Chinese Buddhism In Thailand

Thailand is called as "A land of Buddhism" as over93.4%of Thai people are Buddhist. The religion has two schools, Theravada and Mahayana which can be classified into Chinese and Vietnamese Buddhism. Theravada school has always been the most respected among Thais. Thus, Buddhist temples and monks play an important role on Thai society in multiple ways.This thesis mainly aims to study about Chinese Buddhism. Although Chinese Buddhist temples in Thailand are not as much as Thai style temples, some of them are highly renowned and recognized. The thesis’s objectives are to investigate Chinese Buddhist temple’s influence in Thailand, to compare and contrast Chinese Buddhist with Thai Buddhist temples, to look through the acceptance of Chinese Buddhism in Thai society and to answer the question whether Buddhist visiting Chinese Buddhist temples are only Thai-Chinese.The thesis is divided into7sections. The first one provides an introduction to the context of the problem, purpose of the thesis, significance of the thesis, the present research situation both in home and abroad, study area including method of study. The second part introduces Buddhism in Thailand; its history, schools, importance, and temple. On the next division, the author examine how Chinese temples settled in the country, the relation between Thai-Chinese, Chinese temple and shrine, the story of Wat Mangkorn Kamalawat (the representative of Chinese temples in Thailand) including a role of Chinese Buddhism and Mahayana monks in Thai society. The fourth part covers comparing and contrasting Chinese and Thai Buddhism in doctrines, monks’ daily-routine and practices, architecture, idols, rituals, activities and religious days. Later section is the conclusion of questionnaires, which had been carried out among Wat Mangkorn Kamalawat visitors. Also, the analyze of the influence of Wat Mangkorn Kamalawat and the worshippers. Chinese Buddhist temples’ influence on Non-Chinese Thai and Thai-Chinese is mentioned in the sixth part. And the last part is a conclusion of this thesis, some problems that need to be further investigation, have mentioned too.