[FACT comments: Note that there were 47 people who complained about websites in 2009 with public oversight by 1.2 million Thais.. This resulted in govt blocking 55,000 sites!]
BUYER BEWARE
Volunteers keep a close guard on Thai culture
1.3m people from across the country help watch, read and browse the media for inappropriate content
Lamphai Intathep
- Bangkok Post: January 9, 2010
- http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/30722/volunteers-keep-a-close-guard-on-thai-culture
Every day 1.3 million volunteers from 4,825 networks across the country watch television, listen to the radio, browse the internet, watch movies in cinemas and on video discs, and read magazines and newspapers.
Standing in front of dozens of TV monitors, Ladda Tangsupachai, head of the Cultural Surveillance Department, vows to keep a close eye on Thai culture. APICHART JINAKUL
We all do at least some of these things ourselves, but the volunteers do not just do it simply for pleasure as we might.
The volunteers are monitoring the media for anything that might be inappropriate so they can bring it to the attention of the Cultural Surveillance Department.
The agency on the 18th floor of Thanalongkorn Tower in Bang Phlat district is charged with safeguarding our culture.
It informs the public of threats and warns agencies, and the producers of the offensive content, so that they can take action to limit the damage to Thai culture.
For example, the Information and Communications (ICT) Ministry would be alerted to any website found posting inappropriate messages.
However, with only nine officials, it is impossible for these self-described “culture police” to perform their task alone. In addition to the major media, whether print or electronic, they even have to monitor billboards, posters, calendars and the like. Thus the need for help from volunteer networks.
“The surveillance work also requires all to work because the networks live closer to the people,” department chief Ladda Tangsupachai said.
“Most of the complaints are lodged by parents.
“The internet, television and the print media are always top of the list for containing inappropriate information that affects our cultural identity.”
In this age of communication, people can readily get information through all manner of media, be it mobile phones, television, newspapers, books, songs, billboards and the internet.
This information can have a positive or a negative affect on the consumers, so it is necessary to have someone to observe the media so they do not harm the culture, Ms Ladda said.
“If we find smoke somewhere, then we will immediately inform the appropriate organisations to put it out,” Ms Ladda said.
The Cultural Surveillance Department opened its doors 14 years ago. Back then it was under the Education Ministry before it was transferred to the Culture Ministry in 2002.
The department’s main concern is children who are exposed every day to media, especially the internet.
One study claims children aged from 12 months to 12 years can be taught and readily absorb everything they see. It is important to maintain quality in the media, she said.
Ms Ladda recognises she has been criticised by some groups for simply finding fault, especially with teenagers.
“Some say I am outdated or live in the age of the dinosaurs. I do not prohibit people from wearing tank tops, hot pants or platform shoes. They can follow fashion trends, but it should be at the right place at the right time.”
The culture police commander-in-chief insists that protection against inappropriate content is necessary and the cause needs the help of everybody, not just her department’s staff and their volunteers.
“It needs all Thais to open their eyes and ears to everything that damages our cultural heritage,” she said.
Contact Buyer Beware: consumers@bangkokpost.co.th
Film censorship in Thailand in 2009
Wise Kwai’s Thai Film Journal: January 12, 2010
http://thaifilmjournal.blogspot.com/2010/01/film-censorship-in-thailand-in-2009.html
In a recent blog post, the Movie Audience Network in Thailand looks back at 2009, reviewing the first year that Thailand’s motion-picture ratings system has been in effect.
Before the ratings came online in August, two films were banned from commercial release, Kevin Smith’s Zack and Miri Make a Porno — probably just for the title and premise alone — and the teen slasher thriller All the Boys Love Mandy Lane.
Thunska Pansittivorakul’s This Area Is Under Quaratine could not be shown at November’s World Film Festival of Bangkok due to lack of “appropriate documents”.
Before its release early last year, Meat Grinder was ordered to change its Thai title and had some scenes cut.
Hollywood releases censored included My Bloody Valentine 3D and Watchmen, which had the pixellation and blurring of the old regime. Also, the Thai DVD of Watchmen is censored too, so don’t buy it in Thailand.
