It will be useful to look more closely at different types of Buddhistbased
communities in contemporary Thailand. Some of them were
active at a certain period of time and no longer exist, but paved the
way for later communities, while others have been active in creating
new opportunities and possibilities to strengthen local communities
with Buddhist values. Some of them are centered around individual
activist monks, while others are organized more as networks of people.
Some of them have been solving the overall socioeconomic problems
of their communities, while others have emphasized specific issues
such as protecting rain forests and the environment and building Buddhist
temple-based health care systems.