Abstract
In the case of Thailand, very similar mechanisms are at work when it comes to the rise of extremist Buddhism—yet, there are important differences: on the one hand, outbreaks of militant Buddhism seem to be few and far between as compared to Sri Lanka and Burma, with the first one occurring during the Cold War in the 1970s and long since forgotten, while the latest one targeting Muslims since 2004 seems to be regionally restricted to Thailand’s Deep South. On the other, however, the phenomenon of ‘soldier monks’ (thahān phra) has been reported by several observers, that is soldiers who ordain as monks while keeping their weapons (in a blatant violation of the monastic rules) in order to protect temples in areas exposed to the Malay-Muslim insurgents currently active in the Deep South. Hence, this case study will examine the religio-political history of Buddhism in Thailand, then home in on the Deep South and the issue of ‘soldier monks.’
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Notes
- 1.
Pattani, Yala, and Narathiwat were part of the Sultanate of Patani, while Songkhla used to be the Sultanate of Singgora (Songkhla is a Thai rendering of the name). Both previously semi-independent sultanates were formally annexed by Thailand as a result of the Anglo-Siamese Treaty of 1909. Strictly speaking, the province of Satun (which also used to be a sultanate) also belongs to the Muslim-majority provinces, but since it is not part of the conflict, it can safely be disregarded in the following discussion.
- 2.
As mentioned in the chapter on Burma, it is not entirely clear whether the Sasanavamsa relates to Burma or to the Thai-controlled Chaophraya valley.
- 3.
Also frequently translated as ‘stream enterer.’ The following stages are ‘once-returner’, ‘never-returner’, arahant/arhat.
- 4.
On Mongkut’s reforms, see, for example, Kirsch 1975.
- 5.
There still are some variants which are not, or at least not entirely, under a centralized control, for example, the so-called khruba (lit. ‘venerable teachers’) in the shape of ‘charismatic holy men’ with huge numbers of followers in Thailand’s north and northeast, following the tradition of Lanna Buddhism (see Cohen 2017). U Thuzana belongs to this tradition (see Buadaeng 2017). Furthermore, there is the Santi Asoke (lit. ‘peaceful Ashoka’), established in 1975 (see Essen 2004), and also Wat Phra Dhammakāya and its controversial (and now fugitive) abbot Luang Por Dhammajayo (see Scott 2009).
- 6.
- 7.
The text of the Sangha Act of 1962 can be found in Mahāmakuta Educational Council 1989, 35–46.
- 8.
- 9.
On these programmes, see, for example, Suksamran 1979, 187–204.
- 10.
According to Suksamran 1982, 81 (fn. 68), Kittiwutthō claimed that “over ten thousand monks joined the movement.”
- 11.
Sisavang Vatthana’s year of death is disputed: depending on the source, he was either executed in 1977, or died of malaria in 1978, or in March 1980, or as late as 1984 in ‘Camp Number One,’ a detention centre in Sam Neua. See, for example, Kershaw 2001, 86.
- 12.
Personal conversation in late July 2018 in a temple in Chaiya District, Surat Thani Province.
- 13.
A ‘prima facie’ duty is a duty that is obligatory unless it is overridden or trumped by another duty. As Garrett (2004) explains, “[an] example of a prima facie duty is the duty to keep promises. ‘Unless stronger moral considerations override, one ought to keep a promise made.’”
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Lehr, P. (2019). Thailand: “It Is Time to Arm Thai Buddhists”. In: Militant Buddhism. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03517-4_7
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