The creepy-kid thriller Orphan, released just before the ratings came into effect, was also censored.
Bruno, which had a limited release in July, was also censored in some cinemas (see comments below).
After the ratings system was enacted, at least two Thai films were reportedly deemed politically sensitive and were ordered cut or re-edited. Sahamongkol’s horror anthology Maha’lai Sayong Kwan (Haunted Universities) made references to students being killed by soldiers during the 1970s pro-democracy demonstrations in Bangkok. And Manop Udomdej’s Suay … Samurai (Vanquisher) had scenes about violence in southern Thailand.
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“Meet A Gang’s Rep In A Go-Go Bar”
“Pay Off The Guards At Bangkwang Prison”
“Move Stolen Art Through Suvarnabhumi Airport”
2Bangkok: January 29, 2010 http://www.2bangkok.com/ Nils updates: Mafia Wars Bangkok is still delayed…… however, a small number of users have been selected as beta testers and been given access to the first 2 new job tiers. Also, Zynga has released a “Royal White Elephant” limited loot item and “Bangkok Crates” containing some new Asian weapons, armor and vehicles, available to all users for in-game currency. |
More at the (very comprehensive) Mafia Wars Wiki, including detailed item lists, job names for the tiers (‘Brawler & ‘Criminal’) plus artwork (as leaked/compiled by users who already have access): Bangkok, Brawler, Criminal, Faction Store, Purchased in Bangkok, Bangkok crate, tuk-tuk, and a nice business: tourist guide scam (right)
Govt targets print media
- Bangkok Post: January 20, 2010
- http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/31297/govt-targets-print-media
The National Library Office has filed a formal police complaint against the editor of Thai Red News weekly newspaper, accusing the owners of failing to register the pro-Thaksin publication.
Culture Minister Teera Slukpetch, a Democrat, said yesterday that Wilawan Sapphansaen, the director of the NLO, reported the office had lodged a complaint with the Crime Suppression Division on Thursday against Somyos Prueksakasemsuk, publisher and editor of Thai Red News, for publishing and distributing the newspaper without registering it as required under Section 11 of the 2007 Publishing Registration Act.
The offence is punishable by a six-month jail term and a 10,000 baht fine, or both.
The publisher is also accused of violating Section 9 of the 2007 Publishing Registration Act by failing to send at least two copies of the newspaper to the NLO within 30 days of starting to distribute the newspaper.
Mr Teera said the NLO was planning to file similar charges against the publishers of four other magazines: Zoo weekly, Dara Nangbaeb, Cute and Happy Girl.
Kriangkrai Sampatchalit, director-general of the Fine Arts Department which supervises the NLO, said the department intended to crack down on print media that failed to register.
Thai Red News is a weekly newspaper founded by Wiboon Chaemchuen, a former senator, and Mr Somyos, a labour activist turned red shirt leader.
It was first distributed on June 5, 2009, at a cost of 20 baht.
Mr Somyos said the editorial team adopted the name from the old publisher, whom he understood had registered the name.
He said that the legal action against the newspaper was politically motivated.
“The government just wants to silence the red shirt members,” he said.
“There are hundreds of magazines and newspapers which have violated the publishing act. If the government closes our paper, others have to be closed too,” he said.According to Mr Somyos, Thai Red News has a circulation of roughly 30,000 copies.
[FACT comments: There could be no better example of the old politics and the old corruption. We expect this will ruin Juthamas’ travel plans. Will Thailand extradite her?]
