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Under the sign of Buddha.
When at
the end of the 13th century the Thais could finally control Siam, the
Buddhism Theravada became the official religion of the Country. This is
still practised by over 95 percent of the population - a faith that goes
back to the teaching of Buddha and founded on the monastic life.
In fact, every Thai male
will be a monk for a short period of his life. This normally happens
between the end of the school and the beginning of adulthood and the
beginning of the working life. |
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Through this
temporary life as a monk, he will gain great merits, which are needed to get
through the long cycle of the reincarnations. Almost 10 percent of the male
population lives in the monasteries and the monks are more than 150,000. For the
same reason, the temples are about 30,000 and take care not only of the soul of
believers, but also of their body. They represent the school, the orphanage, the
kinder garden, the surgey, the refuge for older people and the justice court.
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