerryson, Michael K. (2017) “Monks with Guns,” AEON, 28 April, https://aeon.co/essays/buddhism-can-be-as-violent-as-any-other-religion (accessed 12 November 2018).Google Scholar
Jory, Patrick (2002a) “Thai and Western Buddhist Scholarship in the Age of Colonialism: King Chulalongkorn Redefines the Jatakas.” 61 The Journal of Asian Studies 128.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jory, Patrick (2002b) “The Vessantara Jataka, Barami, and the Bodhisttta-Kings: The Origin and Spread of a Thai Concept of Power.” 16 Crossroads: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 3678.Google Scholar
Jory, Patrick (2016) Thailand’s Theory of Monarchy: the Vessantara Jataka and the Idea of the Perfect Man, Albany: State University of New York Press.Google Scholar
Kamala, Tiyavanich (1997) Forest Recollections: Wandering Monks in Twentieth-Century Thailand, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keyes, Charles, Kendall, Laurel, & Hardacre, Helen (1994) “Introduction: Contested Visions of Community in East and Southeast Asia,” in Keyes, C. et al., eds., Asian Visions of Authority: Religion and the Modern States of East and Southeast Asia, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 118.Google Scholar
Keyes, Charles F. (2016) “Theravada Buddhism, and Buddhist Nationalism: Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Cambodia, and Thailand.” 14 The Review of Faith and International Affairs 4252.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
King, Sallie B. (2011) “Buddhism and Human Rights,” in Witte, J. & Green, M., eds., Religion and Human Rights: An Introduction, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 103–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kularbkeaw, Katewadee (2013) “In Defence of Buddhism: Thai Sangha’s Social Movement in the Twenty-First Century.” PhD diss., Graduate School of Asia-Pacific Studies, Waseda University.Google Scholar
Kularbkeaw, Katewadee (2019) The Politics of Thai Buddhism Under the NCPO Junta, Singapore: ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute.Google Scholar
Larsson, Thomas (2018) “Buddhist Bureaucracy and Religious Freedom in Thailand.” 33 Journal of Law and Religion 197211.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liow, Joseph Chinyong (2016) Religion and Nationalism in Southeast Asia, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mackenzie, Rory (2007) New Buddhist Movements in Thailand: Towards an Understanding of Wat Phra Dhammakaya and Santi Asoke, New York: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Manager Online (2017) “กลุ่มชาวพุทธฯ ยื่น สนช.ค้านร่าง พ.ร.บ.ฮาลาล [Buddhists File Protest on Halal Law to NLA],” https://mgronline.com/politics/detail/9600000006243 (accessed 12 November 2018).Google Scholar
Manager Online (2018) “ศาลปกครองสั่งคุ้มครองชั่วคราว ให้สิทธิเด็กมุสลิมคลุมฮิญาบใน [Admin Court’s Injunction Temporarily Allows Hijab in Pattani Kindergarten],” https://mgronline.com/south/detail/9610000109891 (accessed 12 November 2018).Google Scholar
Mann, Zarni (2017) “U Wirathu Leads Protest in Solidarity with Dhammakaya Temple,” Irrawaddy, 24 February.Google Scholar
McCargo, Duncan (2004) “Buddhism, Democracy, and Identity in Thailand.” 11 Democratization 155–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McCargo, Duncan, Alexander, Saowanee T., & Desatova, Petra (2017) “Ordering Peace: Thailand’s 2016 Constitutional Referendum.” 39 Contemporary Southeast Asia 6595.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nada, Chansom (2014) “การบริหารการเงินของวัดในประเทศไทย: ความสอดคล้องตามหลักธรรมาภิบาล [Buddhist Thai Temples’ Financial Management: The Congruence of Good Governance Principles].” 54 NIDA Development Journal 107–41.Google Scholar
Nation, The (2017) “Anti-Islam Extremist Monk Forced to Disrobe,” 21 September, http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30327286 (accessed 12 November 2018).Google Scholar
Pathan, Don, Tuansiri, Ekkarin, & Koma, Anwar (2018) Understanding Anti-Islam Sentiment in Thailand, Pattani: Patani Forum 2018.Google Scholar
Phongpaichit, Pasuk, & Baker, Christopher J. (1996) Thailand’s Boom! Bangkok: Allen & Unwin.Google Scholar
Phra Dhammapitaka (2002) “ภัยแห่งพระพุทธศาสนาในประเทศไทย [Danger for Thai Buddhism], Bangkok: Buddha Dhamma Foundation.Google Scholar
Phra Paisal Visalo (2000) “เมืองไทยในอนาคต: อนาธิปไตยในวงการสงฆ์ [Thailand in the Future: Anarchy in the Sangha],” Matichon, 1 November.Google Scholar
Prachatai (2016a) “Draft Charter Sabotages Right to Freedom of Religion: Academics, Buddhist Monks,” 12 April, http://prachatai.org/english/node/6036 (accessed 12 November 2018).Google Scholar