Former Thai tourism chief indicted in the US
Juthamas Siriwan (Associated Press)
Bangkok Pundit: January 21, 2010
http://asiancorrespondent.com/bangkok-pundit-blog/former-thai-official-indicted-in-the-us
| BP has already blogged (here, here, here, here and here) about the US charges filed against Hollywood producer Gerald Green and his wife Patricia in regards to their paying of bribes to the governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (i.e Juthamas Siriwan) so they could manage the Bangkok International Film Festival. Juthamas was the governor under Thaksin, but joined the military-friendly Puea Paendin for the 2007 General Election. The Greens were convicted and will be sentenced this week. Now, there has been a new update as the Canadian Press reports:
A former Thai tourism official and her daughter have been indicted on charges that they accepted bribes from a Los Angeles filmmaking couple in exchange for running the Bangkok International Film Festival. An indictment unsealed Tuesday in Los Angeles charges Juthamas Siriwan, the ex-governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, and her daughter, Jittisopa Siriwan, with conspiracy and eight other counts. If convicted, they each face up to 20 years in prison. It was not immediately clear whether Siriwan and her daughter were in custody or had retained an attorney. Federal prosecutors said Siriwan accepted about $1.8 million in bribes from film producers Gerald and Patricia Green between 2002 and 2007 so the couple could run the Bangkok film festival and land other tourism-related deals. The scheme netted the couple, who inflated their budgets so Juthamas could be paid off, about $13.5 million, authorities said. TNA has the local response: Thailand’s Department of Special Investigation (DSI) on Thursday said the National Counter-Corruption Commission (NACC) will decide on how to proceed with the bribery case of the former governor of Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) following the US court indictment on bribery charges. DSI director-general Tharit Pengdit commented as a Los Angeles court on Tuesday charged ex-TAT governor Juthama Siriwan and her daughter Jittisopa Siriwan for receiving $1.8 million in bribes from film producers Gerald and Patricia Green between 2002 and 2007 in an exchange for running the Bangkok International Film Festival and other tourism-related deals. The DSI chief the NACC must consider how to proceed with the case. Col Piyawat Kingkate, who headed the investigation team probing Mrs Juthamas case in 2007, said the DSI coordinated with the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in collecting the evidence. BP: So will the US seek to extradite Juthamas or will Thailand try her? When will the Thai authorities get around to doing something? The NACC seems awfully busy with their “negligence” investigations. Here is an actual corruption case. We have specific bank accounts and we had details of payments. Now, while a Shinawatra has not been charged and the links to evil one are somewhat tenuous given that Juthamas joined Puea Paendin and not Puea Thai, shouldn’t we have some progress on this case since the US authorities have already done the investigation? h/t to @wisekwai on Twitter |
Thailand’s ten greatest fears-Nation
31-01-10
The coming decade: Thailand’s ten greatest fears
Kavi Chongkittavorn
The Nation: January 4, 2010
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2010/01/04/opinion/opinion_30119624.php
WE LIVE in the great paradox of our times. Thai people live longer and better than their ancestors enjoyed centuries ago. Yet, as we enter the second decade of the 21st Century, we are today more afraid of everything than before – just read the headlines in the Thai press during the past three days. To survive, a clear mind about ourselves and society – shortcomings and potential – is needed. The following ten greatest fears must be wrestled with and brought to ground.
1. CONCERN OVER HIS MAJESTY. The Thais have taken for granted that their King would live forever. Universally they would never think of losing a king. His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej is 82 years old and has recently recovered from a month-long illness.
Sooner or later, the people of this country will have to decide on their political future – as nobody else can or will. Since 2001, political developments have pushed forward myriad forms of governance. Constructive and open debate on the unique institution he represents, so far enjoyed by foreigners, must be encouraged among local intellects. For the time being, lessons and insights culled from present and former kingdoms, near and far, would be useful.
2. FEAR OF LOSING THAI WAY OF LIFE. The easy-going life style which Thailand is famous for has long gone. At present we are a country of cynics who do not allow other people to excel at things they can do well. Every act seems treacherous these days. The usual Land of Smiles and Amazing Thailand is no more. Thais need to think outside the box and live on. A new Thai way of life that is more dynamic and multicultural will emerge incorporating traditional and new values. How can we stay free, as the word Thai means, if we remain static, narrow-minded, passive with agonised faces?
3. FEAR OF LOSING NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY. Thailand, formerly Siam, has warded off enemies and maintained the country’s independence and freedom. The leaders of yesteryear were triumphant because the people were united and followed common leaders. However in present fragmented Thailand, many power wielders exalt their own demagoguery. As a result, ugly national tendencies have popped up. Right-wingers and nationalist extremists rear their ugly heads once more and are making news headlines everyday, recalling lost glories and territorial integrity.
