I had met Nok (not her real name) at a party hosted by a Thai friend.  I don’t remember how we came to chatting but it turned out that she was a graphic artist and somehow the conversation took off from there.

Over the next week or so we tried to arrange a time we could meet up and hang out but our schedules just didn’t seem to cooperate.  Finally, a day or two before I departed we met at the sky train station near Paragon.

It was early evening and so we went and got a coffee at Starbucks and continued the getting to know you process we had begun at the party.  She was a very intelligent girl but she suffered from the disease called low self-esteem.  She was new to Bangkok, had very few friends here, and was from Isaan (gasp).

I could tell she didn’t feel comfortable hanging out in this shrine to the hi-so lifestyle so we finished our coffees and began meandering around Bangkok.  We passed the outdoor temple near Central World and she asked if I would mind if she went inside.

We entered and I gave her some money to buy two packages of incense.  She showed me how to pray/meditate at each station and then to place three incense sticks beneath the Buddha statue.

As we were leaving me she took notice of the crucifix on my necklace and asked if I was Christian.  I told her that I was and she stopped, looked up at me like a small child, and asked “But I had Christian friends at university and they said that they could never pray in a Buddhist temple because they would go to hell.”

I laughed, which I know didn’t help the situation any as she would likely feel I was laughing at her but I had no other way to respond.  I told her that Christ would have respected Buddha.  I explained that they both taught many of the same things.

I then tried to articulate the difference between showing respect to Buddha and worshiping him.  I can pay homage to Buddha without worshiping because I’m confident enough in my own spirituality that I don’t have to constantly threaten myself with going to hell to know that I’m basically a good person.

I think she understood.  At least she told me she did.

When I returned home we chatted a few times on IM but things more or less fizzled out and we haven’t kept in contact much.  I wonder how she’s doing.

If you’ve spent a lot of time in Thailand you’ve probably seen Christian missionaries and some of their converts.  If you stay in Thailand long enough and learn to speak and read the Thai language, missionary activity will become much more obvious.  There are thousands of Christian missionaries in Thailand (most of which are American), and that isn’t including the many Thai’s that have been converted (brainwashed) and who also try to convert other Thais.

Just to clear the air, I’m not Buddhist.  Most religion (especially fundamentalism) prevents progress and saps people of the ability to think for themselves.  That said, Thai people are much better sticking to their own non-fundamentalist, non-absolutist religion (Buddhism), instead of converting to be born-again Christians who believe only Christians will be saved.  Missionaries aren’t “bad” people but their belief in foolish ideology, and their need to aggressively spread it, often leads to trouble.  Missionaries and their belief that all non-Christians will go to hell, and other similar dogma, ought to be exposed and challenged at every opportunity because a Thailand full of militant Christians would not be a positive development, to say the least.

I posted two essays about missionaries (titled “Missionaries Go Home”) on Stickman Bangkok, but I can’t provide the links because I don’t know where they are on the Stickman site. They were posted about nine months ago and one a year ago.

In this submission I’ve provided more recent and ongoing examples of what missionaries and their converts have been up to.  I’m not going to refute Christianity here.  If you want to read a really good book that does that, read “The God Delusion” by Richard Dawkins, or “The End of Faith” by Sam Harris (both are available at Kunokinaya Books).

If you don’t have the time or interest to read the rest of this, skip to the end to read some of the bizarre quotes sent to me by born-again Christians.  If nothing else, you might find them humorous (or alarming).
 
1) Pamphlet Pushers

If you spend much time at any of Bangkok parks, inevitably you will see foreign and/or Thai missionaries approaching complete strangers to preach to them about Jesus.  They approach Thai people, without invitation, and give their sales pitch about Jesus and “salvation”.  Thai people will politely listen, smile, and nod even though they usually have no interest in being lectured about Christianity and Jesus (though someone told about a Thai man who chewed out a missionary for speaking badly about his “heathen” amulet.  Good riddance!).

