It is generally known that Thailand is a land where Buddhism thrives and people of different religious faiths coexist peacefully even though the majority of Thai people are Buddhist. As Buddhism is very influential in Thais’ thinking and way of life, it will be interesting to examine how the religion views death and euthanasia.
The themes of impermanence, decay and death are omnipresent in Buddhist teaching. In Thailand, as in many Asian countries, Buddhism is identified as the authority par excellence on matters relating to death, and is closely linked to the rites and ceremonies associated with the transition from this life to the next one. Buddhist teaching emphasizes the importance of meeting death mindfully since the last moment of one’s life can be particularly influential in determining the quality of the next rebirth. Yet, the Thai people do not necessarily have only negative views on death. Because death is not regarded as a permanent loss but is part of the cycle of existence and rebirths, Thai people seem to accept death more readily than westerners.
In Buddhism, the very first precept of admonition for good living is the abstention from destruction of life. This prohibition applies to life of all forms, human and animal. And the precept is equally binding on both monks and laypersons. In discussing the issue of euthanasia, we are essentially concerned with the death of human beings.
At a very basic level, death may be defined as the termination or cessation of life. It can come about through a number of causes. Failure of life-sustaining forces at any point of time in life brings about what we term death through natural causes. Here no agency of persons or processes is involved. On the contrary, we have death of persons through killing: suicide and murder or culpable homicide not amounting to murder, including euthanasia. Termination of life or unnaturally bringing about death, whether by oneself or another, is regarded as killing. In law, the intensity of the offense or crime, committed under serious provocation or in self-defense, may be judged differently. Yet, from Buddhist teaching’s point of view, killing, regardless of the motives, is prohibitive because it is a sin, even though that life is one's own.