1. The Origins of Buddhism: Theravāda

 

The territory now known as Thailand has known Buddhism since the 3rd century BCE. Ancient Ceylonese chronicles relate that the Indian Emperor Ashoka (269–237 BCE) sent Theras (“senior monks”) to nine regions to spread the Buddha’s teachings. Two of them, named Sona and Uttara, arrived in the land of Suvarnabhumi (“the Golden Land”), a fertile and prosperous region corresponding to present-day central Thailand and western Myanmar. The Phra Pathom Chedi in the city of Nakhon Pathom was likely the first pagoda built in Thailand. Its name (Pathama Cetiya meaning “first pagoda” in Pali) and its striking resemblance to the famous Sanchi stupa, built by Ashoka in India, attest to this. Moreover, many Buddha statues in the Indian Gupta style have been found in the ruins of Nakhon Pathom and neighboring cities, confirming the arrival of missionaries from the Indian city of Magadha (Bihar state).

The first form of Buddhism introduced to Thailand was the Theravāda doctrine (or Hīnayāna). Pali stanzas from the Tipitaka were found in the Pyu kingdom of Sri Ksetra (6th to 11th century CE) in central present-day Myanmar and in the Mon kingdoms of Dvāravatī and Haripunchai (6th to 13th century CE) in central and northern present-day Thailand.

 

2. The Expansion of Mahāyāna Buddhism

 

The second phase of Buddhism’s expansion in Thailand (called the Mahāyāna period) is better known thanks to inscriptions written in Siamese found in Sukhothai and through records in some monasteries such as the Mulasasana (1).

Mahāyāna Buddhism (“Great Vehicle”) appeared in northern India under King Kanishka’s reign (second half of the 1st century CE). Missionaries quickly spread it to Sumatra, Java, Cambodia, Pegu (Burma), and the Dvāravatī kingdom (Nakhon Pathom region in Thailand).

From the 5th century, Mahāyāna Buddhist monks from Kashmir established monasteries in Sumatra. By the mid-8th century, the Srivijaya city-state, which controlled southern Sumatra, extended its influence to the Malay Peninsula and southern Thailand and encouraged the propagation of Mahāyāna doctrine in these new territories.

During the 11th and 12th centuries, the Khmer rulers of the Angkor kingdom conquered almost all of today’s Thailand. They founded a provincial capital in Lopburi and facilitated the expansion of Mahāyāna Buddhism and Brahmanism, which they adhered to, throughout the region. In a few decades, Lopburi became a major religious center, with Mahāyāna Buddhism and Brahmanism mixing gradually with the well-established Theravāda Buddhist base. Sanskrit, the sacred Indian language, spread as well. Even today, elements of these religions appear in some Thai religious and royal ceremonies.

 

3. The Arrival of the Thais: Influence of Burmese and Mon Buddhism

 

In 1057, a king of Pagan (central Burma) named Anuruddha (or Anawratha) expanded his kingdom by conquering part of northern present-day Thailand. He promoted Theravāda Buddhism (“Little Vehicle”) by sending missionaries to the region and building many monasteries.

At that time, the Tai Yai (also called Shan), who had left China during the fall of the Tai Ai-Lao kingdom (1st century BCE) and settled in eastern Burma and northwestern Thailand, likely saw Mahāyāna Buddhism (2) and animist practices strongly influenced by Burmese Theravāda Buddhism.

However, it was from the 12th and 13th centuries that most of the Thais (Thai Noi), who had gradually settled throughout northern and central present-day Thailand, began to adopt Theravāda doctrine en masse after assimilating part of Mon civilization. Chronicles report that the Mons of Lavo (Lopburi), who practiced Theravāda Buddhism, founded in the 8th century a kingdom named Haripunchai (Haripunjaya) on the site of today’s Lamphun city. Their queen, Chamadevi, settled there with a large retinue including five hundred monks. In 1292, when the city was conquered by King Mangrai’s Thais, the Buddhist institutions and traditions established under Chamadevi’s reign remained intact. Most monasteries built in Mon cities, as well as those belonging to forest monk communities (arannavasin), were preserved.

 

4. Ceylonese Buddhism (Lankavamsa Buddhism)

 

In 1153, Parakramabahu the Great ascended the throne of the Kingdom of Ceylon, known then as Lanka. A powerful monarch and defender of Theravāda Buddhism, he convened the seventh Buddhist council to revise and reinforce the Dharma (Buddhist laws) and Vinaya (Buddhist practices). Thai, Burmese, and Laotian kingdoms then sent many monks to Ceylon to study Buddhist teachings and receive ordination. Upon their return, they founded monasteries, notably in Nakhon Sri Thammarat in southern Thailand, in the Lan Na kingdom of the north, and in Sukhothai, where King Ramkhamhaeng offered them protection.

In the 14th and 15th centuries, Ceylonese Buddhism became popular throughout the country. Kings Maha Dharmaraja Lithai of Sukhothai and Ramathibodi I of Ayutthaya invited Maha Sami Sangharaja Sumana, patriarch of the Ceylon Sangha, to preside over ordination ceremonies in their respective kingdoms. Numerous monasteries, chedis (stupas) inspired by Ceylon, and Buddha statues were erected throughout central Thailand. Lankavamsa Buddhism gradually merged with other existing Buddhist forms and progressively imposed Theravāda and its rites on nearly the entire population. Today, this form of Buddhism remains the majority practice in Thailand.

(1) The Mulasasana is a chronicle written in the Thai Yuan dialect starting in 1425 by Buddhayan, the fourth patriarch of Wat Suan Dok in Chiang Mai, and then by Buddhapukam, another monk of the same monastery. It recounts the history of Buddhism in India, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.

(2) According to Chinese chronicles, Thai Ai-Lao was a Thai kingdom located south of China in the 1st century BCE, ruled by Khun Muang, “a powerful sovereign with a formidable army,” known for its great prosperity. It is probable that during this period, Thais began adopting Buddhism as a religion.

 

Excerpt from Answers to All Your Questions on Thailand – Emmanuel Pervé – 2015