Fear of autonomy, in terms of lexicon, has blocked many doable resolutions of century-old violence in southern provinces.
4. FEAR OF INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM. Of late, Thai society and people dare not peer into the unknown. Proliferation of new media has made attempts to block the flow of information and analysis, and keep them unheard, impossible. Without openness and access to all forms of information, mutated views and rumours that undermine public morals, are found aplenty abroad. Without freedom of thought, local citizens would be left out of information chains, crucial for the country’s survival and progress. Thai society should not fear intellectual freedom. We are a resilient people and capable of absorbing the severe shock of harsh realities.
5. FEAR OF COLOUR-BLINDNESS. Colours epitomise freshness or revolutions in other nations. Over here colours could mean bloodshed. Visitors fear getting caught wearing two deadly colours – yellow and red. Even US State Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton wore a turquoise colour dress during her only TV press interview in Bangkok – not to appear on the wrong side. If the colour division continues, it could be the country’s biggest time-bomb. Strange but true, during economic hardship, ordinary folks forge a sense of belonging and security through colour identification. The rich and poor Thai, like football fans, can mingle with oneness of colour. Cheers and boos accompanied by hand or foot plastic clappers are panacea these days.
6. FEAR OF INSIGNIFICANCE. This newly coveted social value was brought about by the ascension of tycoon cum exhibitionist Thaksin Shinawatra, who adores success, extravaganza and significance. Willingness to pay for deceptive schemes to increase significance is rampaging in all strata. Self-adoring stories and biographies written by ghosted writers are popular among the well to do. Live events organised by professional groups are in trend to create illusions of past grandeur or never-have been experiences. One common theme runs through these books and live events – the claim of being humble and more full of metta [universal love] than others.
7. FEAR OF POLITICAL CHAOS. Numerous disturbances and political turmoil,including the April would-be carnage, were avoided partially due to Abhisit’s ceaseless luck and good karma. His leadership’s transparency and accountability has helped his political longevity in executing, not abusing, power. This quality will help him to reign-in military and police top brass, especially those with close ties with Thaksin. Again, pundits have predicted political conflict will go on and perhaps intensify this year. Deep in our gut, we must not be held hostage by catastrophic writers, who refuse to correct mistaken perceptions but choose to amplify them. Self-defeating illusion has become a serious pandemic.
8. FEAR OF TELLING THE TRUTH. The way wide-eyed Jatuporn Promphan of the Phuea Thai Party manufactures lies and gets away scot free reveals serious flaws in Thai society. He can easily outwit Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi propagandist, as he is doing it so often. His boss, Thaksin, is better as he acts out on the global stage using all available new media outlets. The two follow Goebbels’ famous dictate: if you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. Little lies, told repeatedly, will become a huge lie that the Thai public takes as truth by default.
With millions of free-spending dollars and media spin over three years, Thaksin succeeded in constructing a Potemkin Village, replacing his homeland. Now some of these lies seem to be infecting countries near and far.
9. FEAR OF ABHISIT’S WITHERING LEADERSHIP. The boyish leader has baffled all observers by his infallibility. Thai public and media have a Jekyll and Hyde dualism – an Augustus-like dictator but with a playfully gentle quality. They adore a pliant prime minister.
Unfortunately, Abhisit does not fit in this mould. Unshakeable composure during exchanges with opposition heavyweights cum rumour mongers has become his magic wand enabling him to survive political voodoos and media character assassinations. His non-prime-minister’s good looks are mainly to blame, pundits professed, but very few have credited his political ingenuity – decency and the ability to accommodate with existing institutions. We, as a nation, have a dangerous mindset: no prime minister, or any leader, is good enough to solve the country’s problems. Therefore he is the problem. In weeks ahead, it can impact on Abhisit’s psyche and performance. He has to walk a fine line. What would his character be if he morphs into a ruthless leader or deal maker, as many wish him to be?
10. FEAR OF THE FICKLE FUTURE. It is the worst form of fear. Did the worst come to pass? Probably not. Astrologers, who seem to govern this crisis-prone nation, have worked overtime during New Year’s Eve churning out pessimistic visions of the country’s future. Maniacs, like retired General Panlop Kinmanee and Maj-General Katiya Sawatdiphol, add fuel to the fire. Their egotism grows according to casualties caused.
