Visit with the MONKS

One of the things that I love about living here in Thailand is that I am learning so much about different cultures.  My religion is very important to me and here in Thailand religion plays a central part of the community.  Thailand is 94% Buddhist; in fact they have almost 41,000 temples or wats to worship at.  Some are in ruins while others are still being built or renovated. 

On one of my adventures I was visited several wats and while exploring I spent some time learning about the young monks.  They were very open and friendly as long as I did not get to close.  It is a serious offense for a monk to be touched by women, even in passing.

Many young Thai men and boys spend time serving as a monk.  The temporary duration usually last for 3 months and sometimes coincides with the death of a loved one. The boys will shave their heads and eyebrows and follow 10 strict rules.  Fully ordained monks have to follow 227 and Buddhist nuns have 311 rules to follow. 

The monks follow a simple life a which starts early in the morning.  They walk around the areas adjacent the temple to receive alms from the local community. This is where practically all of their food comes from.

Socially, every Thai male is excepted to become a monk for a short period in his life, optimally between the time he finishes school and the time he starts a career or marries. Men or boys under 20 years of age may enter the Sangha as novices - this is not unusual since a family earns great merit when one if its sons 'takes robe and bowl'.

Traditionally, the length of time spent in the 'wat' is three months, during the Buddhist lent (phansa), which begins in July and coincides with the rainy season. However, nowadays men may spend as little as a week or 15 days to accrue merits monks.

There are about 32,000 monasteries in Thailand and 460,000 monks; many of these monks are ordained for a lifetime. Of these a large percentage become scholars and teachers, while some specialize in healing and/or folk magic.