Thai politicians seek spiritual escape in Indian Buddhist shrines
New Kerala, Jan 14, 2008
Bangkok, Thailand -- Senior Thai politicians, including a top coup leader, have visited historic Buddhist pilgrimage sites in India to seek spiritual solace from the political troubles at home.
The Thai Bodh Gaya temple in
Kushinagar in
Uttar Pradesh is the main
pilgrimage site for Thai political personalities, some of
them spending time ordained as monks and performing menial
tasks, the Bangkok Post
reported.
These include General Saprang Kalyanmitr, a key figure in
the September 2006 coup that ousted former prime minister
Thaksin Shinawatra following
months of street protests against alleged corruption and
abuse of state authority by Mr Thaksin's administration.
Key figures of Mr Thaksin's now disbanded
Thai Rak Thai party have
also been visiting the temple over the past year.
Thai Buddhist cleric settled in Kushinagar said some senior
Thai military officers, government officials and politicians
had become novice monks at the temple.
Among these were former election commissioner Wasan
Permparp, an influential Thaksin political ally Newin
Chidchob and another top politician Sanoh Thienthong.
Former Thai navy chief Admiral Prasert Boonsong, former
defence permanent secretary General Ood Buangbon and former
deputy interior minister Pracha Maleenont also visited the
temple in Kushinagar.
Temple staff told the newspaper that General Saprang also
volunteered to clean the temple toilets during his stay
there.
A former senior member of Mr Thaksin's disbanded
Thai Rak Thai party, Sutham
Saengprathum who spent 23 days as monk at Kushinagar told
the Post that it was important to be ordained as a monk in
India.
''I feel that I was closer to Lord Buddha and that inspired
me to focus deeply on studying Buddhism. The environment
helped me better follow Buddhist precepts,'' he said.
Phra Rat Ratanarangsee, the Thai priest at Kushinagar said
several Thai politicians found happiness after coming there.
''Some politicians had experienced frustration. They came
here and found real happiness, refrained from competition,
shared and had freedom in their minds,'' he added.
According to Phra Thep Phothiwithes, the 70-yer-old abbot of
Thai Bodh Gaya temple in Kushinagar,
''A pilgrimage allows them to be reborn. Washing themselves
in the Ganges river or with
water from the Ganges river
is like washing away sins.''
http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=52,5749,0,0,1,0