Self-fulfilling prophecy at work. Thai people normally get an adrenaline rush hearing their lives will get worse, mired in ceaseless violence. Some would work harder and save more by eating Mama instant noodles, while others would want to get old quickly in order to receive the government’s Bt500 monthly allowance.
Replace the lèse majesté laws-PPT
31-01-10
Replace the lese majeste law
Political Prisoners in Thailand: January 9, 2010
http://thaipoliticalprisoners.wordpress.com/2010/01/09/new-replace-the-lese-majeste-law/
Songkhran Grachangnetara, described as an “entrepreneur,” is a guest columnist in the Bangkok Post. His most recent article writes of the need for reform. His fifth call for reform is this: “we should rid ourselves of the lese majeste law. Let us be honest; this law was enacted not to protect the monarchy but was concocted to serve the dubious intent of power-hungry generals. Lese majeste became a very potent weapon for dictators and is still used today as an effective instrument for character assassination and the sending to jail of those located at the opposite end of the political spectrum. This law exists only to stifle creative political discourse and has been responsible for the destruction of countless innocent lives. The people deserve to have legislation that ‘truly’ preserves and protects an institution that is still considered to be a vital pillar of our political existence.”
None of this is particularly accurate and lacks any attention to the history of lese majeste. Replacing it with “legislation that ‘truly’ preserves and protects…” actually sounds rather chilling. Even so, a call for an end to this political law is worth repeating here.
Forest Monks
Public Broadcasting System: January 15, 2010
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/episodes/january-15-2010/forest-monks/5472/
LUCKY SEVERSON, correspondent: This ragtag parade in northwest Thailand, in the area known as the Golden Triangle, is a celebration of sorts, but it also has a very serious purpose, and one that has had dangerous consequences.
(speaking to Thai man): How was he killed?
PIPOB UDOMITTIPONG: He was stabbed to death.
SEVERSON: You think that he was killed because of his environmental work?
UDOMITTIPONG: Of course, definitely.
SEVERSON: Why?
UDOMITTIPONG: Because there was no other reason. He’s such a nice man. If you meet in person, he’s a very amicable man. He has no enemies whatsoever.
SEVERSON: What was so unusual about the killing was that the victim held a position of great respect in Thai society. The victim was a Buddhist monk, an environmental activist.
Susan Darlington is writing a book about Thailand’s environmental Buddhism.
PROFESSOR SUSAN DARLINGTON (Hampshire College): There were 18 human rights and environmental activists who were assassinated in Thailand in a three-year period, none of whose murders were solved. So somebody was feeling threatened and had the power to push back and try to send perhaps warnings or to stop these people altogether.
SEVERSON: Sulak Sivaraksa is a noted Buddhist scholar who has written over a hundred books. He claims he knows who was pushing back against the monks who were trying to protect the forests: international corporations with financial ties to some corrupt generals in the Thai military.
SULAK SIVARAKSA (International Network of Engaged Buddhists): Unfortunately the big loggers, in cooperation with generals, they don’t care. They cut the trees, and the monks protested, and they even arrested monks. Not before in history that monks had been arrested.
SEVERSON: Darlington is a professor of anthropology and Asian studies at Hampshire College in Massachusetts. She says it wasn’t until the late 1980s, after whole forests had vanished, that monks became activists.
(speaking to Professor Darlington): We’re talking about whole forests, clear cutting?
DARLINGTON: Clear cutting to either get the logs—the teak forests were going at a rapid rate, other hardwoods—or cutting down forest to make room for intensive agriculture.
SEVERSON: The forests went away, and the animals, too, and then in 1988 catastrophic floods caused people to reevaluate what they had been told was progress.
DARLINGTON: Up to three hundred people were killed from the floods, and most experts pointed to this and said the flooding would not have occurred if there hadn’t been such severe deforestation.
SEVERSON: Sulak Sivaraksa founded the International Network of Engaged Buddhists. He says Buddhism’s views of the environment are both moral and spiritual.
