by a cacophony of voices, a pluralism that includes
a continuation of traditional forms and practices, a
new sectarianism, an efflorescence of magical cults, a
multifaceted reform movement, and an international-
ism attuned to the emergent global community. To-
day, Thai Buddhist identity extends beyond the
borders of a local community and the nation-state to
an increasingly globalized world.
State Buddhism established at the beginning of the
twentieth century and revised by the 1962 san ̇gha law
is still intact; however, calls for reforming the conser-
vative, hierarchical san ̇gha governance structure come
from younger liberal monks as well as educated laity.
There is increasing concern that mainstream civil Bud-
dhism is out of tune with the times that in the afflu-
ent decades of the 1980s and 1990s became more
complacent and materialistic. To be sure, in villages
and towns throughout the country the monastery con-
tinues to serve important community functions, espe-
cially educating the rural poor, even though many of
the roles once filled by monks are now the purview of
civil servants. As a result there has been a general de-
cline in the high regard and social status traditionally
accorded monks. Several high-profile instances of im-
morality and rancorous division have also challenged
the san ̇gha’s moral authority.
In the 1970s, partly in response to the changes
brought about by globalization and challenges to the
relevance of the san ̇gha, two nationwide sectarian
movements emerged, Santi Asok and Wat Tham-
makai. Although Phra Bodhirak, Santi Asok’s founder,
was ordained into the Thammayut and then the Ma-
hanikai orders, in the mid-1970s Bodhirak and his fel-
low monks cut all ties with the national san ̇gha. The
movement continued to grow rapidly in the 1980s, and
it gained special prominence through one of its mem-
bers, General Chamlong Simuang, a former governor
of Bangkok, member of parliament, and founder of
the Phalang Dhamma political party. Santi Asok de-
fined itself against the Thai mainstream, establishing
centers where monks and laity observed a moderately
ascetic regime, living in simple wooden huts, eating
one vegetarian meal daily, and avoiding intoxicants,
stimulants, and tobacco. In the view of mainstream
Thai Buddhists, Santi Asok had overstepped accept-
able limits both in terms of its independence and itsTHAILAND
A Thai Buddhist lays an offering of flowers on the feet of a giant Buddha statue at Intaravehan Temple in Bangkok, Thailand, 1997.
AP/Wide World Photos. Reproduced by permission.