Thailand
Buddhist light festival shoos away bad luck in northern Thailand
By Kit Doyle — November 13, 2017
CHIANG MAI, Thailand (RNS) — Yee Peng, or two full moons festival, is one of many lunar festivals held annually across Thailand, Myanmar and Laos.
40 dead tiger cubs found in freezer at Thai Buddhist temple
By guest — June 1, 2016
A raid to remove live animals from the temple began Monday (May 30) amid an investigation into suspected wildlife trafficking and abuse.
Influential Thai Buddhist monk too ill to face graft charges, say devotees
By RNS staff — May 26, 2016
BANGKOK (Reuters) A stand-off in Thailand between investigators and a powerful Buddhist sect intensified after its influential abbot failed to appear at a police station to answer graft charges because followers said he had fainted.
Thai Buddhist leaders battle over politics, sex and money scandals
By Reuters — January 19, 2016
Religion is becoming a proxy war for political rivalries and sex and money scandals, leaving millions of Buddhists stuck in the middle.
Vatican: Abandoned Down syndrome baby is victim of ‘throwaway’ culture
By Josephine McKenna — August 6, 2014
VATICAN CITY (RNS) “In fact if a child becomes a product to buy, it is obvious that as with any acquisition it must meet with the buyer’s approval," Italian feminist Lucetta Scaraffia wrote in the Vatican newspaper.
Nirvanaless: Asian Buddhism’s growing fundamentalist streak
By Anuradha Sharma — May 1, 2014
BANGKOK (RNS) In some parts of Asia, a more assertive, strident and militant Buddhism is emerging.
Thailand looks to arrest Buddhist monk for insurrection
By Vishal Arora — February 5, 2014
(RNS) Authorities in Thailand are preparing to arrest and possibly defrock a senior Buddhist monk on charges of insurrection and breach of Buddhist discipline for leading anti-government protests.
In Thailand, US evangelicals work to end prostitution
By Ruxandra Guidi — January 3, 2014
BANGKOK (RNS) Thailand is struggling to curb sex trafficking amid international pressure and dozens of American groups, many of them evangelical, have entered the country in recent years to fight the issue, with the blessing of U.S. foreign policy.
Thai university apologizes for banner featuring Adolf Hitler
By Richard S. Ehrlich — July 16, 2013
(RNS) The apology came three days after the Simon Wiesenthal Center published on its website a photograph of a female student in a university graduation gown posing in front of the larger-than-life banner with her arm outstretched in a Sieg Heil salute.
Thai government and Muslim guerrillas sign Ramadan cease fire accord
By Richard S. Ehrlich — July 15, 2013
(RNS) The two sides want to achieve a violence-free month of Ramadan in four Thailand provinces where a decade of fighting has killed more than 5,700 people.
Worldly Buddhist monks rile Thailand’s faithful
By Vishal Arora — June 28, 2013
(RNS) Thailand’s National Office of Buddhism, which is mandated to maintain and promote Buddhist affairs, has publicly condemned the worldly indulgence of monks as “indecent,” but without following it up with action, as their conduct did not constitute “serious offenses.”
Religion & Ethics Newsweekly Video: Decline of Buddhism in Thailand
By Sally Morrow — May 30, 2013
There’s a struggle going on inside Thailand. It’s between two powerful influences. One side can be found in places like this; the other in crowded spaces like this. For now it seems that one side is falling behind.
Report says religion at heart of illegal ivory trade
By Jeanie Groh — September 18, 2012
WASHINGTON (RNS) A National Geographic investigation shows how the demand for religious articles such as carvings, beads and amulets in the Philippines, Thailand and China fuels illegal ivory trade. By Jeanie Groh.
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