SIVARAKSA: Buddhism believes that we are all interrelated, not only among human beings but to all sentient beings, including animals, nature, the river, the trees, the clouds, the sun, the moon, we all related. We are brothers and sisters. So if you harm any of these you harm yourself.
DARLINGTON: Buddhists’ primary motivation, primary goal is to end suffering, and destruction of the environment causes suffering on many levels. Therefore as monks it is part of our role to make people aware of this and to undertake actions to prevent this and to protect the forests that still exists.
SEVERSON: To protect to the forests, one monk did something radical, just as they are doing here now. He started tying orange robes around trees, in effect ordaining the trees.
DARLINGTON: He was called crazy, and a national newspapers called for him to disrobe from the sangha [community or order], that this was not appropriate behavior for a monk, he’s misusing the religion. But meanwhile other monks began to do tree ordinations as well. “You can’t ordain a tree. What does that mean?” So people started debating, what does it mean to ordain a tree?
SEVERSON: To the monks, it meant making the forests sacred, off limits to exploitation. The idea has caught on with some villagers, like these. The forests rangers with the guns are not official rangers. They’re volunteers who patrol the mountainside looking for timber poachers. Senior monk Anek took us to an area near his village that was clear-cut in the dark of the night. August 21st there was a forest here. August 22nd it was gone. Three acres of prized hardwood disappeared overnight. Anek says he doesn’t think monks’ robes wrapped around trees would have prevented this.
INTERPRETER (translating senior Buddhist monk Anek): He says it might not deter them because they are investors from outside, they have no respect for the culture, they have no respect for the tradition. He’s saying that he feels sad because it took them many years to preserve this.
SEVERSON: Anek says he still gets threats for ordaining trees but not as many as before and not as severe. He doesn’t think this area was clear cut for the trees, but instead for the land, which foreign companies are using for huge farming operations, like the tangerine plantations that stretch for miles along rolling hills that were once covered with pristine forests. Unfortunately for the locals, the companies are hiring cheap labor from nearby Burma. So they’re losing the land and their ability to live off it. In the middle of the plantations there is a Buddhist monastery that acts as a buffer against development. The senior monk here is also an environmental activist. His name is Abbot Kittisap.
(speaking to Buddhist abbot): But you’re not fearful?
Because of his activism, and because he is testifying in the trial of the murdered monk who was his friend, Abbot Kittsop has 24-hour-a-day police protection, the gentlemen you see here. The abbot says he is still fearful for his safety, but his conscience keeps him going. Even though it’s been four years since the controversial killing, no one has been convicted of the crime, and recently the chief investigator confirmed many people’s suspicions when he accused the police of tampering with the evidence. Many here don’t think justice will ever be served, but Susan Darlington says that doesn’t mean the monks have not made progress. The Thai government, for instance, has cracked down on illegal logging.
DARLINGTON: I think the role of Buddhism in protecting the environment has come a long way. These monks really do, they put a moral standard into the environmental movement that makes people really stop and think. It brings a spiritual element to it.
SEVERSON: Others like Sulak say spirituality also requires action.
SIVARAKSA: Spirituality is not merely personal contemplation, not only meditation, that you feel peaceful and then you feel “I’m alright, Jack.” I think that’s is dangerous. It’s escapism.
SEVERSON: Sulak Sivaraksa, who received the Right Livelihood Award, also known as the alternative Nobel Peace Prize, says many Westerners and many Buddhists alike do not understand the meaning of engaged Buddhism.
SIVARAKSA: In fact, meditation only helps you to be peaceful. But you must also confront social suffering as well as your own personal suffering, and people suffer now because of the environment.
SEVERSON: The generals and the developers still have the upper hand, but the battle for the land, and the hearts and mind of the people is not over. Ordinary people are now beating a drum for the monks.
For Religion & Ethics Newsweekly, I’m Lucky Severson north of Chang Mai, Thailand.
The Buddha’s truth-Bangkok Post
31-01-10
A matter of being truthful
- Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Bangkok Post: January 7, 2010
- http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/sports/30578/a-matter-of-being-truthful
What do you do when you are accused of being untruthful, especially when the accuser is a monk?
