The World Cup is blamed for the slowdown in sales of items used in Buddhist ordination

Sales of items used in Buddhist ordination as well as Buddhist Lent candles in Ranong have faced a slump although the Buddhist Lent is approaching.

Ms. Urai Khoraphum (อุไร ขรภูมิ), a shop owner, blamed the World Cup 2006 in Germany as causing the business slowdown.

Ms. Urai said fewer Buddhists visited her shop this year compared to the same period of last year and most clients were government agencies, not individual buyers.

She said people may now pay interest in nothing but the World Cup competitions and that is why they forget the Buddhist Lent is coming near.

She added that the media also have a lot of stories about the soccer tournament but not much about merit-making and Buddhist Lent activities has been reported.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 08 July 2006

I am sure it is much easier to blame an outside influence like the World Cup

rather than look at the state of the Thai economy and the uncertainty over

who will govern Thailand and what sort of effect that will have.