Recently, in Benchasiri Park next to the Emporium, I watched two Mormons (I come across Mormons regularly in this park) preaching to two Thai women, who listened politely and smiled.  Thirty minutes later, when the Mormons finally left, the Thai woman started laughing and referred to the Mormons as “baa” (crazy) and “lang samoong” (brainwashed) as they tossed the glossy pamphlets they were given into the rubbish bin.  Nonetheless, any aggressive and well-funded religious marketing campaign is bound to pick up some new customers (converts), and these converts often become aggressive missionaries themselves.  I’ve come across missionaries in parks, on streets, on university campuses, in Thai language classes, and in markets (such as Jatuchak).
 
2) Jesus Signs

Throughout Thailand, missionaries have posted thousands of yellow, metal signs in Thai script that read “Pray Jesus to erase your sins” or a similar slogan (see pictures below).  These signs are bolted high up into trees all throughout the countryside, particularly in the northern provinces, but I’ve also seen them in Bangkok and Chonburi.

Sometimes these signs are posted directly across from Buddhist temples, which shows that these people have no respect or boundaries.  I doubt they’ll get any converts by posting these silly signs, but it shows how fanatic they must be to spend all of that time, money and effort to climb trees and post thousands of these signs throughout the country.

Perhaps you’ve seen a large hotel on the Chonburi Expressway just outside of Bangkok with a big red crucifix and “Jesus Loves You” plastered on the side of the building.  What kind of nut defaces the whole side of his hotel with Christian slogans?

3) The “Turn or Burn” Missionaries

Every year around Christmas, a group of mainly Thai missionaries converge at Silom Road and Petchaburi Road (next to Panthip Plaza) in Bangkok with a full set of gear including a sound system, big Jesus signs in Thai script and many boxes full of Christian pamphlets (see picture above).  One guy stands like a mannequin under the BTS station at Silom Road standing next to a Jesus sign and a sound system that booms out loud doomsday messages in Thai.  The rest of the missionaries stand on nearby street corners pushing Jesus booklets into the hands of all who walk by.  These books warn about the end of the world and have illustrations of sinners and non-Christians burning in hell.  How is that for a loving and forgiving God?
 
4) Sneaky Missionaries on Campus

Another front the missionaries are entrenched is on university campuses where they put a lot of effort into converting young, impressionable university students. Last semester, I saw three separate missionaries groups at my university in the northeast of Bangkok.
Within my first month of working at this university, I saw adverts, in English and Thai, posted in several lecture halls offering “Free English Lessons” with a group of “American University Students”.  Right away, I knew they had to be missionaries.  Missionaries aren’t always up-front and honest about their objectives, as in this case there was no mention of Jesus, church or religion in their advertisement.

I confronted this group of Americans, and sure enough, they admitted that they were part of a  “church group” in Thailand, but they insisted they weren’t missionaries. 

“If you aren’t missionaries, then why are you here,” I asked, “What qualifications do you have to teach English to university students?”  They said that they just wanted to help them with their English.  They admitted that they do “invite” them to church and then they invite them to travel upcountry with their “church group”.

One of the missionaries (who insisted he wasn’t a missionary) said, “We don’t force anyone to convert.”  But they obviously have no problem being dishonest, luring people to church by offering free English lessons.

I warned my class about these American University students and I suggested that they be watchful about any groups of foreigners that offer things for free and try to become friends.  They should ask them straight away if they are from some “church group”.
 
5) Korean Camp or Moony Cult?

One of my students told me about a Korean group that was doing something similar, though on a much larger scale.  These well-funded Korean missionaries, from the “International Youth Fellowship” are especially dishonest.  This is what they do.

• They go to the university canteen, set up a table and a sound system and then have good-looking Koreans sing songs from famous Korean pop stars (Korean pop stars and soap operas are enormously popular amongst Thai teen-agers).
• Then they invite students to go on a three-day camping trip in the countryside, where they can learn the Korean language, sing Korean pop songs, and play games with these good-looking Koreans.  Religion isn’t mentioned as part of the festivities.
• Once they get to the camp, they are all given Bibles and lectured about Christianity (once again, the students aren’t told beforehand that the camp has anything to do with religion).  Several times throughout the day they have to read the Bible and listen to sermons.  In-between the sermons, they spend only about an hour learning the Korean language.
• Later, the organizers encourage Thai students to go on a stage with a microphone and “witness” (verbally accept Jesus as their savior and commit their life to “Him”).  This is a common method with born-again Christians.  They try to get a few brainwashed converts to “witness” in front of the group in the hope that others will follow (like sheep).

