Besides the obvious 'nothing' as an answer or wishing for something.

Please keep it civil.

OP, if they are not wishing for something, why would they pray?

Have you ever prayed in your life?

They are thinking that the entity that they are waiing, praying to, kneeling in front of or worshipping will eventually bring them good luck i.e. money.

It's an interesting question ... and each action is an independent thought and response.

I would have asked MissFarmGirl directly, but she's in deep discussion with Ma and Pa about going to the Temple tomorrow with the TWIN boys. Because they are 1/2 Westerner ... there is a huge pressure for a school style 'show and tell' tomorrow ... she doesn't want to go ... Pa wants BIG FACE and wants them!

discussion continuing.

wai, ... well, as the person has been spotted from a distance ... to wai or not to wai ... I would think ''' nothing much'

pray, ... maybe some cure for Thailand's Water drought, or, I wish those Jeans she saw at a store outside TESCO weren't sold (true story)

kneel, I'm not as young as I used to be! Which way is the Monk/s? Buddha? No point my feet that way.

or worship ... ah ... bit deeper now. did I take the chicken out of the freezer for tonight ... sticky rice and pork feels about right just now ... ... I hope the stall hasn't sold out yet!

Heck ... what would I know .. I'm just a humble bloke!

9 times out of 10 it is for good luck one way or another....usually to do with money one way or another.

9 times out of 10 it is for good luck one way or another....usually to do with money one way or another.

Do you mean to say that 10% of the people pray for bad luck?

i think they are nuts, but i dont limit it to Thais i can cover all religions with the same disgust.

i think they are nuts, but i dont limit it to Thais i can cover all religions with the same disgust.

As an antitheist, I agree. Although maybe I would use the word "pity" rather than "disgust".

Food and money. The same things they think about when they are not praying.

Nothing. That is the key to meditation. No, I'm not kidding.

http://drhyman.com/blog/2012/06/18/why-doing-nothing-is-the-key-to-happiness/

Nothing. That is the key to meditation. No, I'm not kidding.

http://drhyman.com/blog/2012/06/18/why-doing-nothing-is-the-key-to-happiness/

Nothing to do with meditation.

Money.

I would guess that they think about similar things to you and I, when we pray.

If you don't pray, then I suggest you start off asking the same question of your compatriots and co-culturalists, whom you may have a hope of understanding.

SC

Why don't you ask them rather than asking people who don't know?

Why don't you ask them rather than asking people who don't know?

Unlikely to tell you as doing so is considered bad luck. Akin to telling someone your wish when you blow out the candles on a birthday cake.

It is always gimme more money. Win the lottery. When parents bless the children, it is health and being rich. When wife goes to the temple, it is wealth THEN health.

Nothing. That is the key to meditation. No, I'm not kidding.

http://drhyman.com/blog/2012/06/18/why-doing-nothing-is-the-key-to-happiness/

Nothing to do with meditation.

The Thai Forest Tradition is a tradition of Buddhist monasticism within Thai Theravada Buddhism. Practitioners inhabit remote wilderness and forest dwellings as spiritual practice training grounds. Maha Nikaya and Dhammayuttika Nikaya are the two major monastic orders in Thailand that have forest traditions. The Thai Forest Tradition originated in Thailand, primarily among the Lao-speaking community in Isan.

Food and money. The same things they think about when they are not praying.

and sex?

I don't do mind reading.

Food

Well they ask monks for lottery numbers....

So that's a clue....

A lot of different kinds of Monks in Thailand. Some good and others not so good. Some just meditate and others sweep out temples and wash dishes. There are a lot of different kinds of Christians and a lot of different kinds of Buddhists.

Generalizations about Monks is like generalizations about Christians. But you guys get a kick about crapping on anything Thai.

Do you know how dumb that makes you look? Har har. Kipling would have thought we had learned something in 100 years.

'Er petticoat was yaller an' 'er little cap was green,
An' 'er name was Supi-Yaw-Lat jes' the same as Theebaw's Queen,
An' I seed her first a-smokin' of a whackin' white cheroot,
An' wastin' Christian kisses on an 'eathen idol's foot:
Bloomin' idol made o' mud--
Wot they called the Great Gawd Budd--
Plucky lot she cared for idols when I kissed 'er where she stud!
On the road to Mandalay ...

I tell my Missus to pray to Buddha every day for the same thing I pray for - a hole in one on the short par three over the water......thank you very much in advance.

They think about how they look. Usually either, am I doing this right? Or I must look like a good person making all this merit.

The ONLY time Mrs.Trans elder (gambling) sister goes to a Temple is when she can't get past her losing streak......True.......

Off topic bickering posts removed

$$$$$$$$$$

no problems with it, my wife believes in it and I will go along with her as it is not an imposition plus it is part of the culture we that we have come to live in. There are a lot of thais that do it because they believe in buddha and his teachings, nothing wrong with that and I wai too because I think it is the right thing to do.

no problems with it, my wife believes in it and I will go along with her as it is not an imposition plus it is part of the culture we that we have come to live in. There are a lot of thais that do it because they believe in buddha and his teachings, nothing wrong with that and I wai too because I think it is the right thing to do.

Not tooooooo sure about Buddha/his teachings and folk, as many I know are ripping each other off, even family, and folk having to pay corruption money to a Hi-So just to get a job or anything of importance.......Sadly. To me that is against the "teachings".

no problems with it, my wife believes in it and I will go along with her as it is not an imposition plus it is part of the culture we that we have come to live in. There are a lot of thais that do it because they believe in buddha and his teachings, nothing wrong with that and I wai too because I think it is the right thing to do.

Not tooooooo sure about Buddha/his teachings and folk, as many I know are ripping each other off, even family, and folk having to pay corruption money to a Hi-So just to get a job or anything of importance.......Sadly. To me that is against the "teachings".

Read the Three Universal Truths and you will have the answer. Then you won't be sad any more.