ABSTRACT
This chapter is based on fieldwork conducted in Thailand during the summer and early autumn of 1982 with the assistance of a grant from the British Academy. It analyses the programme from the point of view of participant monks, setting it against the background of traditional and modern medical practice. The Thai Sangha, in keeping with its historical role as custodian of medical knowledge, has continued to propagate traditional medical techniques and several monks who had undertaken Maw Phra training or who were interviewed in the Northeast were well versed in them. Thailand’s 25,600 Buddhist wats, 213,000 monks and 115,000 novices scattered throughout the length and breadth of the country represent a considerable potential resource for development. They have been progressively involved in a variety of community-based rural programmes ranging from the government sponsored Phra Dhammatuta and Phra Dhammajarik schemes to projects administered by individual monks and the two Buddhist universities in Bangkok.