Why did these missionaries lie about the religious aspect of the camp?  It is quite clear.  If they are honest and advertise that it’s a religious camp with the intention of converting Buddhists, nobody will go.  By advertising the festivities as a fun-filled “Korean Camp” (without mentioning religion), they can get hundreds of people to attend.
 
6) Quotes From Missionaries

Since the first two essays were posted, I’ve received many emails from readers.  Most emails were positive, however I did receive a few emails from missionaries and other born-again Christians (I’m very surprised that missionaries visit the Stickman site).  Below are some of the more memorable quotes sent to me (names have been omitted).  My email address is posted at the end, so please contact me with any questions and comments.

“…I must share the gospel to non-believers anywhere I come across them.  If that is considered disrespectful to other people, I’d rather offend those other people then offend God…”

“…there can only be one truth, either you are wrong or I’m wrong…if you are wrong, which you are, and if you don’t accept Jesus…than eternal damnation will sadly be the outcome…the choice is yours.”

“…Buddhism is just another branch of Satanism…the only way to salvation is through Jesus Christ.”

The next quotes are from a street preacher that can often be seen preaching (shouting) very loudly in English and Thai at different tourist locations and places full of “sin” around Bangkok. Notice how he uses lower-case letters when referring to other religions.

“…This is a fact:  there is no salvation in Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, or any other religion in the world as salvation is found only Christ Jesus the Lord.  For only Jesus Christ died for our sins, and only Jesus Christ rose from the dead…”

“…The Lord Jesus Christ the Son of God gave himself for us to pay the price for our sins so that we could be saved.  But if you reject this gift, then you will have to pay for your sins in hell.  God is just:  sin must be punished…”

The remarks below about Buddhism are slanderous and quite bitter.

“…I practiced magick which is allowed in Theravada sect Buddhism. Theravada Buddhism practices witchcraft and black magick… the “Rama-Yana” is full of magick…” 

“…Buddhism teaches that Buddha was birthed by a white elephant going inside his mother…”

“… my mother, she is completely healed and is no longer a Buddhist.” 

This last quote is unintentionally hilarious.

“…Before I was a Christian, I had many Thai girlfriends; and they all used magick to help them get an edge on life…”

The author can be contacted at ceno99@gmail.com

There have been some horrific bus crashes in the news in Thailand recently which is hardly something new, though the death toll of thirty one dead in one accident near Korat was exceptional. What did catch my eye though, following this accident, was a headline in the Bangkok Post… ‘Bus drivers swear oath to drive safely, check vehicles.’ (30 March 2007.)

As part of an official road safety campaign, ‘bus drivers are being made to swear an oath to sacred deities in the latest attempt to persuade them to drive carefully and ensure passengers’ safety.’ It may seem a bit bizarre, but if a provincial transport officer taking bus drivers to the wat to see the monks reinforces the importance of safe driving, then why not.

It’s always said that Buddhism is a powerful and cohesive force in Thai society and I for one hope that’s true. Religious ritual is a major part of life here and while monks may take part, in reality the rites often have more to do with animism than with Buddhism. A recent craze to acquire a special type of lucky amulet, the Jatukam Ramathep, is an example of the powerful hold that these older beliefs in a terrifying assortment of spirits still have.

There has recently been a heated public debate as to whether the proposed new constitution that is now being drafted following the coup should name Buddhism as the national religion. Citing a decline in public faith in the monastic order, Sanitsuda Ekachai, an outspoken and articulate columnist in the Bangkok Post concludes, ‘If we really need a national religion, animism should be the one. At least it can help us stop fooling ourselves that we are still Buddhist and see who we really are.’ (Commentary, 5 April 2007.) So is Buddhism in Thailand now declining and what’s the current health of religion in other countries?

