The Mahāvaṃsa, a historical chronicle of Sri Lanka, mentions that during the reign of Ashoka (c. 268 to 232 BCE), monks were sent to spread Buddhism to Suvannabhumi, which is somewhere in Southeast Asia.

[18] The religious arts of the Indonesian Kingdom of Srivijaya (c. 650–1377), which controlled part of Southern Thailand, depict numerous figures from Indian Mahāyāna.

Archeological finds in Southern Thailand (such as at Phra Phim and Nakon Sri Thammaraj) attest to the practice of Mahāyāna Buddhism in this region.

[19] This was supported by powerful Southeast Asian kings, such as the Burmese Anawratha (1044–1077), who promoted Theravada throughout the Bagan Kingdom, which included parts of Thailand that he conquered.

[23][24] During the 13th century, Thai monks traveled to Sri Lanka to ordain in the Sinhalese Mahavihara Theravada sect (known as Lankavamsa/Lankavong in Thailand) lineage and to study the teachings.

[28] Under the reign of Ram Khamhaeng, the position of sangharaja (leader of the monastic community) was created and tasked with the administration of the sangha, the orders of monks and nuns.

Though Ayutthya's main religion remained as Theravada Buddhism throughout its history, many elements of the political and social system were incorporated from Hindu traditions and numerous rites were conducted by Brahmins.

The Thai capital was destroyed in 1767, leading to the loss of numerous historical records, literary and religious texts and marking the fall of the Ayutthya kingdom proper.

Influenced by this and his own understanding of the Tipitaka, Prince Mongkut (as a monk) began a reform Buddhist movement by founding a new monastic order at Wat Samorai.

[86] During the early 20th century, a new Thai Buddhist tradition was beginning to take in northern Thailand (mainly Isan), outside of the elite and royal circles of Bangkok.

However, studies by the anthropologist Charles F. Keyes argued that these efforts mostly transmitted fragments of overt behavior, such as how to give alms to monks, without teaching proper Buddhist doctrine.

[103] This influential meditation movement (which grew rapidly in the 1960s and 1970s) was sparked by the introduction of the Burmese Vipassana tradition of Mahasi Sayadaw, by figures such as Phra Phimolatham, who was the ecclesiastical minister of the interior and the abbot of Wat Mahathat (the center of the Mahanikai order).

While the visibility of Hinduism in Thai society has been diminished substantially during the Chakri Dynasty, Hindu influences, particularly shrines to the god Brahma, continue to be seen in and around Buddhist institutions and ceremonies.

This term refers to a typical style of Hindu and Mahayana Buddhist sculptures and architecture found in the central, east and northeast regions of Thailand during the 11" to 13" centuries CE.

Pagodas, stone inscriptions, Buddha images, potteries and artefacts were recovered in Sukhothai and associated historic towns reflect the height of craftsmanship and creativity.

This connection has been maintained into the modern era, with Buddhist institutions and clergy being granted special benefits by the government, as well as being subjected to a certain amount of governmental oversight.

[118] In addition to state support and recognition — in the form of formal gifts to monasteries made by government officials and the royal family (for example, Kathin)—-a number of special rights are conferred upon Buddhist monks.

Calls for reform were spearheaded by right-wing activist monk Phra Buddha Issara, who had close ties with junta leader Prayut Chan-o-cha,[126] and was known for leading the protests in Bangkok that led to the coup.

[153][note 1] Anthropologist Jim Taylor argues that the arrests were the "ruling palace regime" trying to consolidate royalist power by eliminating non-royalist high-ranking monks.

Taylor pointed out that the suspects of the investigations were innocent until proven guilty, yet were all defrocked before trial and stripped of decades of monastic seniority only for being accused of the crimes.

[155] As in most other Theravada nations, Buddhism in Thailand is represented primarily by the presence of Buddhist monks, who serve as officiants on ceremonial occasions, as well as being responsible for preserving and conveying the teachings of the Buddha.

The scholarship route is also followed by monks who desire to rise in the ecclesiastic hierarchy, as promotions within the government-run system are contingent on passing examinations in Pāli and Dhamma studies.

Bhikkhus have for centuries embraced this message by making travelling or wandering to places part of their duty to spread Buddha's teaching and thus helped to establish Buddhism far and wide.

The new international/overseas Buddhist missionary work was established in the mid-twentieth century, beginning through a declaration where the Thai Sangha built a temple in Bhodgaya, India in 1957, coinciding with the 2,500th year since Buddhism was founded.

[162] In a case that received much media attention, Luang Pu Nen Kham Chattiko was photographed in July 2013 wearing Ray-Ban sunglasses, holding a Louis Vuitton bag full of US dollars, and "...was later found to be a trafficker of methamphetamines, an abuser of women and the lover of a pregnant fourteen-year-old.

[165]: 39–41 In 1999[170][171] and again in 2002,[172][173] Luang Por Dhammajayo, the then abbot of Wat Phra Dhammakaya, was accused of fraud and embezzlement by the Thai media and later some government agencies when donations of land were found in his name.

Wat Phra Dhammakaya denied this, stating that it was the intention of the donors to give the land to the abbot and not the temple, and that owning personal property is common and legal in the Thai Sangha.

[168]: 139 [174][175] Widespread negative media coverage at this time was symptomatic of the temple being made the scapegoat for commercial malpractice in the Thai Buddhist community[176][177] in the wake of the 1997 Asian financial crisis.

[182] In March 2016, Thai police formally summoned then Acting Supreme Patriarch Somdet Chuang Varapunno, after he refused to answer direct questions about his vintage car, one of only 65 made.

In Mahayana Buddhism, practised in Taiwan, mainland China, Hong Kong, and Tibet, female ordinations are common, but in countries that adhere to the Theravada tradition, such as Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Myanmar, women were banned from becoming ordained about eight centuries ago, "for fear that women entering monastic life instead of bearing children would be a disruption of social order", according to Kittipong Narit, a Buddhist scholar at Bangkok's Thammasat University.