King Rama V, with the assistance of his half-brother, the Monk-Prince
Vajirananavarorasa, modernized the ecclesiastical education (Payutto 2001 : 137).
Payutto further reports that the Royal Siamese Tripitaka or thefirst complete set of
the Pali Canon was published; a royal library was founded to preserve Buddhist
sacred books and rare scriptures. However, Buddhist monks in Siam lost their
important position in education when King Rama VI reformed national education
from temple-based to school-based (Klausner 1993 : 160; Payutto 2001 : 137).
Payutto ( 2001 : 140–141) stated that Buddhist monks were considered part of the
traditional Thai society. As the Thai education system aims at Westernization,
Buddhist monks confined their activities to merit-making acts, preaching the
Precept Five on basic morality, focusing on monastic affairs, and construction of
monastic buildings. Some monks engaged in superstition and astrology. Payutto
( 2001 : 143) observes:
Modern Thailand is, however, often branded with modernization without development or
with misguided development. The lack of the monks’share in the process of development
must have been a factor in this undesirable result.
In contrary to the modernity asserted by the elites in Siam, Crawfurd ( 1967 ), a
British diplomat to Siam, reported the intermingled practices and beliefs of the
Siamese and the Indian and Chinese immigrants in 1822. Crawfurd observed the
worship of linga (phallic symbol) of Brahmanism, Hindu Gods and Goddesses, and
Chinese deity, such as Kuan Yin. Alongside with Brahmanism, animism, and
supernaturalism were being practiced as reported by Kitiarsa ( 1999 :77–82).
In the contemporary globalization period (1946-present), Thailand entered
postmodernity. From 1970 s onwards Thailand has been under theflux of con-
temporary cultural globalization via modern telecommunication technology,
transportation, mass media, and the Internet. Vuttanont et al. ( 2006 : 2069) explain
Thailand in transition from:
(1) feudal towards neo-capitalist political system^2 ; (2) from restricted towards widespread
information; (3) Buddhism towards multi-faith or secular; (4) from high towards low
religiosity; (5) from rural towards urbanized geography; and (6) from the following social
values to the new ones: from respect the old towards celebrates youth; from collectivism
towards individualism; from trusting towards sceptical; from modesty towards
self-expression; and from male dominated towards gender equality.
Bechstedt ( 2002 : 238–261) explains that the hierarchical system of the past
mixed with the emergence of new institutions formed by interest groups and new
social classes. Those in power have money and access to profits, shares, and stocks.
Khun Ying Amporn Meesuk, a renowned Thai scholar, interviewed by
Trisuriyadharma ( 2006 : 17) suggests that now the whole Thai society worships
money as God. Thai society is now facing a paradox between maintaining its
traditional culture and adjusting to new changes. Techapira ( 2006 ), a well-known
(^2) Teharanian (2007: 91) explains neo-capitalism as the incorporation of capital and global reach of
transnational corporations (TNCs), dominating state, civil societies, and communication networks;
disembodiment of human relations into a nexus of digital numbers.
6 1 Thai Buddhism, the Mass Media, and Culture Change in Thailand