A few days earlier the Bangkok Post reported a Newsweek poll saying that in America 91% of people said they believe in God, while 87% follow a formal religion. The poll found that 48% reject the scientific theory of human evolution, while around 62% of those polled said they would not vote for a political candidate who ‘confessed’ to being an atheist.

Wowee, now ain’t that something! George Dubya! You’re just gonna have to get down on your knees and pray!

Political leaders who claim to be driven by religious conviction scare me rigid, as either they’re not wholly rational or they’re fraudulently manipulating the electorate. Bush is probably a fraud, but what about my own PM, Tony Blair? The former Thai prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra was probably honest in this one respect… he publicly admitted that when his stars were unfavourable, he’d avoid taking any decisions at all.

The current Thai prime minister seems to have his feet firmly on the ground but some senior members of the Council for National Security have recently traveled to Chiang Mai at official expense to see a renowned fortune teller for ‘a ceremony to ward off bad luck for the coup makers’. (Bangkok Post, 2 April 2007.) Give me political leaders that are fully rational any day.

Even religions that are declining still have huge influence over the faithful and it’s hard not to notice the movement within the Catholic church to make the late Pope John Paul II a saint. Of course he richly deserves to be sanctified as, in Gilbertian style, he made more saints during his papacy then any pope before him. When his own saints come marching in, I’m sure he’ll get all the celestial support he needs.

Trouble is, the rules say that the sanctification process cannot begin until five years after death, and Pope John Paul has only been dead for two years. Then you need proof of at least two miracles, such as mystery cures of sick Catholics. So, in the words of John and Paul (Lennon and Macartney of course), “Roll up, roll up for the mystery cure!” A French nun, Sister Marie-Simon-Pierre has now conveniently surfaced, claiming that the said Pope cured her of Parkinson’s disease.

If it was me sifting the medical reports on what might have caused her magical mystery cure, what would trouble me more than a little is that at the time, Pope John Paul was already an ex-pope and stone cold dead. Okay, Sister M-S-P prayed to him, yes, but the nexus of causation does seem to be a little bit thin for so dramatic a conclusion. Perhaps her prayers were in fact forwarded on to God and it was he who fixed things for her.

Anyway, it’s reported that centuries-old sacred rituals have now been held completing the first phase of a fast-track beatification of Acting Saint John Paul. The evidence was handed over, appropriately at the Basilica of St John, and three black leather trunks were sealed with ribbon and red wax as church officials and thousands of faithful applauded. (Bangkok Post, 3 April 2007.)

I’m sure they all had a great time, but it strikes me that using a belief in the spirits to urge bus drivers not to kill their passengers is infinitely more beneficial. On the other hand it’s nice having a few saints kicking around the place. Talking of which, along with having my eye on the Nobel Prize for Literature, I think I could be in the running myself.

Can you download an application form off the internet, do you know? You see, I’ve got one miracle already under my belt because I can change wine into water… so now I’m going to have to dream up another one. Of course Pope JP was dead when he was supposed to have cured Sister M-S-P and I wasn’t, so I’m just wondering… Trouble is, to be a saint I suppose one of the qualifications is being very, very dead which takes the gloss off it a bit.

I think I’d better shut up now before I offend anyone else, so finally I’m going to set an exam question for you and all my final year students in the Combined Honours School of Philosophy and Comparative Religion with Media Studies. Here goes!

“Have the monotheistic religions materially added to the sum of human happiness and do they provide good material for great movies? Discuss, giving examples of any such movies that were not totally ridiculous. Do you think that in MGM’s ‘The Creation’, Adam’s navel should have been filled in with flesh-coloured putty?”

My God, what rubbish I’ve been writing! Is there any point to all this? Yes, maybe there is. I think I’m saying that like seat belts and mechanical inspections, spirit worship really is quite handy when it comes to keeping death off the roads.

