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Thailand’s Animist Practices and Beliefs
Updated March 21, 2016 By Darren C (BlogDaz)
Before Hinduism and Buddhism were introduced into Thailand there was only one religious belief, that belief was that a spirit world existed, not only did the spirits exist but they were mightily powerful and controlling, this belief is called Animism and it manifests itself in the form of spirit worship. It might not be strictly correct to call Animism a religion, maybe it is better categorized as a spiritual belief (spirit worship), but it is without doubt the oldest form of worship known to mankind, ‘Spirit Worship’ in one form or another was practiced long before all the popular world religions.
The majority religion in Thailand is Buddhism, 95 percent of the population are Buddhist but the percentage of Thais who have animist beliefs is probably slightly higher. Animism is practiced on a daily basis by most Thai people, although their religion is Buddhism they actually devote more of their time to Animist beliefs than they do practicing Buddhism.