Showing 1 - 10 of 28
Breaking gender barriers in the clergy
Oped, Sanitsuda Ekachai, Published on 22/07/2023
» Can queers be ordained as Buddhist monks? The question sparked intense debates on social media when Pataradanai Setsuwan, a well-known openly gay celebrity, entered the monkhood late last month.
Sex, money and monkhood don't mix
Oped, Sanitsuda Ekachai, Published on 12/05/2022
» The latest sex scandal of a popular preacher "Luang Pi Kato" once again reveals how rotten the cleric system is.
Autocracy, not giggling, is the problem
Oped, Sanitsuda Ekachai, Published on 15/09/2021
» When two influencer monks -- Phra Maha Praiwan Worawano and Phra Maha Sompong Talaputto -- were summoned to Government House last week for giggling too much in their dhamma talk shows, I expected intellectual duels between the conservatives and the liberals on the monastic codes of conduct and the clergy's need to catch up with times.
Temples no longer safe for children
News, Sanitsuda Ekachai, Published on 30/10/2019
» News about monks' sexual misconduct has become so frequent that it no longer shocks. But the latest scandal involving a rapist, paedophile monk makes my blood boil.
Perpetuating sexism through prayers
News, Sanitsuda Ekachai, Published on 29/04/2019
» Is it possible that women's lower status in Thai society has something to do with the way we Thai Buddhists pray?
Buddha's path must guide reform of clergy
News, Sanitsuda Ekachai, Published on 07/06/2018
» The recent crackdown on the Sangha Supreme Council elders is long overdue. Corrupt monks in high places have escaped the law for far too long. But abuse of power will not go away as long as the clergy remains a closed, feudal autocracy under state patronage.
The secret of Thailand's biggest female clergy
News, Sanitsuda Ekachai, Published on 23/11/2017
» The clergy prohibits female ordination. That does not stop the Nirotharam Monastery in Chiang Mai from being the country's biggest community of female monks and novices -- and with strong support from local monks and residents too.
Racism blinds monks to Rohingya plight
News, Sanitsuda Ekachai, Published on 03/10/2017
» An abbot at a Buddhist temple in Bangladesh has a very simple reason for helping the Rohingya Muslims who fled for dear life from the atrocities they faced in Myanmar.
Struggles of rural women go unanswered
News, Sanitsuda Ekachai, Published on 11/03/2017
» When asked about her gravest concern as an ethnic minority woman, domestic violence is not on the top of the list of Hmong activist Kanlaya Chularattakorn. Not that it does not exist, but the topic is simply too divisive when highland communities need to unite for survival amid state hostility.
Female monks barred from paying respects
News, Sanitsuda Ekachai, Published on 11/01/2017
» If you think any Thai can pay respects to the late revered monarch, you will be in for an unpleasant surprise.