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Phuket TV - PHUKET XTRA: VIDEO: Last body recovered! Phuket arms cache? Death penalty for ambushes! || July 16

Phuket TV - PHUKET XTRA: VIDEO: Last body recovered! Phuket arms cache? Death penalty for ambushes! || July 16

Sirinya’s World: Taking life in a stance

Sirinya’s World: Taking life in a stance

Phi Ta Khon Festival in Loei begins

Phi Ta Khon Festival in Loei begins

All About Buddhism: Somewhere over the rainbow

All About Buddhism: Somewhere over the rainbow

Phuket History: Sex in early Siam

Phuket History: Sex in early Siam

Phuket History: Indians have long sailed the monsoon winds to trade on the Andaman coast

Phuket History: Indians have long sailed the monsoon winds to trade on the Andaman coast

All About Buddhism: Suicide is not painless

All About Buddhism: Suicide is not painless
Phuket History: Slave raids were a brutal fact of life in the Phuket region
Phuket History: Slave raids were a brutal fact of life in the Phuket region
Sunday 1 October 2017, 09:00AM
Prior to the 20th century, captives of pirate raids in the seas around Phuket had little hope of freedom or even survival. They were treated appallingly and often died of starvation, exhaustion or disease before they could even be sold at slave markets in the region.
Ajarn Pranee is a living repository of Phuket’s Baba culture and history
Ajarn Pranee is a living repository of Phuket’s Baba culture and history
Saturday 30 September 2017, 09:00AM
Few people in the world understand Phuket’s unique culture better than Assistant Professor Pranee Sakulpipatana, known to a huge circle of friends and admirers simply as “Ajarn” (teacher) Pranee.
All About Buddhism: To be or not to be? Buddhist nuns in Thailand
All About Buddhism: To be or not to be? Buddhist nuns in Thailand
Saturday 23 September 2017, 02:00PM
Savvy tourists in Thailand may eventually ask why it is that they see countless Thai monks, but no Thai nuns. The answer is: it’s a deeply sensitive and at times explosive issue.
Phuket’s Por Tor Festival centred on paying respect to familial ancestors
Phuket’s Por Tor Festival centred on paying respect to familial ancestors
Friday 1 September 2017, 02:00PM
Phuket’s annual Por Tor Festival, also celebrated throughout Southeast Asia as the “Hungry Ghost Festival”, will take place on the island from September 3-19.
Phuket History: The lost wilderness of Phuket
Phuket History: The lost wilderness of Phuket
Sunday 27 August 2017, 10:00AM
Until the late 19th century, a thick cloak of jungle, often quite impenetrable, almost universally covered Phuket and the whole region.
All About Buddhism: Thou shalt not bend the rules
All About Buddhism: Thou shalt not bend the rules
Saturday 26 August 2017, 02:00PM
No, Buddhism does not have 10 commandments, in case you were wondering. I actually chose a Christian reference to open this month’s All About Buddhism column because I knew that it would be more familiar for many people.
Bird singing competitions are a fascinating part of Thai culture
Bird singing competitions are a fascinating part of Thai culture
Sunday 20 August 2017, 10:00AM
From time to time at a variety of locations around Phuket, strange lattices are erected on an open piece of ground.
All About Buddhism: Why Thai Buddhists are so serene and how you can achieve inner calm
All About Buddhism: Why Thai Buddhists are so serene and how you can achieve inner calm
Sunday 30 July 2017, 10:00AM
You know ladies and gentlemen, who would have ever thought that the greatest of Buddhist insights could be found walking the halls of a retail outlet or while stuck in an epic Bangkok traffic jam?
Thai tongues meet English terms
Thai tongues meet English terms
Sunday 2 July 2017, 02:00PM
The relationship between the Thai language and English is fascinating and at times utterly bizarre.
All About Buddhism: Karma comes around again
All About Buddhism: Karma comes around again
Sunday 2 July 2017, 10:00AM
In last month’s All About Buddhism column, we shared a cheerful ghost story that shone a spotlight on how much stress we can create for ourselves when we overlook a simple solution that could have solved the entire problem.
Love blooms for the late King at dok mai jan workshops in Phuket
Love blooms for the late King at dok mai jan workshops in Phuket
Sunday 18 June 2017, 10:00AM
Phuket Municipality is calling on local people trained in the craft of making dok mai jan (artificial flowers for funeral rites) to share their knowledge with others in an effort to produce half a million of the handmade flowers for the royal cremation day of the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej.
History: Under the Siamese kings life in Phuket was simple and close to the land
