It's About The Economy Stupid!

During Thailand’s election in 1996, politicians around the country vied for one man’s endorsement. He was not a billionaire, ex-president or movie star, the man sought after was a small, grandfatherly Buddhist monk with a rural accent. In the past decade, Luang Phor (Reverend Father) Khoon has become the most powerful monk in Thailand, in charge a monastery which generates millions of dollars and counts government leaders and the Thai royal family among its followers. Dr Peter Jackson, a Research Fellow in Pacific and Asian History in the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, has followed the rise of Rev. Khoon over the past decade. He believes Khoon's fame is the result of the monk’s money-friendly outlook. ‘Buddhism has always been like a divine mirror for the state in South East Asia,’ said Dr Jackson, ‘so when the Thai economy boomed in the 1980s and commercialism became a driving social force, Buddhism followed suit’ In a country of about 30,000 Buddhist monasteries, most monks have a small, local following. A few monks have risen to national fame in the past, but this is the first time a nationally prominent monk has embraced commercialism so wholeheartedly, said Dr Jackson. Khoon's Wat Ban Rai monastery in the Nakhonratchasima province is five hour’s drive from Bangkok. It sells a variety of religious merchandise and good luck tokens - from Khoon bumper stickers to blessed amulets and car ornaments. ‘Going to his monastery is like going to a shopping mall. You go there for religious reasons but also to participate in consumer culture,’ said Dr Jackson. Donations are also a major source of income to Khoon’s monastery. In Thai tradition, donations bring blessings and merit to those who give. Dr Jackson estimated that Khoon brought in about $20 million a year in sales and donations, before the recent devaluation of the Thai currency. So far, donations appear to have been spent on those in need and no official corruption charges have been raised. Khoon’s popularity has a number of facets in addition to his commercial bent, said Dr Jackson. His appeal is one of nostalgia - he is a grandfatherly figure who uses old-fashioned language to communicate. ‘The way he speaks brings back memories of how it used to be and the way people used to talk in a time when things are changing and modernising very quickly,’ said Dr Jackson. Khoon is also blessed with a catchy name. In Thai, “khoon” means “to multiply” or “times” which helps link him with good luck in producing and multiplying wealth. But Dr Jackson said the most powerful draw of Khoon is that he is believed to possess magical powers. News of his powers began to circulate in the 1960s, when soldiers fighting in the Vietnam War took his amulets for protection and returned home unscathed. Then in 1993, a large hotel collapsed in Khosat, a large town near Khoon’s monastery, killing over 150 people. Just as rescue workers lost hope, they found a hotel cleaning woman still alive in the rubble. As they labored to free the woman’s feet from beneath a concrete slab, someone threw her one of Khoon’s amulets. She prayed with it until she was freed and Khoon’s magical powers made national headlines. Even the Thai royal family has embraced Khoon’s monastery, after a brief conflict in 1994 when Khoon’s followers had the audacity to sell fake bank notes with the image of the King replaced with that of the old monk. Relations were smoothed over when Khoon made a generous donation to Thailand’s national welfare budget in honor of the King. Now Khoon’s followers sell the fake banknotes with the King’s consent and he receives members of the Royal family at his monastery on a regular basis. During a recent trip to Bangkok, Dr Jackson rode in a taxi with a Rev. Khoon amulet dangling from the rear-view mirror. Although not a genuine article blessed by Rev. Khoon, it showed what the monk represents to many in Thailand. “Ruay, ruay, ruay” read the script below the monk’s face - “Rich, rich, rich.”
By Shelly Simonds. From the internet.
The top picture shows Luang Phor Khoon with his ‘iconic’ cigar, spittoon and in his ungainly squatting position. The second picture shows one of the fake bank notes with his picture on it. Sometimes I laugh, sometimes I cry, sometimes I just feel utterly disgusted.