South East Asia Research

Thailand's decade-long economic boom, which came to a sudden end in July 1997, created a mood of national confidence that influenced all aspects of social, cultural, and religious life. At the height of the growth euphoria in the mid-1990s, the aged abbot of a remote rural monastery emerged as the country's most prominent religious figure. Luang Phor (Reverend Father) Khoon Parisuttho, abbot of Wat Ban Rai monastery, is widely believed to possess supernatural abilities and has become the focus of a national cult which emphasizes the acquisition of wealth and power. In this article the author analyses the diverse media, economic, and political influences that transformed Luang Phor Khoon into a national cult figure and which placed this ostensibly world-renouncing ascetic at the centre of a ‘prosperity religion’ that emphasizes wealth more than salvation. He considers the limitations of current approaches to the study of Thai religiosity and suggests the need for an alternative, semiotic analysis which views Thai capitalism as a signifying system. In conclusion, he contrasts competing interpretations of the Luang Phor Khoon ‘phenomenon’. Does this cult demonstrate the destructive capacity of capitalism to co-opt and debase Asian cultures, as claimed by some Thai critics, or should it be viewed as an example of Thai cultural adaptability whereby an alien capitalist way of life has been indigenized by being understood within a Thai symbolic frame?

Before the British annexation in 1886, Catholic and Protestant missionaries in Upper Burma had little success in converting the local population. A deeply-entrenched Buddhism largely frustrated their endeavours. Furthermore, while the king welcomed the contribution of the missionaries to education and sought their help in diplomatic negotiations, he also restricted their activities in order to preserve religious support for his authority. Increasingly, therefore, the missionaries favoured British intervention. But for their part, the British authorities showed little enthusiasm for the missionary cause. They saw the missionaries as an unwelcome complication as they pursued Britain's commercial and diplomatic objectives in Upper Burma.

While the suburban-dwelling middle classes of Bangkok have been portrayed as essentially individualistic and materialistic, attention to the development of particular housing communities can reveal significant patterns of neighbourhood formation and commitment to localities. This paper will show that such commitment to ‘place’ can be revealed in a high capacity for mobilization and co-operation in efforts to improve the immediate physical and social environment. Such a capacity needs to be interpreted not only in organizational but in cultural terms as well. These cultural meanings are drawn from both common lifestyle patterns and expectations, personal histories, and occupations, as well as more broadly-shared Thai idioms. In this paper the author explores the importance to householders of key cultural defining terms which express their sense of well-being, ecological values, and perceptions of the community's development since their arrival. In the context of South East Asian mega-cities, with limited state capacity to provide urban services and steadily deteriorating environments, recognizing and encouraging the capacity of suburban neighbourhood groups to mobilize and co-operate in culturally meaningful ways to solve problems of mutual concern is crucial.