History: Under the Siamese kings life in Phuket was simple and close to the land
Sunday 11 June 2017, 12:00PM
Everyday life in Phuket appears to have changed relatively little from the time the island fell under the dominion of the Siamese kings in the 14th century until the reforms of Kings Rama IV and V and the massive influx of Chinese on to the island in the later 19th century.
All About Buddhism: The culture of karma
All About Buddhism: The culture of karma
Saturday 3 June 2017, 10:00AM
I was recently doing some research and I happened upon an interesting story. In fact, it’s even a ghost story, so I thought I would share it with everyone who reads my humble little newspaper column.
All About Buddhism: When good men go bad
All About Buddhism: When good men go bad
Sunday 7 May 2017, 09:00AM
Twenty-five centuries ago a man was out on a walk. In fact, he had been out on a rather long walk. It was 322 kilometres long, to be specific. The man’s name may be familiar to you. They called him Buddha.
The story of the Black Prince
The story of the Black Prince
Wednesday 3 May 2017, 04:40PM
The story of the Black Prince dates back to the historical Ayutthaya period. The Black Prince was another name for Prince Naresuan (in Thai – Ong Dam) who was born in Phitsanlunok in 1555. His brother Ekathotsarot was called the White Prince.
Tin fever, opium and sin: Early life in Phuket Town
Tin fever, opium and sin: Early life in Phuket Town
Thursday 20 April 2017, 11:38AM
By around 1890 Chinese immigration into Phuket had peaked, with the Chinese population on the island probably reaching nearly 50,000 and dwarfing the Thai and Malay population of perhaps 1,000-2,000. The island, and particularly Phuket Town, therefore, had become almost entirely Chinese.
All About Buddhism: Searching for the Buddha within
All About Buddhism: Searching for the Buddha within
Sunday 9 April 2017, 10:00AM
You know ladies and gentlemen, isn’t it interesting how some of the cheesiest pop culture can eventually become a distinguished classic? Recently, I was thinking of a wonderful song by Simon & Garfunkel called Bridge over Troubled Water as well as the theme song to the film Titanic.
Love in the time of smartphones
Love in the time of smartphones
Sunday 26 March 2017, 05:00PM
Do you and your partner often find yourselves glued to your phone rather than talking and having fun with each other? If your answer is yes, it seems you are certainly not alone!
Thai horse racing’s glory days fading
Thai horse racing’s glory days fading
Saturday 25 March 2017, 09:00AM
Binoculars swinging around their necks, Thai punters erupt into cheers as horses round the final bend – the thrill of the race amplified by the rare chance to gamble in a country where betting is virtually banned.
All About Buddhism: Death cometh to us all
All About Buddhism: Death cometh to us all
Sunday 19 March 2017, 02:00PM
Westerners who delve into Buddhism often have a common criticism of the religion – that it does not really tell them much about life after death. I feel this is a fair criticism as Buddha did invest much of His time teaching us to examine our lives as they are. It is true that Theravada Buddhists focus heavily on living better lives so as to escape the cycle of rebirth on their own. However, there are practitioners other than just Theravada Buddhists and they have some very distinct ideas about the afterworld. I cannot endorse those ideas because they predominantly come from ancient Tibetan Buddhism and I am not a Tibetan Buddhist. But, I can tell you about them. Legend holds that an Indian mystic named Padma-Sambhava introduced Buddhism to Tibet in the 8th century. The story goes that Sambhava knew that the Tibetans of the time were not yet ready to hear of Buddhism so he hid his texts far away to be discovered at a later date. Centuries later, a 15-year-old boy named Karma Lingpa was mountain climbing and happened upon the texts as he summitted the mountain. Although we Westerners would not be privy to the teachings of the texts until their translation in 1927, they would commonly become known among academics as The Tibetan Book of the Dead. The ancient writings vividly described the afterworld. Theravada Buddhists – at least as I have been personally taught – focus on finding Enlightenment and Nirvana through an examination of self. In other words, we try to get to even by making our lives better. These ancient Tibetan texts work quite differently. The texts are written to aid an enlightened monk in directing a dead man’s soul away from hell even if the man deserves to go there. In a much more complicated way, they are somewhat like the Catholic last rites. According to the texts, upon dying one will immediately see a bright light which marks the start of the soul’s