sons and the head of the Dhammayuttika fraternity, were
given effective authority over the whole of the sangha in Chu-
lalongkorn’s domains. Prince Wachiraya ̄n, even before he
became prince patriarch (sanghara ̄ja) in 1910, was able with
the backing of the king to bring monks from the several dif-
ferent local Therava ̄da traditions into a single national order.
Prince Wachiraya ̄n also instituted reforms throughout the
sangha on the basis of Mongkut’s and his own interpretations
of Pali texts. The religious reforms instituted by Prince
Wachiraya ̄n became the basis for what might be termed
officially sanctioned orthodoxy in contemporary Thai
Buddhism.
Under King Chulalongkorn, Siam began a transforma-
tion into a modern state. To meet the threat of colonial ex-
pansion by the British and the French, Chulalongkorn insti-
tuted administrative reforms that entailed the replacement
of local lords by centrally appointed officials who adhered to
common bureaucratic norms. So long as Siam was ruled by
absolute monarchs, however, it still retained an important
characteristic of the traditional state; that is, order depended
upon the personal efficacy of the monarch. This traditional
characteristic was eliminated in the “revolution” of 1932,
during which a group of nonroyal “promoters” forced King
Prajadhipok (r. 1925–1935) to accept a constitution that
proclaimed Thai sovereignty to rest not in the monarch but
with the people as a nation.
Although the name Siam persisted for a time after 1932,
modern Thailand can be said to have begun in this year. The
revolution of 1932 focused attention on the question of who
made up the national community of Thai, a question that
emerged in the wake of large-scale migration of Chinese to
Thailand, the integration of peoples of different traditions
into a single state, and the drawing of clear territorial bound-
aries around the state as a consequence of pressures from
neighboring colonial powers. Since 1932, successive govern-
ments have made use of a unified sangha and a statewide sys-
tem of compulsory education to inculcate in the populace
the idea that Thai nationalism is rooted in what is taken to
be a common Buddhist heritage.
Both the reformation of Buddhism led by the Dham-
mayuttika fraternity and the emergence of state-sponsored
Thai Buddhist nationalism served to stimulate a self-
consciousness in many Thai about their religion. This self-
consciousness, in turn, stimulated yet further changes in
Thai religion. While the refiguration of Therava ̄da thought
begun by Mongkut early in the nineteenth century reached
a climax in the works of Prince Wachiraya ̄n, works that still
today form the basis of religious studies carried out by most
monks, a number of monks have continued to pursue signifi-
cant theological inquiries. By far the most influential of con-
temporary Buddhist thinkers is Phutthatha ̄t Phikkhu
(Buddhada ̄sa Bhikkhu), who lives at a center called Su ̄an
Mo ̄k (“garden of liberation”) in southern Thailand.
Phutthatha ̄t (b. 1906) has sought in lectures and writings to
interpret the Dhamma with reference to the theologies of
other religions, most notably Zen Buddhism, and with refer-
ence to the experiences of Thai living in a much more secu-
larized world than did their forebears. Writing for a more
learned audience, the monk known under the title of Phra
Ra ̄tchawaramun ̄ı (Ra ̄javaramun ̄ı)—given name Prayut (b.
1941)—has sought also to make the Buddhist message rele-
vant to modern life. His Phutthatham (Buddhadhamma),
published in 1982, has been acclaimed as one of the most
significant works on Therava ̄da ethics ever written.
The radical reformulation of Buddhist practice also
begun by Mongkut and the founders of the Dhammayuttika
fraternity has been carried yet farther by some monks. A ̄ca ̄n
Man Phu ̄ rithattha (Bhu ̄ ridatto Thera), a Lao-speaking
Dhammayuttika monk from northeastern Thailand who
died in 1949 at the age of 78, concluded early in his life that
to follow the Path to ultimate salvation, one must withdraw
from the world and devote one’s life to meditation. His life
as a dhu ̄tanga, or wandering ascetic, became the model for
many other monks. A number of his disciples, and the disci-
ples of his disciples, known in Thai and Lao as a ̄ca ̄n (Skt.,
a ̄ca ̄rya), or teachers, have achieved fame as meditation mas-
ters and strict followers of the Dhamma. A new interest in
the significance of meditation for Buddhist practice has also
been strongly encouraged by a number of non-
Dhammayuttika monks and lay masters. Phutthatha ̄t’s cen-
ter, Su ̄ an Mo ̄k, and satellite centers elsewhere, like the forest
retreats of the a ̄ca ̄n, attract many laypersons as well as monks
who wish to learn to meditate. In the 1950s Phra Phimon-
latham (Vimaladhamma Thera; given name A ̄satha), a high-
ranking monk from Wat Maha ̄tha ̄t, a major temple-
monastery in Bangkok, introduced and worked to popularize
a form of vipassana ̄ (“insight”) meditation that he had
learned from a master in Burma.
Prior to the death of Prime Minister Sarit Thanarat in
1963, Thai governments considered the burgeoning popu-
larity of meditation monks as potentially, if not actually,
threatening to establishment Buddhism. Since the mid-
1960s, however, the disciples of A ̄ca ̄n Man in particular have
been accorded increasing official support, and the king and
queen have been conspicuous in their patronage of these
monks and in their attendance at the funerals of A ̄ca ̄n Man’s
major disciples. Forest monasteries today are popular retreats
for urban laypersons who seek to temper their active involve-
ment in the world with a detachment that comes from medi-
tation practice. Meditation centers have also been established
in Bangkok and other cities, not only by monks but also by
the laity. Among the most famous lay masters is A ̄ca ̄n Na ̄e ̄p,
a woman. Since the late 1970s, Phimonlatham has also un-
dertaken a program to stimulate the popularity of insight
meditation in rural communities as well as in the cities and
towns.Although what might be termed the “meditation move-
ment” has been accommodated to establishment Buddhism
in Thailand, other movements have emerged in reaction to
official orthodoxy and to government-sponsored Thai Bud-9096 THAI RELIGION