Abstract
This paper aims to reconsider existing arguments on “Thai Buddhism” by referring to legal status and activities of Chinese temples. Chinese temples in Thailand have dropped from the officially recognized domain of “religious places” since the Thai government translated the western concept of religion as satsana. This means that the vast majority of Chinese temples have flourished outside the government’s control of officially registered religions. Nevertheless, Chinese temples provide venues for lay Buddhists to worship Buddhism-related deities, and indeed, worshippers at such Chinese temples are also Buddhists in an official (statistical) and broader sense.
In Phuket, such Chinese temples as non-religious places occupy considerable parts of locally practiced Buddhism, and their activities run contrary to previous assumptions on “Thai Buddhism” provided by a series of Sangha-centric arguments. These facts remind us that the Sangha-centric view on “Thai Buddhism” is too narrow to articulate its actual components. Actual “Thai Buddhism” has always relied on such “non-religious” elements as Chinese temples to sustain itself.
