Buddhist-Based Communities in Thailand
In the past, before the modernization of Thailand under capitalism, the
Buddhist monastery was the center of village life and Buddhist monks
were its cultural leaders. The Buddhist sangha provided villagers not
only with Buddhist teachings, culture, and rituals, but also education,
medical care, and occupational advice. In such a community,
the spirit of sharing and cooperation prevailed and villagers shared
a common local Buddhist culture. This Thai rural social structure,
however, with the Buddhist sangha at its center, has collapsed under
the impact of economic dependence, social dislocation, and cultural
transformation.
What is needed in Thailand today is a revitalization of Buddhist
values fostered in so-called Buddhist-based communities.7
With leadership
from well-educated or well-informed Buddhist bhikkhu, bhikkhuni,
or laity, such communities will seek to promote the enduring
values of Thai culture, which are ultimately rooted in a religious
worldview. Cultural identity would be fostered through the adaptation
of such values, and a Buddhist social ethics would become the
guidelines for action, leading to a Buddhist liberation theology. The
economic model of such Buddhist-based communities would be selfsufficiency
rather than market dependency. Buddhist teachings, as
well as the increased self-respect and self-confidence of such a society,
would reduce the impact of consumerism, which in recent years
has been exacerbated by the omnipresence of advertising—on television,
on the radio, in popular magazines, as well as in the cyber
world. A renewal of cultural values, along with practical advice from
well-informed professionals, would help rural Thais regain economic
independence and improve their physical well-being.
Buddhist-based communities would offer a more participatory
democratic model for society. By regaining cultural and economic
independence, the rural sector of Thai society can take a more active
role in promoting Thai democracy. Once relative economic selfsufficiency,
political decentralization, and local cultural independence
are established, rural villages would be able to solve many local
problems in a new way. The task of rebuilding a healthy rural society
belongs to all Thais, with a pivotal role undoubtedly to be played by
Thai Buddhist bhikkhu and bhikkhuni, who should be widely respected,
demographically representing the rural people and residing throughout
the country
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.
Buddhist-Based Communities of the Past
Phrakhru Sakorn’s Community
Before Phrakhru Sakorn Sangvorakit came to Wat Yokkrabat at Ban
Phrao in Samutsakorn, most people who lived there were impoverished
illiterate farmers. The area was often flooded with sea water which
destroyed the paddies and left the people with no means of subsistence.
Realizing that poverty could not be eradicated unless new crops
were introduced, since salt water was ruining the rice fields, Phrakhru
Sakorn suggested planting coconut trees, following the example of a
nearby province (Sivaraksa, 1992:50).
Once the people of Yokkrabat started growing coconuts, he
advised them not to sell the harvest, because middlemen kept the
price of coconuts low. With assistance from three nearby universities
that were interested in the development and promotion of community
projects, the people of Yokkrabat began selling their coconut sugar all
over the country. In addition to advocating the cultivation of coconut
plantations, Phrakhru Sakorn led the villagers to grow vegetables and
fruits and encouraged the growing of palm trees for building materials
and the planting of herbs to be used for traditional medicine. Fish
raising was also advised. Under his guidance, within a few years the
people’s livelihood improved significantly (Phongphit, 1988:48).
Phrakhru Sakorn believed that a community’s basic philosophy
should be self-reliance and spirituality. He urged Yokkrabat residents
to first determine what they need in their family before selling the
surplus to earn money and buy things they could not produce by
themselves. In this way, villagers depended less on the market. Thisprinciple of self-reliance also underlaid the community’s credit