Showing 1 - 10 of 16
Abbot's dramatic fall from grace
Oped, Sanitsuda Ekachai, Published on 01/09/2025
» Faith built his empire. Fraud destroyed it. Luang Por Alongkot's fall from grace leaves Thai Buddhism reeling, demanding long-overdue reform.
Unholy identity crisis
Oped, Editorial, Published on 27/08/2025
» Allegations against Phra Alongkot -- the former abbot of the famous Wat Phrabat Namphu in Lop Buri -- have not only revealed a crisis of faith in Thai Buddhism, but have brought the issues of identity theft and impersonation to the forefront.
Corrupt monks have lost their way
Oped, Sanitsuda Ekachai, Published on 14/07/2025
» Just as Thailand was about to celebrate Asalha Bucha Day and the start of Buddhist Lent, the nation was gripped by the biggest sex scandal ever to rock its clergy. How irony.
Gender gap won't close without change
Oped, Boonwara Sumano, Published on 12/03/2025
» The Global Gender Gap Report 2024, published by the World Economic Forum (WEF), benchmarks gender parity across 146 economies and shows that the global gender gap has closed by 68.5%. However, at the current rate, full gender parity remains 134 years away.
Bizarre temple practices under fire
Oped, Sanitsuda Ekachai, Published on 27/12/2024
» Seventy-one corpses; that's what police found in two forest monasteries, thrusting them into the public eye for all the wrong reasons.
Protect migrant kids
Oped, Editorial, Published on 30/03/2024
» A temple raid in Lop Buri has sparked concern over forced deportations after a group of 19 stateless children enrolled in a monkhood ordination programme were ejected from their class and transferred to the border province of Chiang Rai.
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.
Conscription needs to go
Oped, Editorial, Published on 12/04/2023
» The Thai military is facing increasing pressure to change its conscription system to a voluntary one.
Thailand's political charade exposed
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 27/01/2023
» On the face of it, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha for eight years, has touted himself as "an outsider" who was above the political fray, seizing power in a military coup and taking top office to help Thailand in its hour of need amid debilitating protests and polarisation in 2013-14. Now that the general has thrown his hat in the ring under the United Thai Nation (UTN) Party locally known as "Ruam Thai Sang Chart" to contest the upcoming election, the charade is over.
Shaman goes too far
Oped, Editorial, Published on 20/05/2022
» A campaign by a social media influencer to chase indecent monks out of Buddhism has turned ugly as he wrongly targeted a senior monk in the northeastern province of Yasothon.