Showing 1 - 10 of 46
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.
Temple graft shows need for reform
News, Sanitsuda Ekachai, Published on 11/04/2022
» The country's latest temple corruption scandal occurred at a first-class royal monastery; the centre of a sect founded by reformist monarch King Mongkut to clean up the clergy. What an irony!
Fanaticism, hate speech and Buddhism
Oped, Sanitsuda Ekachai, Published on 09/09/2020
» If your ultra-royalist friends say we need to uphold the Nation-Religion-Monarchy state ideology to protect the country's peace, order and national identity, ask them whose nation and what religion they are talking about.
Govt gets Fs for protecting women
News, Sanitsuda Ekachai, Published on 09/03/2020
» If you fail but still keep trying to reach your goal, that is noble. But if you keep telling the world you are trying to do good but are the actual perpetrator, then you are not just a hypocrite. When it involves violence and death, you are a criminal.
Historic ruling offers pro-choice hope
News, Sanitsuda Ekachai, Published on 21/02/2020
» This is historic. This is final. Abortion is no longer illegal in Thailand. Women and girls now can end pregnancies without risking arrest, imprisonment, and even death, thanks to the Constitutional Court's ruling on Wednesday.
Calls for blood must be nipped in bud
News, Sanitsuda Ekachai, Published on 13/06/2019
» What began as a silly spat between female politicians in opposite camps may not turn out pretty judging from louder calls for blood from right-wing, ultra-royalists.
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?
Mixing monks with money corrupts clergy
News, Sanitsuda Ekachai, Published on 20/06/2018
» Fear and fury is gripping the clergy. Following the arrest and defrocking of high-profile monks for temple corruption, temples nationwide are fearful of financial inspections while monks are up in arms against the idea of prohibiting them from receiving money from the laity.
Prayer for the dying: will, morphine, peace
News, Sanitsuda Ekachai, Published on 23/02/2018
» My parents were not only my role models in the way they lived their lives as fearless journalists and compassionate human beings, but in the way they passed -- quietly on their beds, in our family home, in the midst of the night, without any fuss, successfully avoiding frantic attempts to prolong their lives.
Clergy's monopoly over Buddhist teachings is over
News, Sanitsuda Ekachai, Published on 03/02/2018
» The controversy surrounding a new religious group called Techo Vipassana led by a self-proclaimed enlightened woman should remind the clergy that, short of Sangha reform, it is fighting a losing battle in the modern faith market.