Buddhism is the main religion in Thailand, 95 per cent of the population following the Buddhist religion. Buddhists respect all forms of animal life, including insects. They eat only fruit and vegetables.

Buddha images like this one are found in temples in Thailand
photo © [2007] Jupiterimages Corporation

 Origins
The religion began in India. It was founded by an Indian prince who became known as Buddha. The prince lived in a palace and led a happy life until one day he saw how the old and poor people lived outside the walls of his palace. There were many people living there who were sick and starving. The prince left his family and his wealthy life to travel the world, trying to find out why there was such suffering and unhappiness in the world.

He discovered that people were behaving in a selfish and greedy way. His teachings as Buddha were that people cause their own suffering because of their behaviour. If they stopped wanting to own things and to control others, they would be happy. Buddha taught that the end of all suffering was called Nirvana. People are thought to reach Nirvana after passing through many lives. Buddhists believe that after they die they are born again. During each life they become better people.

Monks
Every Thai male is expected to spend time as a monk at some stage of his life, usually for a about three months. Thai Buddhists try to earn a better life in their next rebirth by praying and by being generous, moral, patient, vigorous and wise.

People believe this Thai proverb, 'Do good and receive good; do evil and receive evil'. Buddhist monks carry on the teachings of Buddha and look after the temple compounds, which are called wats.

The monks eat twice a day only, once early in the morning and again before noon. They must eat whatever other people give them or bring to the wat. Monks can be seen in their saffron robes as they move about the villages and cities of Thailand. There are also Buddhist nuns,

who shave their heads, wear white robes and live at the temples.

Wats
There are approximately 33 000 wats inThailand. Wats consist of a walled compound containing a number of buildings including tall, bell-shaped chedis (left). Each chedi contains the ashes of lamas (head monks) or religious texts.

Praying at a wat
When Thais go to a temple to pray, they bring lotus buds and a number of lit incence sticks. They join their hands palms together holding these offerings and offer them up before a Buddha image by raising their hands to their foreheads. After praying, they leave the offerings at the foot of the image.

When visiting a wat, Thai Buddhists often buy a small square of gold leaf which they apply to a Buddha image that gradually becomes covered in gold. Many large wats have a number of Buddha statues especially for this practice.

Acknowledge this source in your bibliography like this:
Thomas, R. & Sydenham, S. Thailand [Online] www.kidcyber.com.au (2008)

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updated November 2008 © kidcyber