1.3. Buddhism in Thai History

The third son of Pho Khun Sri-indraditya, Pho Khun Ramkamhaeng succeeded to the throne of Thailand in 1277 (B.E. 1820) and ruled as the third king of Sukhothai. In this reign Sukhothai was at its height of power and prosperity. His kingdom extended in the north of Prae and Nan, in the east to Veintaine, in the south to the extreme end of the Malay Peninsula and in the west as far as Hongsavadi. It was he who invented the Thai alphabet to replace the old Khmer alphabet and who introduced the present form of Theravada^[1] Buddhism to the Thai people.

By this time Buddhism had disappeared from India and the center of the religion moved to Ceylon, where, under the patronage of King Parakramabahu the Great, who emulated King Asoka, the monks were united and the sacred texts were reestablished in their original purity. A council generally known as the Seventh Buddhist Council was in under the presidency of Kassapa Thera in about 1177 (B.E. 1720)^[2].

With the influence of revival, Buddhist monks were sent from many countries to study the newly revised Doctrine and Discipline there. These monks were re-ordained and took back home the revised ordination procedure (Upasamapdavithi) later known as Lankavamsa. Some of them even invited Ceylonese monks to accompany them to teach the pure from the Dharma in their countries.

In Thailand, the monks of Lankavamsa^[3] sect settled first in Nakorn Sridhammaraj and their fame soon reached Sukhothai. King Ramkamhaeng then invited a dignitary called Phra Mahawami to his capital and gave him royal support in propagating the Doctrine. It is said that the image of Phra Buddha Sihing was transferred from Ceylon to Thailand at this time.

After that the Theravada Buddhism of the Lankavmsa tradition became popular and was more and more widely practiced in Thailand. Some of the Thai monarchs such as king Lithai of Sothothai and king Borm Trailokanath of early Ayutthaya even entered the Order and lived for some time as Bhikkhus. Thai later resulted in the custom of Thai youths entering the Order for at least a short period in their lives. Pali was studied and used as the fundamental language of the Scriptures instead of Sanskrit. The monks of the older sects gradually joined those of the reformed tradition into one single sect. The Mahayana Buddhism adopted under the Srivijaya and Khmer rule declined and finally disappeared. This marks the period in which at Buddhist in Thailand were unified under the one single faith of the newly revised Theravada Buddhism^[4].

In 1350 (B.E. 1893) another Thai kingdom called Sri-ayudhya was founded in central Thailand by king Uthong of the Chiangrai dynasty. By the middle of the next century, the three Thai kingdoms had been unified under the rule of Ayutthaya.

During the Ayutthaya period^[5], a Buddhist Council, generally known as the Tenth Council, the First to be held in Thailand, was called by King Tilokaraj of Chiangmai in 1477 (B.E. 2020). At that time the Lanna monks were very famous in the study of Pali and many scholarly works in Pali were produced in Lanna^[6].

In 1753 (B.E. 2297) in the reign of king Boromkos, the king of Ceylon wished to revive Buddhism in his land and sent to Thailand for Bhikkhus who could reestablish the higher ordination. A group of monks headed by Phra Upali was sent there and the Siammese ordination has been in use in Ceylon to the present time. There also developed a Buddhist sect called Syawa Vamsa or Upali Vamsa or Siyam Nikaya, which is still the major sect in that country.

In 1767 (B.E. 2310) Ayudhya fell under the attacks of the Burmese. Though the Burmese were repelled, the country was disorganized and Buddhism declined king Taksin and King Rama I did very much to revive the religion. The second Buddhist Council of Thailand was held in the reign of king Rama I. The Tripitaka and commentaries were collected, revised and established. The Emerald Buddha, the Buddha Sihing and many other priceless Buddha images were collected and enshrined as national treasures in various temples in Bangkok. King Mongkut was a monk for 27 years and knew Doctrine well. Seeking to give monastic life its former strictness, he founded a new movement within the Order and called it the Dhammayuttika sect to distinguish it from the original Sangha, which was later called the Mahanikaya sect. Time went on and there have been movements, changes and improvements in both two sects do not differ in any substantial way from each other.

The reign of king Chulalongkron (Rama V) marks the period of great changes and progress both in secular and religious affairs. The third Buddhist Council was held in 1878 (B.E. 2431), where the Thai alphabet was used in making copies of the Tripitaka instead of the modified Khmer Script. By royal command the revised version of the Tripitaka was published the first time in modern book form. Two Buddhist universities were founded for the higher education of Buddhist monks, Mahamakut, in memory of the Royal Father, and Mahachulalangkorn, to perpetuate the memory of the Founder himself. In 1903 (B.E. 1446) the Sangha Administration act of R.E. 121^[7] was passed to provide officially a separate government for the Order and to achieve perfect harmony between the Sangha and the State. Thus has Buddhism prospered and become firmly established in Thailand.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Theravada is the oldest surviving branch of Buddhism. The name Theravada litteraly means “the Teaching of the Elders.” It is relatively conservative, and according to Rupert Gethin, it is closer to early Buddhism than other exiting Buddhist traditions. This tradition recognize the teaching approved at the first council led by Venerable Mahakassapa and other Arahants. The views of the Buddha, according to which Bhikkhus observe and practice as it has been agreed upon at the councils and handed down without any changes by the Theras led by Venerable Mahakassapa. As the Theravada Schools cover Sri Lanka,Myanmar,Thailand, Lao,and Cambodia etc,the scriptures preserved in these countres are written in Pali language.

[2]:

D.G.E. Hall., A History of South-East Asia, p. 152.

[3]:

William Geiger, The Mahavangsa or the Great Chronicle of Ceylon, p.82.

[4]:

Ibid., p.125.

[5]:

Throughout the Ayutthaya period, contact with Ceylon, continued to look to Ceylon for authority. Many of them, indeed, went to the island for re-ordination and study. A group of ten bhikkhus came back from Ceylon to establish a new fraternity, this time of gamavasin, that became known as gamavasi khwa, “village-dwellers of the right”. The “village-dwellers of the right” are reported to have been ordained on a raft in the Kalyani River in Ceylon in 1423, with Vanaratana Mahathera as their preceptor. In fact, the royal title, vanarat, for the head of this new fraternity at Ayutthaya was taken from that of their preceptor in Ceylon, Vanaratana. From that time Ayutthaya had three nikayas, “fraternities”: gamavasi sai, “the village-dwellers of the left”, gamavasi khwa, “the village-dwellers of the right” and araggavasi “forest-dwellers”.We do not know why the “village-dwellers” were known as of the right and of the left. Perhaps the monasteries of the new fraternity were situated south of the city, and those of the older gamavasin in the north. “The right” usually means the south and “the left” the north. To the west of the city, however, lived the “forest-dwellers” (araggavasi). See Udomsri Sweang Karn Pokkhrong Khanasong Thai (The Administration of the Sangha), pp.69-70.

[6]:

In the Kingdom of Lanna, at present the northern part of Thailand, on the other hand, the Sangha was administered independently of Ayutthaya without much interference from the monarch. This reflected the fact that for centuries Lanna, with its capital at Chiang Mai, was an independent state.

[7]:

R.E. is short Rattanakosin Era, also known as Bangkok Era, referring to the number of years which have passed since the establishment of Bangkok as the nation’s new capital in 1782 (B.E. 2325).