Thailand is like an eclectic spiritual leader who maintains harmony despite wearing the most conflicting elements. Most notably, there’s a striking dissonance between the countless golden Buddha statues and the thriving sex industry. Some wonder why monks remain silent about this? How do Thai people view this? Perhaps it all comes back to the concept of karma.

In Thailand’s impoverished countryside, many young women sacrifice themselves for their families by entering Bangkok’s red-light districts. Buddhist almsgiving and offerings become a path to “compensate for sins and accumulate merit.” Those who initially intended to improve their family’s livelihood find comfort and tolerance in the belief that “karma is determined by intention.”

The monks’ silence is viewed by some as “compassion.” Theravada Buddhism acknowledges that all living beings experience suffering while striving to improve their karma and transcend fate. If these women’s offerings were rejected, they would lose their opportunity to earn merit and change their future. Thai people also believe that beings are the owners and heirs of their actions - everyone has karmic debts to bear in this life. For instance, some Thai parents refuse cleft palate surgery for their children, fearing they would still need to repay their karmic debt in the next life.

In Thailand’s patriarchal society, traditional beliefs offer women hope through merit-making as a vessel to cross over to the other shore, hoping to be reborn as men in the next life. However, this river of reincarnation seems endless and boundless.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, only You can illuminate the spiritual world of Thai Buddhists. The Psalm 139:17-18 sings: “How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand.” May they understand that life’s mysteries far exceed what karma and causality can explain. Every circumstance, joy, and sorrow contains Your unique plan for humanity. May You break the snares that bind Thai Buddhists, freeing them from their fixation on keeping record of their merits, which prevents them from focusing on the Lord who gives the breath of life. We ask the Holy Spirit to awaken people’s desire to build a relationship with the Lord. May this spiritual thirst grow daily, leading them to break through all barriers and run unreservedly into the loving embrace of the Lord Jesus. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.