departure from the body. Devout Buddhists will recognise this as the process of death or, more aptly, seeking rebirth. Someone increasingly afflicted with evil karma is much less able to see this and begins a process of spiritual testing that can last for weeks. In this time, the bright light of death is experienced by all sentient beings. Those that have lived an evil life may perish quickly because they may fall into hell or human suffering with ease. But, should the spirit linger, he eventually sees that he is dead and tries to comfort his crying family – all to no avail. The wise monk reciting ancient Tibetan chants is calling to the spirit, trying to ease his suffering. Being bound by bad karma, the spirit will linger long enough to see the “clear light” break into an array of dazzling, brilliant, vivacious colours and dull, scary, unpleasant colours. The monk tries to lead the spirit to one of five happy realms, but should the spirit stumble here, he will fall into hell or the World of Unhappy Spirits. Now the halo light of the Five Orders of Dhyani Buddhas pervade the universe, dotted by the Lights of the Six Lokas. The spirit must choose between following a brilliant light and following a dim light. till confused, the Lights of the Union of the Four Wisdoms arrive. Forty-two deities come to shine and majestic orbs of turquoise appear, each encircled by orbiting globes of radiating light. If the spirit is not saved by the eighth day, they are now trapped in the Wheel of Ignorance and are confronted by the 58 flame-enhaloed, blood-drinking deities of wrath. The deities are terrifying. Some hold skulls dripping with blood, others axes, wheels, dead corpses, flaming gods, skull-bowls, intestines, fangs, skeletons, knives, arrows, iron chains, and many other horrors. False prophets and defrocked monks fall into misery. The spirit wants to flee to his relatives but is blocked by his own anger and lust. He tries to lie about his bad karma but the Lord of Death has a ledger of his life’s karmic accounting and consults the Mirror of Karma. He directs an evil genius and a good genius to count up the spirit’s karma with black and white pebbles. Failing the test, the Lord of Death instructs his minions to hack the spirit to pieces... but the spirit cannot die because he’s dead already. So, he endures horrible torture and then the Lord of Death has him sewn back together only to be hacked apart over-and-over again. He has a noose around his neck, is dragged about by the Lord of Death, and has his organs extracted again and again. The light of Six Sangsaric Lokas illuminate the path away from pain, but bad karma prevents the soul from choosing the path. Thus, the soul arrives at the hall of wombs. Here the spirit can go to any rebirth – happy or sad – and is pursued by many tormenting furies. The monk reading the texts must try to draw the spirit away from a making a bad choice as he is distracted by visions of sex. But, if the monk fails, then the soul falls into unconsciousness at the time when the sperm meets the ovum and finds himself reborn as a dog. If the monk succeeds, however, then he manages to close the doors of the hall of wombs. If the spirit has managed to avoid the wailings of hell, he might be given the chance to be reborn into a good life serving the public and obeying Buddha’s commands. He can choose to live that life or to transfer his spirit into Buddhahood but, if he chooses the hard life of piety on earth, then even the most rotten of wombs is transformed into a celestial paradise; pending his rebirth. A bad spirit who made the wrong choice is confronted by 80,000 evil sprites that traverse the skies and evil ghosts known as Pretas who live in space. The Tibetan Book of the Dead concludes by explaining that, if it is properly read and if its prayers are properly recited, then even the lowest of souls has the opportunity for salvation or a better rebirth. I now end this dark article on a happy note. There is an old lamaic tradition that states that Sacred Texts should stand alone before human beings, free of human aggrandisement. To that end, we’ll never know who it was who transcribed Padma Sambhava’s teachings for us because the scribe did not record his name. The scribe’s final words were: “Let virtue and goodness be perfected in every way.” Now those are some words to live by... before you die.   All About Buddhism is a monthly column in The Phuket News where I take readers on my exotic journey into Thai Buddhism and debunk a number of myths about Buddhism. If you have any specific queries, or ideas for articles, please let us know. Email editor1@classactmedia.co.th, and we will do our best to accommodate your interests.
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