Buddhism, Power, and Resistance in Thailand

This chapter investigates the intimate relationship between Buddhism, power, and resistance in contemporary Thailand. It first explores how Buddhist cosmology legitimizes and articulates diverse forms of power, ranging from political influence to the accumulation of wealth. Especially within institutional settings such as kingship and the monastic order, Buddhism in the kingdom plays a key role in naturalizing social hierarchy, economic inequality, and the dispensation of state violence on purportedly moral grounds. Having established this complicity with entrenched power, the essay shows that the same religious framework simultaneously offers opportunities for resistance. Historically, marginalized individuals and collectives from “below” – including non-elite leaders, political activists, and outright rebels – have appropriated Buddhist ideas and practices to manifest their dissent, challenging the moral authority of the status quo, and positioning themselves as comparatively more virtuous actors within the polity. The latter dynamic was visible in the youth-led protests of 2020 and 2021.