About the Author

Andrew Hicks is the author of “Thai Girl – A romantic and touching story that tells what happens when young travellers meet Thais”. For more information visit his site at thaigirl2004.com

I became interested in Buddhism in the U.K. when I was 19, and now I’m 55. I call myself a Christian Buddhist Agnostic, because I’ve been influenced by these religions but I just take from them what suits me. To be honest, I make up my own rules. I first went to Thailand when I was 32, and by that time I could speak Cantonese. It didn’t take me too long before I could get by in everyday Thai. I have lived and worked around the South East Asian region and in the Middle East.

I’ve absorbed some Buddhist attitudes and it’s interesting to notice the effects on me. Firstly, it’s very difficult to be a very pure Buddhist, it’s too hard for most people. To do this it seems you must remove yourself from world and divorce yourself from all worldly matters. So the majority of Thai people follow a way of life which uses some basic Buddhist rules to govern their life, similar to the ten commandments. Also this is mixed up with traditional cultural practices and superstitions. E.g. the spirit houses are a local Thai superstitious tradition. The Thai Chinese also have their own Taoist and Confucian traditions which they follow, e.g. Chinese New Year and the Ching Ming festival (worship ancestors day). All this goes together to make a very interesting and colourful rich mixture of beliefs and traditions in Thailand.

The concept of “Karma” is important for people in Thailand and elsewhere in SE Asia. If you believe in reincarnation (I don’t), then some people excuse themselves from doing bad things in this life, saying that they will make up for it (i.e. suffer) in the next life. Believe it or not, some people really think like this. Also a lot of Thais don’t want to help the disadvantaged, handicapped etc because they think that those people must be suffering the handicap because they did something wrong in a previous life. They try to get the good effect of Karma by helping the Buddhist temples and monks (Tam Boon = make merit) and their family members. They try to avoid doing bad things to others because they are scared of “bad” Karma. A bargirl friend told me that she doesn’t want to cheat any customers because she doesn’t want ‘bad’ Karma. Scammers are afraid of Karma, even though it doesn’t stop them from scamming. I have a girlfriend in Philippines, she’s a Catholic, even she believes in Karma, which surprised me!

For me, I find that when I suspect someone will harm me, I comfort myself with the thought that “Karma” will get them later, hopefully this life. This is very similar to the Christian, Jewish, Muslim concept that God will punish the wicked for their evil deeds !

A lot of the practice of Tam Boon seems just to be trying to get good luck for getting what you want, or making up for your unhealthy desires. i.e. it’s often to do with superstition than being genuinely devout. In Thailand, every year there are stories of Buddhist monks getting into trouble carrying out superstitious practices for profit, magic spells, supernatural powers etc. If found out, usually they are censored by the religious authorities.

For me, two very important concepts that I like from Buddhism are that of the “Middle Way” and of trying to “detach yourself from desire”. The “Middle Way” means that you should be moderate and try to strike a balance in all things. “Detachment” says that you cannot achieve Nirvana (pure enlightenment = pure happiness) unless you detach yourself from all worldly desires. Taken to the extreme, this is a very difficult thing to do and Buddhist monks can spend their whole adult life trying to do it through contemplation and meditation. But most people can use the idea in a small way to improve their happiness. In the modern materialistic western world, many people are obsessed by their desires and ambitions. They must get that girlfriend, boyfriend, university degree, job, promotion, house, car, holiday, fashion item, gadget, toy, see that movie, go that club, do that diet, etc. It’s called a rat race, a treadmill. I think ambitions are good, they are targets to be aimed at. People get satisfaction from achieving and also from trying to achieve. But ambitions and desires are not good when they completely control and take over our lives. Then we become slaves to ambition and desire and are no longer in control. We expect success, when we don’t achieve it, we feel disappointed and then maybe depressed and unhappy. This can lead to neurosis and mental illness. Hence the fashion for therapy sessions with analysts amongst rich Americans. To be really happy, we need to step back a little from the rat race. Manage our expectations. It’s okay to have lots of hopes and reasonable ambitions, and to try hard, but don’t expect too much, then you wont be disappointed. Take the middle way, be balanced and moderate in your approach to life.

