Buddhism plays a very significant role in the daily life of the Thai people. Since about 95% of the people in the kingdom of Thailand are Buddhists, Buddhism inevitably involves almost every occasion such as birthdays, marriages, moving to a new house, funerals, opening business offices and buying new vehicles etc.

The Buddha was born Siddhartha Gautama, a prince of the Sakya tribe of Nepal, in approximately 566 BC. When he was twentynine years old, he left the comforts of his home to seek the meaning of the suffering he saw around him. After six years of arduous yogic training, he abandoned the way of self-mortification and instead sat in mindful meditation beneath a bodhi tree.

On the full moon of May, with the rising of the morning star, Siddhartha Gautama became the Buddha, the enlightened one.

The Buddha wandered the plains of northeastern India for 45 years more, teaching the path or Dharma he had realized in that moment. Around him developed a community or Sangha of monks and, later, nuns, drawn from every tribe and caste, devoted to practicing this path. In approximately 486 BC, at the age of 80, the Buddha died. His last words are said to be...

Even though no concrete evidence can be found as to when and where Buddhism was actually established in Thailand, it is presumed that Buddhism was first brought to the country during the 3rd century B.C. when Theravada Buddhist missionaries led by Venerable Sona and Uttara were dispatched by the Buddhist Indian emperor Asoke and visited Suwannaphum or the present Nakhon Pathom. Once it was introduced, Buddhism became widely accepted and gained a permanent ground in the peninsula.

Briefly speaking, the Buddhist doctrine stresses the three principal aspects of existence:

dukkha = suffering
anicca = impermanence, and
anatta = non-substantiality

Thus the ultimate aim of Buddhism is Nibbana (or Nirvana in Sanskrit) which literally means the extinction of all desire and thus of all suffering (or dukkha). lt is an end, not only to suffering and action (Karma), but also to the cycle of rebirths that is existence.

Buddhism probably reached its height under the reign of King Li Thai of Sukhothai (King Ramkhamhaeng's grandson) as it was during his reign that the first Buddhist didactic literary work was written and was known as the ''Tribhumikatha''. Through the centuries Buddhism has been the main driving force in Thai cultural development. Thais of all classes subscribed to Buddhist doctrine. Although Buddhism is proclaimed as the state religion, all Thais are endowed with full religious freedom. Though Thai Constitutions stipulate that Thai Kings must be Buddhists Kings, however, must also be the Upholders of All Religions.

There are about 27,000 Buddhist temples across the country and majority of them are in the countryside. In Thailand, Buddhist monks are highly venerated for their chaste life, self-restraint, social benevolence and knowledge of spiritual practice. To allow people to have more time to devote to religious practices, all major Buddhist holy days are declared as national holidays. In addition, it has long been a Thai custom for Buddhist males over twenty years old to be temporarily ordained as Buddhist monks, usually during the annual Rains Retreat. Temporarily ordination, ranging from a few days to three months, is opened to everyone, even His Majesty King Bhumibol and Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn have been monks for short periods. Their acts will continue a tradition for the new generations to come.