Freedom of religion in Thailand
There have been no reports of societal abuses or discrimination based on religious belief or practice; however, in the far southern border provinces, continued separatist violence has resulted in increasingly tense relations between the Buddhist and Muslim communities.
According to RAD statistics, there are an estimated 351,987 Christians in the country[citation needed], constituting 0.5 percent of the population.
Baptists and Seventh-day Adventists are recognized by authorities as separate Protestant denominations and are organized under similar umbrella groups.
According to the most recent government survey in 2002, there are 9 recognized tribal groups (chao khao), comprising approximately 920,000 persons[citation needed].
Syncretistic practices drawn from Buddhism, Christianity, Taoism, and spirit worship are common among the tribal groups.
Monks working as Buddhist missionaries (Dhammaduta) have been active since the end of World War II, particularly in border areas among the country's tribal populations.
In addition, the government sponsored the international travel of another 1,414 Buddhist monks sent by their temples to disseminate religious information.
The law provides for freedom of religion, and the government generally respected this right in practice; however, it restricted the activities of some groups.
During the reporting period, some Buddhist organizations called for the designation of Buddhism as the state religion in the new draft constitution, but as of June 2007 such a provision had not been included.
The Penal Code prohibits the insult or disturbance of religious places or services of all officially recognized religions.
Under the provisions of the Religious Organizations Act, the RAD recognizes a new religion if a national census shows that it has at least 5,000 adherents, has a uniquely recognizable theology, and is not politically active.
Government registration confers some benefits, including access to state subsidies, tax-exempt status, and preferential allocation of resident visas for organization officials.
The government allocated approximately $92.6 million (3 billion baht) during fiscal year 2007 to support the National Buddhism Bureau, which was established in 2002 as an independent state agency.
According to government statistics, as of April 2007 there were 1,618 registered Islamic Religious and Moral Education centers teaching Tadika in the 3 southern provinces, with 170,989 students and 5,749 teachers.
The registration effort began in April 2004 following an attack on a military post and arms depot in Narathiwat in January 2004.
The programs also included monthly meetings of the 17 member Subcommittee on Religious Relations, located within the Prime Minister's National Identity Promotion Office (the subcommittee is composed of one representative from the Buddhist, Muslim, Roman Catholic, Hindu, and Sikh communities in addition to civil servants from several government agencies).
The RAD held an interfaith event focusing on religious youth from June 26–28 in Chonburi Province, just outside Bangkok.
The RAD sponsored a public relations campaign promoting interreligious understanding and harmony, including prime-time television announcements.
During the reporting period, the Falun Gong abandoned a petition challenging the government's September 2005 denial of their application to register as an association with the Office of the National Cultural Commission.
While registration conferred some benefits, such as longer terms for visa stays, being unregistered was not a significant barrier to foreign missionary activity.
Many foreign missionaries entered the country using tourist visas and proselytized or disseminated religious literature without the acknowledgment of the RAD.
Violent acts committed by suspected separatist militants in the Muslim-majority provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani, Songkhla, and Yala affected the ability of some Buddhists in this predominantly Muslim region to undertake the full range of their traditional religious practices.
There were almost daily attacks by suspected separatist militants in the country's southernmost provinces on both government officials and Buddhists and Muslim civilians.
On March 14, 2007, assailants ambushed a van in Yala Province killing eight Buddhist passengers including two teenage girls.
On March 19, 2007, gunmen killed three Muslim students and injured seven others at an Islamic boarding school in Songkhla Province.
As a result of a series of increasingly provocative attacks, the level of tension between the local Muslim and Buddhist communities continued to grow.
The monks were performing the morning ritual of receiving donations of food and were guarded by three armed soldiers, one of whom subsequently died from the explosion.
The Government continued to investigate these incidents in the context of security operations involving the ongoing separatist violence in the South.
Buddhist monks continued to report that they were fearful and thus no longer able to travel freely through southern communities to receive alms.
In response to the killings, the Government stationed troops to protect the religious practitioners and structures of all faiths in communities where the potential for violence existed and provided armed escort for Buddhist monks, where necessary, for their daily rounds to receive alms.