I asked myself this question after reading the statement of the Wat Nong Pah Pong forest clergy at http://www.dhammalight.org, accusing my news report for “misrepresenting” their press conference, before introducing an entirely new explanation for the event.
I was first appalled, then angry.
What should I do?
As a Buddhist, my better self told me that the best thing to do is to watch my anger rise, to observe how it grows to engulf my whole body, before it finally dies down.
Honestly, it is not an easy exercise.
After subsiding for a moment, the emotions attacked me in successive waves while thoughts bubbled up to fan my dismay. Although I was boiling within, I took heart in the knowledge that this “dukkha” would not last. That this exercise of detached observation could teach me a bit more about the impermanence of emotion, thought, and eventually the futility of my own attachment to views and sense of self.
Any insight I would gain from this exercise I knew I owe it, too, to the person who has presented me with this challenge. At the end of the day, I am solely responsible for the cultivation of my equanimity. And he his.
As a journalist, however, I am glad that I have the temple’s press release to back my news report: .
Following the excommunication of Ajahn Brahm, the abbot of Bodhinyana in Perth, Australia, for sponsoring full female ordination, the forest monk clergy of Wat Nong Pah Pong want the Council of Elders and National Buddhism to help them in exploring ways to get the “Thai temple” back to the “Thai people”.
They also want the Council of Elders to issue rules on temple ownership and management to govern temples abroad to prevent Western monks from ordaining more women or violating other mandates from the Thai Sangha.
Nothing was mentioned about an intention to shift responsibility to the Council of Elders to decide about Bhodinyana Temple’s ownership and the abbot status of Ajahn Brahm.
I only smelled blood at the press conference which was triggered by Wat Pah Pong’s fury with what they saw as the ridicule of Thai monks and Buddhists by Ajahn Brahm during his talk in Singapore.
But being there was eye-opening. We might not agree with the Wat Pah Pong monks’ fierce opposition to female ordination, obsession with punishment and control, the unquestioning submission to the feudal hierarchy against the original egalitarian spirit of the Sangha, or their deep attachment to ethnic Thai culture and nationalism.
But we cannot deny they are honest and open about their views and biases.
Come to think of it, how could they view things differently when they are – like most Thais – the products of an authoritarian, hierarchical, ultra-nationalistic culture?
The position of Wat Pah Pong’s Thai elders also does not correspond with the portrayal of a rational clergy that upholds consensus decision-making and are open to gradual and timely changes for female monastics as painted in the Dhammalight website, run by Western monks. Obviously, there is a gap between the Thai and Western forest monks. While one is lost in the feudal world, the other is pressured to pacify the Western laity in the 21st century, struggling for balance.
I empathise with the Western monks who are caught between the two different worlds. But with due respect, projecting an inaccurate picture of the situation only compromises one’s commitment to truthfulness. Here’s the reality:
The Thai Sangha do not accept Bhikkhuni ordination and they have no qualms in crushing dissent.
But there is no stopping change.
The number of Bhikkhunis under the Sri Lankan Bhikkhuni Sangha in Thailand is growing. Their challenge now is to build nurturing, egalitarian communities of female monastics. To do so, it is crucial to face and undo the remaining patriarchal conditioning in one’s psyche so as not to repeat the male Sangha’s mistakes.
It is a spiritually demanding journey that will benefit many – the male clergy included.
Sanitsuda Ekachai is Assistant Editor (Outlook), Bangkok Post.
Email: sanitsudae@bangkokpost.co.th
Ajahn Brahm on why he was excommunicated
sujato: November 7, 2009
http://sujato.wordpress.com/2009/11/07/ajahn-brahm-on-why-he-was-excommunicated/
A Theravada Bhikkhuni Ordination was held in Perth on Thursday 22nd October. The decision to proceed with the Bhikkhuni Ordination was finalised only on 20th September 2009, when the Committee of The Buddhist Society of Western Australia unanimously gave their support. We did realise this was a sensitive matter and resolved to keep it in-house for the next month as we finalised the preparations. On Wednesday 13th October, 24 days after the decision was finalised, I informed Ajahn Sumedho in Amaravati, as a matter of courtesy, during my brief visit to the UK to see my mother (who has severe dementia).
