RELIGION-THAILAND: Monks Dabble in Protests over Reform Bill

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Chayanit Poonyarat

BANGKOK, Jan 28 2003 (IPS) - It is not often that Thai Buddhist monks come out in public protests, but that is what they turn to when it comes to measures they believe upset the religious culture.

Indeed, some of the 5,000 Buddhist monks and lay people who gathered here early this week to protest a monastic reform bill said the issue was something they would lay down their lives for. ”We are ready to die to stop the damage (to Buddhism) we foresee,” Thongkon Wongsamut, a key follower of a revered Buddhist monk, was quoted as saying by local media.

Thongkon led the group that submitted a petition to Deputy Prime Minister Visanu Krue-ngam, demanding that reform bill be thrown out by the Council of State, which studies proposed legislation in this country, 95 percent of whose 63 million people are Buddhist.

The petition delivered by Thongkon was passed last week by monks, nuns and lay people meeting at Asokaram temple in Samut Prakarn, 25 km south-east of Bangkok.

Thongkorn added that the revered monk Luangta Maha Bua, the abbot of a temple known for organising public donations to boost Thailand’s reserves at the height of the Asian crisis, was willing to sacrifice his life to protect Phra Dhammawinai – the code of conduct of Buddhist monks.

The monks argue that far from instituting reform, what the bill would do is wreck Buddhism. But proponents say it is meant to introduce new ways of addressing social ills, including how the clergy can cope with wayward monks that disillusion followers.

In many ways, the debate draws attention to the challenges Buddhism faces today, including how to respond adequately to problems that religions face amid commercialism and modernisation.

The proposed bill, which would amend the Sangha (monastic order) act, remains a proposal and has yet to be endorsed by the government of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra for tabling in parliament.

But it has already divided Buddhists, both monks and lay people, and has become an emotional as well as political issue.

Monks opposed to the proposed bill say its idea of creating a council of 30 monks – called Maha Kanissorn – to rule over the nation’s 300,000 monks runs counter to monastic discipline. At present, the Sangha Supreme Council governs them.

”The bill contradicts the Lord Buddha’s teaching, which measures the seniority of monks on the length of ordination not on their monastic positions,” said a statement by the monks. ”It is not right that the older monks would have to pay respect to younger monks.”

At present, the Sangha Supreme Council is composed of senior monks, and some say that this traditional structure needs to adjust to today’s realities.

But even these debates do not necessarily help address the challenges Buddhism faces today, some believe.

”Even if the government acceded to the opposition’s demand (against the reform bill), the crisis plaguing the clergy would not go away,” said Tavivat Puntarigvivat, director of research and development at the Bangkok-based World Buddhist University.

This is because the draft bill is based on the present Sangha bill that is dictatorial in nature, he points out.

The first such bill was passed in 1962 with support from then military strongman Sarit Thanarat in order to centralise powers within the Sangha council and, at that time, to end an attempt by progressive monks to democratise the monkhood’s governing body. The measure was revised in 1982.

”Only two advantages can be seen from this new Sangha bill,” said Tavivat.

First, the proposed council of 30 younger monks would infuse more strength in monastic activities he explains. Second, having a proposed office called national Buddhism office would make it easier for clergy to be in contact with monks and lay people.

However, the bill still allows a small group of people to rule over the monks and direct monastic affairs in the country, he points out.

”Structurally, there is no difference in that it only shifts the power from the Sangha Supreme Council to the new appointed-council, Maha Kanissorn,” said the Buddhist scholar.

But others do not favour the idea of a council, possibly composed of younger monks, becoming superior to the Supreme Council in the first place.

This, they add, would undercut the authority of the Supreme Patriarch, who heads the council, in governing the monastic community. The bill would also eliminate the king’s authority to appoint the Supreme Patriarch, critics argue.

But Tavivat says the past 40 years have proven that the centralised structure of Sangha council has failed to handle the problems Buddhism faces in the country.

These problems include cases of sexual abuse and impropriety and acquisition of wealth and property by monks, offences that violate the monkhood and have been widely reported in media.

Tavivat argues that deeper reforms are needed: ”If we are serious about a new bill, the draft council should be set up in order to hear what monks and lay people have to say about it. Buddhism belongs to these people as much as it does to others.”

Amid the controversy created by the proposed bill, the Thai government has shrewdly avoided jumping into the politically charged atmosphere.

”The government will not push the Council of State to submit the bill for consideration. The bill is not the government’s policy either,” said Deputy Prime Minister Visanu Krue-ngam.

Meanwhile, Thongkon says Luangta Maha Bua’s followers vow to gather 100,000 signatures against the bill and file them with the prime minister to make their point.

Their vocal opposition has drawn mixed reactions. ”It is upsetting to see monks in such an act of controversy,” said 40 year-old Narumon Apipuban, who considers herself a devout Buddhist. ”I do not see why the clergy should come out for a political move,” she said.

Last year, thousands of monks, nuns and lay Buddhists took to the streets to demand the setting up of a Buddhism ministry. Under a compromise solution to that row, Buddhism affairs are being looked after by a national Buddhism bureau under the prime minister’s office.