Religion in Thailand

According to the last census (2000) 95% of Thais are Buddhists of the Theravada tradition. Muslims are the second largest religious group in Thailand at 4.6%. Thailand's southernmost provinces - Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat and part of Songkhla Chumphon have dominant Muslim populations, consisting of both ethnic Thai and Malay. Verify source|date=July 2007 Most often Muslims live in separate communities from non-Muslims. The southern tip of Thailand is mostly ethnic Malays. Christians, mainly Catholics, represent 0.75% of the population. A tiny but influential community of Sikhs in Thailand and some Hindus also live in the country's cities, and are heavily engaged in retail commerce. There is also a small Jewish community in Thailand, dating back to the 17th century. Since 2001, Muslim activists, generally described by the Thai government as terrorists or separatists, have rallied against the central government because of alleged corruption and ethnic bias on the part of officials.

Buddhism

Buddhism in Thailand is largely of the Theravada school. Nearly 95% of Thailand's population is Buddhist of the Theravada school, though Buddhism in this country has become integrated with folk beliefs such as ancestor worship as well as Chinese religions from the large Thai-Chinese population [cite web
title =CIA World Factbook: Thailand
publisher =Central Intelligence Agency
date =2007-2-8
url =https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/th.html
accessdate =2007-03-07 ] .
Buddhist temples in Thailand are characterized by tall golden stupas, and the Buddhist architecture of Thailand is similar to that in other Southeast Asian countries, particularly Cambodia and Laos, with which Thailand shares cultural and historical heritage.

Islam

Islam is most popular in southern Thailand, near the border with Malaysia, where the vast majority of the country's Muslims, predominantly Malay in origin, are found. The remaining Muslims are Pakistani immigrants in the urban centers, ethnic Thai in the rural areas of the Center and South (varying from entire Muslim communities to mixed settlements), and a few Chinese Muslims in the far north. Also, Cambodian Muslims can be found between the mutual border and Bangkok as well as the deep south. Education and maintenance of their own cultural traditions are vital interests of these groups.

Except in the small circle of theologically trained believers, the Islamic faith in Thailand, like Buddhism, had become integrated with many beliefs and practices not integral to Islam. It would be difficult to draw a line between animistic practices indigenous to Malay culture that were used to drive off evil spirits and local Islamic ceremonies because each contained aspects of the other. In the mid-1980s, the country had more than 2,000 mosques in 38 Thai provinces, with the largest number (434) in Narathiwat province. All but a very small number of the mosques were associated with the Shi'a branch of Islam; the remainder were of the Sunni branch. Each mosque had an imam (prayer leader), a muezzin (who issued the call to prayer), and perhaps other functionaries.

Hinduism

A number of Hindus remain in Thailand. They are mostly located in the cities. In the past, the nation came under the influence of the Khmer Empire, which had strong Hindu roots. The epic, Ramakien, is based on the Ramayana. The city, Ayutthaya, is named after Ayodhya, the birthplace of Rama. Numerous rituals derived from Brahminism are preserved in rituals, such as use of holy strings and pouring of lustral water from conch shells. Furthermore, Hindu deities are worshipped by many Thais alongside Buddhism, such as the famous Erawan shrine, and statues of Ganesh, Indra, and Shiva, as well as numerous symbols relating to Hindu deities are found, e.g., Garuda, a symbol of the monarchy.

Judaism

Jewish community life in Thailand dates back to the 17th century, first with the arrival of a few Baghdadi Jewish families, although the current community is comprised mainly of Ashkenazi descendants of refugees from Russia, and later the Soviet Union. Further augmenting the community were Persian Jews fleeing persecution in Iran in the 1970s and 1980s. Most of the Jewish community in Thailand, consisting of probably less than 1,000 individuals, resides in Bangkok [http://www.jewishthailand.com/] (especially in the Khaosan Road area), although smaller Jewish communities with synagogues are found in Phuket, Chiang Mai (home of Rabbi Levi Tzeitlin) and Koh Samui.

ikhism

A tiny but influential community of Sikhs also live in the country's cities, and are heavily engaged in retail commerce.

Christianity

Christianity was first introduced to Thailand by European missionaries in 16-17th centuries. The large part of the Christian converts came from ethnic minorities. By the information of United Bible Society, Thailand had 1.7% of Christians among the total population by 1998. [ [http://www.biblesociety.org/bs-tha.htm Bible Society Work in Thailand] ] The US State Department 2006 Report said, that there were 438,600 Christians (0.7%) in the country.

Freedom of religion

The law provides for freedom of religion, and the Government generally respected this right in practice; however, it does not register new religious groups that have not been accepted into one of the existing religious governing bodies on doctrinal or other grounds. In practice, unregistered religious organizations operated freely, and the Government's practice of not recognizing any new religious groups did not restrict the activities of unregistered religious groups. The Government officially limits the number of foreign missionaries that may work in the country, although unregistered missionaries were present in large numbers and were allowed to live and work freely. There were no reports of societal abuses or discrimination based on religious belief or practice; however, in the far southern border provinces, continued separatist violence resulted in increasingly tense relations between the Buddhist and Muslim communities. [United States Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor. [http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2007/90155.htm Thailand: International Religious Freedom Report 2007] . "This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain."]

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