Real barriers to temple reform

After a year of temple scandals, Thailand's top monks have promised a great cleanup.

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The orders sound bold. The question is whether a feudal system built on censorship, obedience and patronage can truly reform itself.In early January, after a string of corruption and sex scandals in 2025, His Holiness the Supreme Patriarch issued 12 policies to "reset" the Buddhist clergy. The Ecclesiastical Council has since endorsed them and announced steps to implement the policy nationwide.

The measures look ambitious. The council of elders says it will stop using large construction projects as a yardstick for promoting abbots and senior monks. Instead, appointments will be judged on discipline, dhamma teaching, financial transparency and compliance with council rules.

To curb the commercialisation of Buddhism, the council has banned commercial and supernatural rituals in temples. The sale of amulets and "sacred" worship objects is prohibited, as is the use of statues of non-Buddhist deities.

To modernise administration, it wants a single digital database of monks and temples, a screening committee for appointments, and a review of monks' monthly allowances.

Monk education is to be updated to fit modern realities while preserving monastic discipline. The National Office of Buddhism (NOB) will be restructured and given more resources to carry out these tasks.