Ordination in Thailand

[5Khandas]

There was a lot of useful information in E-Sangha about the ordination procedure in Thailand. As E-Sangha forum is down now, I think it would be great to collect all that information into this topic.

Note: See this post for a transcript of the E-Sangha thread.

e.g. monasteries for westerners (if I’m right Ven. Dhammanando wrote a very good list in E-Sangha, it would be good to put that to here), information about the visa, and generally the ordination procedure; the length of the anagarika period in different monasteries and so on.

(I too would like to ordain in Thailand sometime.)

Metta.

[adosa]

Hi 5Khandas,

I'd like to see this thread develop too. Maybe it can be made a sticky. I recall the thread on E-Sangha had a wealth of information for those wanting to pursue ordination in Thailand. Personally, I don't have a lot of information for you other than what I can remember off the top of my head. So take it with a grain of salt. Hopefully, one of the Bhantes will weigh in here.

I believe the temple that the Venerable Dhammanando most recommended was Wat Tha Ma O in Lampang. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any contact information on the net. Also, I was recommended the following temple from Venerable Kendrup (spelling) near Khon Kaen. I don't know if he visits this site but if he sees this thread maybe he can weigh in. He suggested this temple to me as the abbott was very amenable to teaching western students. Here's the link:

http://www.rightview.org/Kanjanabhisek/index.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;



I also recall the Venerable Appicchato was a good source on the visa information as it is seemingly always changing in Thailand. Another good source to look through on the visa issue is:

http://www.thaivisa.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;



A year ago I traveled around the area by bicycle and was able to meet many nice, English speaking Thais who went out of their way to befriend me. I still keep in contact with a number of them and if at any time I wanted to pursue ordination they would be more than willing to help me with language issues, traveling to immigration offices, putting me up in their homes during the exploratory phase, etc. So along that line of thought, have you visited Thailand? I know you can get a 60 day tourist visa easily. Maybe you could develop some contacts through this thread, plan a trip, get your feet on the ground, develop some friendships with the local Thais, and then take a look around. Maybe something will come up that way. Just a thought.

One other thought. Have you considered visiting Sri Lanka. Ken and Visakha Kawasaki run the relief organization Buddhist Relief. Maybe you could send them an e-mail and run your situation through them. I think they would be a good contact for ordaining in Sri Lanka.

http://www.brelief.org/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;



Good luck and let us know if you come up with anything concrete or any other ideas.


adosa

[5Khandas]

Thank you for your tips Adosa!

Unfortunately it's not so easy for me to frequently go to Thailand, I rather want to have some concrete information about the whens and wheres and so on.

To say the truth I don't know much about Sri Lanka, I've heard so many good things about Thailand, so I concentrated on this topic. Anyway I take a search in Google, and I'll see.

I’m still waiting for further information…

Metta.

[puthujjana]

Bhikkhu Nyanatusita wrote a paper about monasteries in Sri Lanka:

http://bps.lk/other_library/information ... 08_jan.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Lampang]

I can't help much - at all, if truth be told - with ordination but the website for Wat Tamma Oh is at http://www.wattamaoh.com/home/index.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

As someone suggested, for visas, have a look at http://www.thaivisa.com/forum" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; Most of the sub-forums can safely be ignored but you can find useful stuff in the visa sub-forum. It also has a Buddhist sub-forum which might have something. The regulations for a monastic visa can be seen at http://www.mfa.go.th/web/2482.php?id=2489" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; though it's a pretty uninformative site. Visas are a pain and the rules change often but as I understand it - and that doesn't necessarily mean much - your options are (i) Get a tourist visa (easy) which can be renewed for up to 90 days (or maybe longer, depending on how things are) (ii) Get a non-immigrant visa in your home country. As long as you meet the requirements for this you can extend it within the country but getting hold of the necessary paperwork from Thailand could be tricky (iii) Get a tourist visa, come to Thailand, get the paperwork for your non-immigrant visa, go to neighbouring country to get your non-immigrant visa and come back again. But as I've never had to do this, take what I said with a pinch/bucket of salt.

[5Khandas]

Thanks for the replays.

As I'm reading the topic about E-Sangha, it seems it won't come back again. All the information is lost from there.
So I thing it'd be really good to collect those information here. Everything about the ordination or just about the staying as a guest in thai monasteries.

Not just for me, but for everybody who wants to go to Thailand.

Metta.

[appicchato]

Greetings,

This topic is so large that it would be difficult (for me) to start expounding on any particular aspect...so, if, perhaps, our 'mods' could pin this thread, or a variation thereof, we can slowly build up some content to refer to...in the interim I would be happy to answer any specific questions anyone might have...or at least try to point in the right direction...

[appicchato]

I guess that's not flying...anyone is welcome to send me a PM...

[BlackBird]

Hello Bhante, here's something I remember from my Childhood:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfHptym_hXE" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I'm not so fond of the fishing part, but otherwise it's got some good dhamma potential.

metta
Jack

[appicchato]

Right you are Jack...perhaps I was a might premature...

Although I could have done without eyeing the beautiful cheese and crackers at the end (it's pushing eight in the evening!)...

[BlackBird]

Oops, sorry Bhante

[appicchato]

No, no...that was (an attempt) at humor...

[BlackBird]

Oh, but I suppose we better get anyway

metta
Jack

[5Khandas]

Hi all!

It's good to see this new sub-forum!

Meditation in Southeast Asia:
http://www.retreat-infos.de/Download/Re ... _Oct07.pdf

In this document there are a lot of information about some monasteries in Thailand (and also in Myanmar and Sri Lanka).

I hope this will be useful to someone.

Metta.

[quincy_edgar_despres]

This relevant to Thailand forest monks...
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethi ... onks/5472/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Powerful multinational interests are murdering the monastics and often illegally destroying the forests in Thailand putting pressure on the forest tradition and the livelihoods of rural villagers.
These developments have been happening for a while, and Thailand will likely not be able to produce another genuine forest movement after the current one subsides. Without forests in which monks can dwell in solitude and reinvigorate the tradition, the spiritual authenticity of Buddhism in Thailand will gradually subside and the world will lose one of the repositories of living religion.

Presumably the same thing will happen to Burma after the government is deposed and multinationals begin operations there in earnest. It was prophesied that the age of the Buddha Shakyamuni will last for another 2500 years, but at the rate of destruction of traditional culture in southeast Asia, it may end much sooner. Certainly a global modern industrial society is not conducive to spirituality.