In 2015 the government has earmarked $113 million alone for renovating temples.ĭonations have always formed the bedrock of Thai Buddhism. Temples are under no obligation to declare their assets, which makes guessing how deep this generosity runs difficult.īut last year the National Institute of Development Administration estimated the country’s 38,000-odd temples receive between 100 and 120 billion baht in donations ($3.07-3.62 billion) every year.Īnd that’s on top of their state funding. It came third globally, behind Myanmar and Malta, with 77 per cent of the population giving money to charity. The overwhelmingly Buddhist nation is one of the most generous countries in the world, according to the 2014 World Giving Index. In contrast to the increasingly empty pews and coffers of many European churches, temples remain a boom business in Thailand. You sacrifice your things, sacrifice your time, sacrifice your money, sacrifice your heart,” the monk, Pra Maha Noppadom, explains. In one corner of the temple complex sits a monk in an air-conditioned box.
Nearby, coin-operated machines - similar to jukeboxes, but with a Buddha statue on top - churn out “lucky numbers” for the faithful as kneeling devotees hand over envelopes stuffed with cash, many picking up a tax reduction certificate on their way out. His donation entitles him to take a “lucky” floating candle in the shape of a flower. “It makes me feel good, boosts my health and makes me do better business,” Suker told AFP. In Wat Hua Lumphong, a temple in downtown Bangkok, garlands of banknotes flutter in the breeze as trader Sakorn Suker slips a 20 baht note ($1) into an urn. So much so that even the military junta is threatening to intervene.
But badly behaved clergy, corruption scandals and the vast wealth amassed by some temples has many asking if something is rotten at the heart of Thai Buddhism.įrom selfies on private jets to multimillion-dollar donations from allegedly crooked businessmen, Thailand’s monks are coming under increasing fire for their embrace of commercialism. BANGKOK - In deeply religious Thailand, monks have long been revered.
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