I somewhat confused about this issue  i sometimes see here in locale art shops paintings for sale with a beautiful Buddha on it and stores who are selling Buddha statues images even my dad has a bronze Budha statue in his home for over 30 years while my dad is not a buddhist But now when you drive around Bangkok you can see big billboards saying Buddha is not for decoration and that we should not buy anything with Buddha on it?is that true?Or do I misunderstand something here?

There's a difference between "decoration" and "object of veneration".

 

I suspect the real concern is inappropriate treatment of the Buddha figure.  For example, there's a well known international chain of bars serving alcohol which feature large Buddha figures.  This is offensive to Buddhists.  And it would certainly be inappropriate to decorate one's toilet with a Buddha figure.

Yes, I think the offense comes from people using Buddhist art, etc. as tourist souvenirs.  Then again, it's illegal to take them out of the country but I sure see a lot of statues, amulets, etc. marketed at touristy places... to people who allegedly cannot legally take them when they leave?

18 hours ago, Oxx said:

There's a difference between "decoration" and "object of veneration".

 

I suspect the real concern is inappropriate treatment of the Buddha figure.  For example, there's a well known international chain of bars serving alcohol which feature large Buddha figures.  This is offensive to Buddhists.  And it would certainly be inappropriate to decorate one's toilet with a Buddha figure.

 

This. If you have a bronze buddha statue in your house and you use it as a veneration object, it's fine. What's not is putting buddha heads to decorate various rooms, especially in the toilet.

 

1 hour ago, Katia said:

Yes, I think the offense comes from people using Buddhist art, etc. as tourist souvenirs.  Then again, it's illegal to take them out of the country but I sure see a lot of statues, amulets, etc. marketed at touristy places... to people who allegedly cannot legally take them when they leave?

 

You're right, and this is stupid. If we want to teach tourists that Buddha is not a decoration, we should stop selling that. Soon, we'll see "buy a Buddha statue, get a free selfie stick" promotions.

Yes its a bit conflicting decoration is not allowed but these tourists shops are selling it. i even have several friends in Europe and Thailand with a Buddha sculpture in their garden.