Residents at HIV home in Roi Et survive on donations after death of senior monk

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Residents at HIV home in Roi Et survive on donations after death of senior monk
By CHULARAT SAENGPASSA
THE NATION

 

 

ROI ET: -- AT THEIR small shelter in Roi Et province, people living with HIV have cared for one another until their last breath.

 

But with few resources, the only cremation they can undertake is to put the bodies of those who pass away on a pile of old tyres and light a fire.

 

“Without the tyres, you would need to use a significant amount of coal – in other words cash,” a 29-year-old woman at the shelter said. “As we live off donations, we have to keep it simple where we can.” 

 

She does not mind if one day her body is cremated in the same way. 

 

Full story: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/news/national/30305810

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-02-07

[plachon]

A rather sad situation, both for the temple that once was able to look after them and the desperate residents. It strikes me that quite a lot of charities and temples in Thailand are in a similar situation i.e. rely too heavily on the charisma and personality of a single monk, so that when he dies or is too sick to work, the temple or charity fades away with him. I guess this reflects the personal or patronage politics that characterises Thailand and means that truely resilient civil society institutions are still quite weak and allows the dominance of the state to continue with little to keep it in check. Breaking from this client-patron dependency and creating genuine non-state institutions will be the key to any future stronger and more mature Thai society.

[Briggsy]

It would be better to bury the bodies than giving everybody else living lung cancer by burning tyres but probably not in line with religious beliefs.

[Kasset Tak]

2 hours ago, plachon said:

A rather sad situation, both for the temple that once was able to look after them and the desperate residents. It strikes me that quite a lot of charities and temples in Thailand are in a similar situation i.e. rely too heavily on the charisma and personality of a single monk, so that when he dies or is too sick to work, the temple or charity fades away with him. I guess this reflects the personal or patronage politics that characterises Thailand and means that truely resilient civil society institutions are still quite weak and allows the dominance of the state to continue with little to keep it in check. Breaking from this client-patron dependency and creating genuine non-state institutions will be the key to any future stronger and more mature Thai society.

You are right, most temples and organizations stands and falls with only one man (or woman) and you can see many temples that have half finished buildings or have fallen in despair. On the other hand I know 2 temples that don't have any famous monk to lead the people but are still prospering because the local community want their temple to be/become great places for worship. At one of those temples the villagers have raised 2-3 million a year for the last 5 years just to renovate old buildings and build new buildings so that they will be able to attract more and better monks, now they are 3 monks and the abbot has been there for less than a year and the abbot before him didn't even stay 2 years... the villagers and temple council refused to give him the money to spend by his will!