Mind you having said all of the above, I think most of the audience of Stickman’s site are a pretty laid back and happy bunch anyway so maybe they don’t need too much pulpit philosophy. For me what makes me happy is “wine, women and song” plus the company of good friends and humorous conversation. You can find plenty of all of those in Thailand. Normally I only go to the bars in Bangkok & Pattaya to watch sport, have a beer, eat something, watch a live band and maybe flirt with, joke with or wind up the bar girls. I very rarely ever “off” a girl from a bar. There are some dangers in doing that, so I play safe. I got a few non bar girlfriends around, that’s enough for me. Since I don’t make too many plans or expect too much, I just really enjoy myself there. Every day is an adventure.

A little bit of “detachment” helps in the game of love. A lot of lonely guys moan to me that they can’t find love. I tell them, don’t worry about it, be a little detached, be yourself, enjoy yourself and love will find you. I think a lot of good women get scared off by guys who are tense or too serious about looking for love. Of course gold diggers like the serious guys because they can be manipulated. Apart from your physical appearance, before a woman can love you, she’s got to get to like you and know you. So most women like a guy who is happy, who is enjoying himself, who can make jokes, talk a lot and listen a lot, then they can get to know you. I think women have got a sixth sense about men, not always, but mostly, but they need some exposure to his personality. The strong silent types just bore women. When a woman is with a silent guy, she’s wondering what the hell he’s thinking. Whoever you are, there’ll be a person of the opposite sex who’ll fall in love with you. So just play the game, don’t worry about it and it’ll happen. In Thailand, avoid bar girls if you’re looking for love. It’s not that you can’t find real love with a bar girl. It does happen, but probably it’s rare, and you can get seriously damaged by the experience. Bar girls have an agenda, they are not socialising with you because they like you, they are doing it to earn money. It’s their job to make you think they are your friend and lover. Why do so many men fall for bar girls? Because it’s easy to meet bar girls. It’s much better to date women outside of bars, social skills will help, you need to work harder at it, but Thai language can be a problem if you don’t speak much Thai.

Being an Atheist myself and seeing Thais going about their daily routine and all the respect they show towards their religion, it peaked my interest and so a quest was born to find out more about Buddhism in Thailand. After a few visits to the National Library I have decided to share a few of my findings.

For many centuries now, Thailand has been dominated by a single religion (Buddhism). Mostly likely Buddhim was brought to Thailand around the third century A.D. through Indian missionaries. By the seventh century A.D. there Buddhist communities to the West and North of Bangkok. In the 13th century, Thailand invited Sri Lankan monks to Sukhothai to help purify the religion. Today as much as 90% of Thais practice the religion.

Modern Thais practice a form of Theravada Buddhism, also known as Hinayana or Lesser Vehicle, Buddhism. In this form it calls for a priesthood of monks to voluntarily enter the monkhood for at least 15 days once in their lives. But many enter and never leave. The monkhood educates a man in the tenents of the religion and allows him to make merit to atone for his sins, so that upon reincarnation he will return as a higher being.

Although there are no ordained nuns, many woman don white robed, shave their heads and live in secluded parts of the monastery where they meditate but cannot preach.

Monks are expected to live ascetically although this is sometimes stretched to include luxury cars and property. They are obliged to obey 227 moral concepts and they live on what they are provided by the laity. Each morning they put on their saffron robes and take to the streets to collect alms.

Thailand’s other Buddhism

The other form of Buddhism, Mahayana Buddhism, is practiced by the nations ethnic Chinese and Vietnamese. Although its doctrine differs from Theravada Buddhism, their celebrations and practices are similar.

Mahayana Buddhist activities take place at the temple and include shaking bamboo sticks out of can to tell ones fortune. They also believe in burning paper objects (such as cars, houses and money) which is sent by smoke to departed loved ones.

I wish to learn more about Buddhism and if anyone has any further information for me, please let me know.