04 Nov
2015 Andrew R.C. Marshall Reuters
BANGKOK: A campaign to enshrine Buddhism as
Thailand's state religion has been galvanized by a radical Buddhist
movement in neighbouring Myanmar that is accused of stoking
religious tension, the leader of the Thai bid said.
Experts say the campaign could appeal to Thailand's
military junta, which is struggling for popularity 18 months after
staging a coup, and tap into growing anti-Muslim sentiment in a
country that prides itself on religious tolerance.
While Buddhists form an overwhelming majority in
both countries, Thailand has avoided the nationwide religious
violence that has killed hundreds of people in Myanmar, most of
them Muslims.
Now, Thai campaigners want Buddhism to be made the
country's official religion in a new constitution.
They draw inspiration from Ma Ba Tha, a powerful
monk-led group that pushed Myanmar's government to pass a raft of
pro-Buddhist legislation.
"What happened in Myanmar confirms our suspicions
that Buddhism is threatened by various subtle means," said Thai
campaigner Banjob Bannaruji, who chairs the Committee to Promote
Buddhism as the State Religion.
Banjob said Thai Buddhists have pushed for the state
religion law for many decades, but Myanmar's example had spurred
them to speed up "concrete efforts to make it happen".
Thailand's constitution was scrapped after the
military seized power in May 2014 and handpicked a committee to
write a new one. It must pass a referendum before a general
election, possibly in 2017, can restore a semblance of
democracy.
A previous attempt to include Buddhism as the state
religion in the 2007 constitution, written after an earlier
military coup, went nowhere.
But campaigners stand a better chance this time
round, said Ekachai Chainuvati, a constitutional law expert at Siam
University in Bangkok.
Adopting Buddhism as a state religion could give the
constitution more popular appeal and improve its chances of passing
a referendum, he said.
Amorn Wanichwiwatana, spokesman for the Constitution
Drafting Committee, said he could not comment on the likelihood of
the idea being adopted.
"But we have to listen to every suggestion," he
said.
"NEGLECTED RELIGION"
Myanmar's military-backed government this year
passed four so-called "race and religion protection" laws at Ma Ba
Tha's behest. Human rights groups say the laws discriminate against
Muslims and women.
While Ma Ba Tha's influence has grown, Thai Buddhism
has been shaken by scandal. Monks have been accused of stealing,
hoarding narcotics or having sex, prompting many to call for an
overhaul of the religion.
The state religion law would allow future
governments to better oversee monks and reform a "neglected
religion," said campaigner Banjob.
His group plans to collect a million signatures at
religious functions and via the internet to petition the
Constitution Drafting Committee.
Government statistics do not suggest a religion in
decline.
In the past decade, the number of Buddhist temples
rose by 15 percent to about 39,000. Thailand has about 350,000
monks.
Even so, said Somchai Surachatri, spokesman for the
National Office of Buddhism, a government agency tasked with
nurturing the religion, Buddhism could one day be
"devoured".
He spoke of receiving text messages warning that
Muslims were buying up land to build mosques in every Thai
province.
"That's why Buddhists have been uneasy and feel the
need to protect their religion," he said.
Such remarks carry echoes of Ma Ba Tha, which claims
Islam is eclipsing Buddhism in Myanmar.
Sunai Phasuk, a Thailand researcher for Human Rights
Watch, said there was "an increasing sense of suspicion" towards
Muslims.
Recent protests by monks and laypeople have halted
the construction of mosques and a halal food factory in northern
Thailand.
Also driving anti-Muslim sentiment, said Sunai, was
a conflict in southern Thailand between government forces and
ethnic Malay Muslim insurgents that has killed about 6,500 people
since 2004.
The murder of monks by insurgents deserves an
equally pitiless response, believes Aphichat Promjan, a monk who
teaches at Wat Benjamabophit, a famous Bangkok temple.
For every monk killed "a mosque should be burned,
starting from the northern part of Thailand southwards", Aphichat
wrote on Facebook on Oct. 29.
The post, accompanied by gruesome images, has been
shared or liked almost 2,000 times, but it also sparked
disdain.
"I don't agree with this violent idea, which is like
pouring fuel onto fire," one person commented in Thai.