Thai tranquillity comes from a supreme tolerance of others. This stems in large part from the practice of Theravada Buddhism, which 92 percent of the nation professes. Buddhism is a spiritual tradition that focuses on personal spiritual development and the attainment of a deep insight into the true nature of life. It teaches acceptance of the vagaries of life. This, coupled with a strong belief in sanuk (a concept loosely translated as 'fun'), gives Thais a sense of joie de vivre. It may sound trite, but look at a group of Thais and invariably you will see them laughing together.
At some point, almost every Buddhist man spends at least a week, sometimes more, as a monk. In the monastery, he learns the tenets of his religion and meditates on ways of improving himself. By ancient tradition, women cannot be ordained as monks (although some women shave their heads and don white robes to become lay nuns). Thus, a monk makes merit not only for himself, but for his mother and his sisters, thus ensuring that they will be re-born into a higher plane of existence in their next life.
Buddhist tolerance extends to the other faiths. Mosques, Chinese V Mahayana Buddhist temples, Christian churches, and Sikh and Hindu temples stand side by side with Buddhist wat (temples). These are testament to the open worship of all religions, a freedom granted not just by the constitution, but accepted as a fact of life.
