Less Alms Giving, Less Chanting in Thailand

The Office of National Buddhism is alert to the recent survey by Mahachulalongkornrajavidyaiaya University (MCU) that some Buddhist have prayed or given alms to Buddhist monks

National Buddhist Office Deputy Director, Amnaj Bulasiri admitted that Buddhist at present give alms to Buddhist monks less because their faith towards monks is degraded by the news of some Buddhist monks with foul behaviors.

The deputy director explained that people therefore tend to make merit by other approaches such as donating cash or necessities to charities or disaster casualties since they are unsure if they are giving alms to real monks or not.

As for the problem that Buddhist chant less prayers, Mr Amnaj indicated that people now do not realise the importance of prayers as they deem that Pali words in the prayers too difficult and useless while students nowadays are not cultivated to love chanting Buddhist prayers unlike in the past.

The deputy director said his office and Ministry Of Education will seek cooperation from schools nationwide in reviving the practice of chanting Buddhist prayers before morning classes and publicizing translated versions of Pali prayers among school children. He believed that the solution will be able to solve the problem to a certain level.

According to the recent survey by MCU, 15.09% Buddhists have never recited Pali prayers while 25.79% have never given alms to Buddhist monks