Buddhist Impact on Thai Life

By Shiroona Lomponi

Although the goal of Buddhism is enlightenment, in practical terms Theravada Buddhists do not regard it as possible for laypeople to attain this state of perfection. The best a layperson can hope for is a reduction of suffering through the doing of good deeds and the avoidance of evil.

One way to gain merit is to enter the monkhood (buat pra). It is customary for around 50 percent of young Thai men to take this step for a minimum of three months during the Buddhist Lent. It is a rite of passage, so to speak, and may well take place when they return from studies abroad or before they get married. In this way they earn merit not only for themselves but also for their parents or benefactors. Others, including high-ranking figures, may also spend time in a monastery. One high-profile example is former Prime Minister Thanom Kittikachorn, when he returned from exile in 1976.

The avoidance of evil involves taking the Middle Way between an existence of extreme asceticism and one of sensual indulgence. A person's conduct should be governed by the five basic precepts of Buddhism.
To abstain from taking life.
To abstain from taking what is not given.
To abstain from sensuous misconduct.
To abstain from false speech.
To abstain from intoxicants that tend to cloud the mind.

In daily life some of these precepts tend to be more honored in the breach than in the observance. The Thais eat meat, tell lies, drink alcohol, and may also indulge in illicit sex. In this they are perhaps not so different from the adherents of other religions who, while paying lip service to the precepts of their religion, continually fail to live up to them.

Apart from offering moral guidance, Buddhism also plays an important social role. In villages and towns throughout Thailand the temple is the center of community life. Festivals and fairs take place on the temple grounds, and it is quite normal for the whole village to turn out for an ordination ceremony. At one time they were the only organizations offering schooling, secular as well as religious, to boys only, of course.

In some areas this educational role continues. Another Buddhist influence is the use of the Buddhist calendar in parallel with the Gregorian (Western) calendar. In Thailand this is 543 years in advance of the latter, so 2000 was the year 2543 BE (Buddhist Era.)

The writer is a florist and flower shop owner in Thailand. She is a Buddhist and her two brothers have both been Buddhist monks in the past.

She loves her job working with Flowers in Thailand and looks after all aspects of her flower business both online and working in her florist shop in Bangkok. Customers often order flowers from overseas in the middle of the night Thailand time, to every morning she receives orders for flowers which get delivered the same day to recipients in Thailand.

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