Buddhist Politics and Their Revolutionary Origins in Thailand

Abstract

Thailand is often viewed as an Asian country which has experienced no fundamental revolutionary change because the two major institutions on which the Thai nation is predicated—the monarchy and the Buddhist monkhood or Sangha—have deep roots in the past. Despite the continuity of these institutions, this article argues that Thai politics, which have been shaped in the past two decades by the influence of a number of activist Buddhist movements, can only be understood if it is recognized that the Thai political order has undergone major revolutionary transformations which stem from a reformation of Buddhism begun in the mid-nineteenth century. This reformation led, this article argues, to a fundamental shift in the practical interpretation of the Buddhist theory of action which, in turn, has led to an increasing number of people viewing themselves as being sufficiently freed from the constraints of previous karma to effect significant changes in their lives and those of the world in which they live.