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BUDDHIST BUREAUCRACY AND RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IN THAILAND

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 September 2018

Tomas Larsson Open the ORCID record for Tomas Larsson [Opens in a new window]
Tomas Larsson*
Affiliation:
Senior Lecturer, Department of Politics and International Studies, University of Cambridge
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Abstract

In accordance with Thai conceptions of Buddhist kingship, Thai rulers have felt obliged to devote considerable energies towards the promotion and protection of Buddhism. Over the past century (and more), state laws have been instituted and bureaucratic agencies established to regulate and implement such promotional and protective activities. This article outlines some broad trends and patterns in the bureaucratization of Buddhism in Thailand, and discusses their implications for religious freedom. It argues that although Buddhism has been extensively bureaucratized, the implications for religious freedom have been less severe than one might perhaps expect, owing not least to the fact that Buddhism is a monastic religion. However, recent developments—taking place in the wake of the 2014 military coup and the 2016 royal succession—suggest that the legal environment is changing in ways that may have negative implications for religious freedom in Thailand.

Keywords

Buddhismbureaucratizationreligious freedomThailand
Type
Article Symposium
Information
Journal of Law and Religion , Volume 33 , Issue 2 , August 2018 , pp. 197 - 211
Copyright
Copyright © Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University 2018 

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