outspoken criticisms of Thai society. In 1995 a court
decision codified a 1988 recommendation by national
san ̇gha leaders to expel Bodhirak from the monkhood
on the grounds that he had ordained monks and nuns
without authorization and had contravened a vinaya
prohibition forbidding claims to supernatural powers.
In several respects, Wat Thammakai stands at the
opposite end of the spectrum to Santi Asok. Also a
product of the early 1970s, its imposing national head-
quarters at Prathum Thani near Bangkok represents a
new version of state Buddhism with an aggressive, in-
ternational perspective. Its founders, Phra Tham-
machayo and Phra Thattachwo, were educated in
marketing before becoming monks under the inspira-
tion of the Venerable Monkhon Thepmunof Wat
Paknam, who was noted for his unique visualization
meditation method. The entrepreneurial skills they
brought to the movement led to its considerable suc-
cess but has also generated attacks on its commercial-
ism and charges of financial irregularity.
A striking feature of the religious ethos in Thailand
at the beginning of the twenty-first century is a bur-
geoning increase in cults. Although the veneration of
relics and images of the Buddha has long played a
central role in Buddhist devotional religion, its con-
temporary efflorescence is due in part to their com-
modification in the face of the cultural dominance of
commercial values. The cult of images and relics, fur-
thermore, is matched by the veneration of charismatic
monks to whom are ascribed a wide range of apotro-
paic powers, including the generation of wealth. New
cults, abetted by the financial crisis of 1997, include
the veneration of images and other material repre-
sentations of royalty, especially King Rama V, and the
popularity of the Bodhisattva Guanyin (Avaloki-
tes ́vara), which testifies to an increasing Chinese in-
fluence in the Thai economy.
One of the most encouraging developments in Thai
Buddhism at the beginning of the twenty-first century
is the movement toward change and reform generated
by a loose agglomeration of monks and laity. This
includes monks who have dedicated their lives to ad-
dressing a wide range of social, economic, and envi-
ronmental problems faced by the people they serve in
villages and towns throughout the country. One of the
chief inspirations for Buddhist reformism has beenTHAILANDThai Buddhists celebrate the new year by making merit. Here women give goods and flowers to Buddhist monks during a morning alms
offering in Bangkok, Thailand, 2002. AP/Wide World Photos. Reproduced by permission.