Thailand: Kids are laughing all the way to the temple For children in Thailand, it has never been easier to get some pocket money. The government is offering them a very special job: temple hopping. All they have to do is to show up in one of 80 selected places of worship and get their visit recorded in a report book. 20 visits fetch 1000 baht (about 30 US Dollar). This novel way of burning the education fund has been initiated by the Social Development and Human Security Ministry. Minister Paiboon Wattanasiritham is convinced that “bringing children to temples, churches or mosques is one way to get them close to Dharma and goodness. They will grow up as good adults in our society.'' Main target of the campaign are students under Grade 6. The listed places of worship include some mosques and churches, but the campaign focuses mainly on Buddhism, Thailand’s state religion. The government feels that there is a growing indifference towards religion in the country and that Buddhism is more affected than the minority religions Islam and Christianity. This is not the first time that the authorities employ unusual methods to come to the rescue of the state religion. Some time back, they set up “Buddhism corners” in department stores. But only few people cared, and the campaign was a failure. |