Prachatai (2016b) “Thai Temple Reportedly Gives Award to Radical Anti-Muslim Burmese Monk,” 16 March, http://prachatai.org/english/node/5944 (accessed 12 November 2018).Google Scholar
Reynolds, Frank E. (1972) “The Two Wheels of Dhamma,” in Obeyesekere, G. et al., eds., The Two Wheels of Dhamma: Essays on the Theravada Tradition in India and Ceylon, Chambersberg: American Academy of Religion, 130.Google Scholar
Samudavanija, Chai-Anan, & Thamrongthanyawong, Sombat (1980) ความคิดทางการเมืองและสังคมไทย [Thai Political and Social Ideas], Bangkok: Bannakij.Google Scholar
Satasut, Prakarati (2019) “Monastic Activism and State-Sangha Relations in Post-2014 Coup in Thailand.” PhD diss., University of Wisconsin-Madison.Google Scholar
Satha-anand, Chaiwat (1994) “Hijab and Moments of Legitimation: Islamic Resurgence in Thai Society,” in Keyes, C., Kendall, L., & Hardacre, H., eds., Asian Visions of Authority: Religion and the Modern States of East and Southeast Asia, Hawaii: University of Hawaii Press, 279300.Google Scholar
Satha-anand, Suwanna (1990) “Religious Movements in Contemporary Thailand: Buddhist Struggles for Modern Relevance.” 30 Asian Survey 395408.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Satha-anand, Suwanna (2003) “Buddhist Pluralism and Religious Tolerance in Democratizing Thailand,” in Cam, P., ed., Philosophy, Democracy and Education, Seoul: Korean National Commission for UNESCO and the Asia-Pacific Philosophy Education Network for Democracy, 193213.Google Scholar
Scott, Rachelle M. (2009) Nirvana for Sale? Buddhism, Wealth, and the Dhammakaya Temple in Contemporary Thailand, Albany: State University of New York Press.Google Scholar
Secretariat Office of the House of Representatives (2019) ความมุ่งหมายและคำอธิบายประกอบรายมาตราของรัฐธรรมนูญแห่งราชอาณาจักรไทย พุทธศักราช 2560 [By-Section Objectives and Explanations of Thai Constitution B.E. 2560], Bangkok: The Secretariat Office of the House of Representatives.Google Scholar
Seeger, Martin (2006) “The Bhikkhuni-Ordination Controversy in Thailand.” 29 Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 155–84.Google Scholar
Somdet Phra Buddhakosajarn (2007) กรณีธรรมกาย [The Case of Dhammakaya], Bangkok: Sahadhammig.Google Scholar
Streckfuss, David (2011) Truth on Trial in Thailand: Defamation, Treason, and Lese-Majeste, Abingdon: Routledge.Google Scholar
Streckfuss, David, & Templeton, Mark (2002) “Human Rights and Political Reform in Thailand,” in McCargo, D., ed., Reforming Thai Politics, Copenhagen: Nordic Institute of Asian Studies, 7390.Google Scholar
Suksamran, Somboon (1993) “Buddhism, Political Authority, and Legitimacy in Thailand and Cambodia,” in Ling, T., ed., Buddhist Trends in Southeast Asia, Singapore: ISEAS, 101–53.Google Scholar
Sunthorn, Na-rungsri (2002) “Administration of the Thai Sangha: Past, Present, and Future.” 1 The Chulalongkorn Journal of Buddhist Studies 5974.Google Scholar
Syukri, Ibrahim (1985) The Malay Kingdom of Patani, Bangkok: Silkworm Books.Google Scholar
Taylor, Jim (2017) “The Perplexing Case of Wat Dhammakaya,” New Mandala, 6 March.Google Scholar
Terwiel, Barend Jan (2012) Monks and Magic: Revisiting a Classic Study of Religious Ceremonies in Thailand, Copenhagen: Nordic Institute of Asian Studies.Google Scholar
Thepgumpanat, Panarat, & Tanakasempipat, Patpicha (2017a) “Exclusive—Thai Junta Seeks Law to Bring More Order to Buddhism,” Reuters, 29 March.Google Scholar
Thepgumpanat, Panarat, & Tanakasempipat, Patpicha (2017b) “Thai Junta Seeks to Force Temples to Open Their Finances,” Reuters, 16 June.Google Scholar
Thepgumpanat, Panarat, & Wongcha-um, Panu (2017c) “Thailand’s Buddhist Monks Order Reforms Ahead of Royal Transition,” Reuters, 19 October.Google Scholar
Tonsakulrungruang, Khemthong (2018) “Thailand’s Sangha: Turning Right, Coming Full Circle,” New Mandala, 7 August.Google Scholar
Ukrist, Pathmanand (2008) “Nation, Religion and Monarchy in the Fight Against Thaksin,” New Mandala, 13 August.Google Scholar
US Department of State (2018) “Thailand 2017 International Religious Freedom Report,” https://www.state.gov/reports/2017-report-on-international-religious-freedom/thailand/ (accessed 12 November 2018).Google Scholar
Vickery, Michael (1970) “Thai Regional Elites and the Reforms of King Chulalongkorn.” 29 Journal of Asian Studies 863–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Winichakul, Thongchai (1994) Siam Mapped: A History of the Geo-Body of a Nation, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.Google Scholar
Winichakul, Thongchai (2015) “Buddhist Apologetics and A Genealogy of Comparative Religion in Siam.” 62 NUMEN 7598.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Winichakul, Thongchai (2016) โฉมหน้าราชาชาตินิยม [The Face of Royalist-Nationalism], Nonthaburi: Same Sky Books.Google Scholar