Showing 1 - 10 of 30
Real barriers to temple reform
Editorial, Published on 01/02/2026
» After a year of temple scandals, Thailand's top monks have promised a great clean-up. The orders sound bold. The question is whether a feudal system built on censorship, obedience and patronage can truly reform itself.
Parties silent on temple corruption
Editorial, Published on 18/01/2026
» The monk scandals that shocked Thailand in 2025 are not the result of moral lapses among clerics. They are the outcome of decades of governance failure. Addressing them requires political solutions. As the country prepares to form a new government in the coming months, there is hope for policy, not religious excuses.
TV plays shameful jingoism card
Oped, Editorial, Published on 19/10/2025
» A television programme which allowed critics to castigate human rights advocates including Senator Angkhana Neelapaichit for their views on the Thai-Cambodian conflict has shed new light on the dire need to regulate some unprofessional media.
Honest monks hung out to dry
Editorial, Published on 28/09/2025
» A series of monk scandals and temple corruption cases in recent months has prompted the Ecclesiastical Council to order all temples to make their accounts transparent. But good intentions are not enough. Without systemic support, the order may prove hollow.
Patients lost in temple scandal
Editorial, Published on 14/09/2025
» For the patients at Wat Phra Bat Namphu, the scandal around its former abbot has revived an old fear: being abandoned all over again.
Reform clergy with your wallet
Editorial, Published on 03/08/2025
» The recent sex scandal involving high-ranking monks has shaken public faith to the core. But the responses from the clergy, the state, and the public all miss the point. This crisis in Thai Buddhism is not about monks and sex -- it's about monks and money. Address the problem incorrectly, and the sex scandals and temple corruption will never end.
Casualties of war
Oped, Editorial, Published on 25/07/2025
» As the saying goes, the first casualty of war is the truth, and that is exactly what is playing out after the Thai-Cambodian border row exploded into armed conflict on Thursday morning.
Clergy in need of control, not reform
Editorial, Published on 20/07/2025
» After a long silence during Thailand's biggest sex scandal in the clergy, the Ecclesiastical Council and the National Office of Buddhism (NOB) have finally spoken out. Their big idea? A new law to imprison the offending monks and women involved in the scandal.
Temple angst misplaced
Oped, Editorial, Published on 02/07/2025
» Once again, Phu Man Fah temple is dominating headlines as Cambodia has vented its anger about a construction project at the monastery, smearing it as an "Angkor Wat replica".
Reform temples, or lose public faith
Editorial, Published on 08/06/2025
» Temple corruption no longer raises eyebrows. The Wat Rai Khing scandal is just bigger, louder, and harder to ignore. It demands serious reform before public faith erodes further.