The matter of Bhikkhuni Ordination had been discussed in Wat Pah Pong about two years ago and, as I recall, they resolved to follow the lead of the Mahatherasamakom (the supreme Monks’ Council of Thailand). I was and remain under the impression that the ordination of Bhikkhunis outside of Thailand was not contravening the rulings of the Mahatherasamakom. This is because I had consulted with the acting Sangharaja, Somdej Phra Pootajarn, well beforehand to ask him precisely his opinion on the ordination of Bhikkhunis outside of Thailand. His response, which I have circulated amongst the Western Sangha for a long time now, was “Thai Sangha law does not extend outside of Thailand”. He repeated this another two times to make his intention clear.
Even though my ordination as a monk was in Thailand, I understood that my obligations were to the Dhamma and Vinaya, not to the Thai state. Nor was allegiance to Thailand part of the advice given to me by the Acting Sangharaja who presented me with the Thai ecclesiastical honour of Tan Chao Khun. The certificate that I received at the ceremony merely states that “Phra Brahmavamso of Bodhinyana Monastery in Australia is a monk of Royal Grade with the title of Phra Visuddhisamvarathera. May he accept the duty in the Buddha’s dispensation of teaching, settling Sangha business and looking after the monks and novices in his monastery in an appropriate manner. And to develop happiness and well being in the Buddha’s Dispensation.”
At the meeting in Wat Pah Pong on Sunday 1st November 2009, to which I was summoned at very short notice, it was apparent that the senior Thai monks had a poor understanding of the Vinaya rules concerning sanghakamma (formal acts of Sangha governance). For example, it took a long time to convince them that a Bhikkhuni Ordination is a double sanghakamma.The first part being performed by a gathering of Bhikkhunis presided over by the Preceptor (“Upajjhaya” or “Pavattini” -Ayya Tathaaloka from the USA) and the second part where the new Bhikkhunis approach the Bhikkhu Sangha to have their ordination confirmed by a ñatticatutthakamma (a formal motion followed by 3 announcements). I was one of the two Bhikkhus who chanted the ñatticatutthakamma in the Bhikkhu Sangha.
Once the senior Thai monks understood that I was not the Upajjhaya, they were willing to let the matter drop, provided I would promise in the midst of the Sangha not to participate in the ordination of any more Bhikkhunis. Remembering the example of Venerable Ananda at the First Council, I made that promise to the assembled Sangha three times. It looked as if harmony would be restored.
However, some senior monks raised the question of the status of the four women who had received Bhikkhuni Ordination. I accepted that they would not be regarded as Bhikkhunis in Thailand under the present climate, but the ordination was legitimate and they were Bhikkhunis. A senior monk then claimed that the ordination was invalid because of “ditthi vipatti”, which he explained as meaning without the approval of the Sangha of Wat Pah Pong. As anyone with a basic knowledge of sanghakamma knows, this is nonsense. However, that unfounded view held sway and the meeting came down to a single clear choice: If Ajahn Brahm would state in the midst of the Sangha that the four women were not Bhikkhunis then there would be no penalty, otherwise Bodhinyana Buddhist Monastery would be removed from the list of branch monasteries of Wat Pah Pong. I paused for a minute to reflect and, considering that I could not go against the Vinaya and state the Bhikkhunis were not properly ordained, nor could I go against the wishes of the Sangha of Bodhinyana and the thousands of lay Buddhists that support the Bhikkhuni Ordination, I refused to recant.
As a result, Bodhinyana Buddhist Monastery was removed as a branch monastery of Wat Pah Pong. I emphasise that this decision had nothing to do with the process, secretive or otherwise, through which the ordination took place. The decision to excommunicate Bodhinyana Buddhist Monastery rested solely on my refusal to state that the Bhikkhuni Ordination was invalid.
After the meeting formally concluded I paid my respects to many of the senior monks who reminded me of their continued friendship. For example, one old friend said to me “meuan derm” (meaning “just as before”). I hope that a similar attitude will prevail among all my friends in the Western Sangha.
With mega metta, Ajahn Brahm
