1. Research. conducted in Thailand June through August 1991.
August 1992 through July 1993.
and July through December 1994.
was made possible by grants from the Joint Committee on Southeast Asia of the Social Science Research Council and the American Council of Learned Societies.
with funds provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Ford Foundation.
the Southeast Asian Council of the Association of Asian Studies, and the Ford Foundation Comparative Scientific Traditions program of Hampshire College.
I thank David Brawn and Ariel Heryanto for helpful suggestions on an early draft of this article, and the National Research Council of Thailand for research permission.
2. While it is difficult to determine membership in a category such as "ecology monks," as many monks are interested in environmental work but do not label themselves as such, a sense of the scope of the movement can be gained from looking at the participation in a three-day conference (held near Bangkok in July 1991) cosponsored by 23 nongovernmental environmental and development organizations. The organizers expected around 60 monks to attend; over 200 actually registered.
3. From June to August 1991, there were articles on the conservation work of monks at least weekly in both Thai and English-language newspapers. While much of the coverage focused on the case of Phra Prajak. the monk who was arrested twice in 1991 for his ecological work as it conflicted with government policies concerning national forest land. the work of other ecology monks also received some attention.
On the legal case concerning Phra Prajak. see Reynolds (1994) and Taylor (1993b).
4. This term is borrowed from the title of a book in honor of one of the best-known Thai monks, Buddhadasa Bhikkhu, who called for social action as an aspect of Buddhist practice (Thai Inter-Religious Commission for Development and International Network of Engaged Buddhists 1990).
5. In later projects, Phrakhru Pitak involved provincial government officials and Sangha, including the governor and military leaders.
6. Economic enterprises that destroy natural forests include the creation of eucalyptus plantations and logging hardwood trees such as teak.
The former is occurring primarily in the northeast legally.
and at a rapid rate (see Lohmann 1991; Sanitsuda 1992a. 1992b).
while the latter continues throughout the country despite a national ban passed in 1989.
The widespread belief is that both frequently occur with the backing of factions within local, regional, and national governments and the military (Pinkaew and Rajesh 1991).
7. I thank Dr. Thongchai Winichakul and Dr. Robert Bickner for pointing out to me the several meanings of chaat as used in the sentence on the plaque.