Dying Well the Buddhist Way in Thailand

Thai Culture
Thai Monks
May 07
3 min read
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Buddhist monks in Thailand often teach that death is the most important test we take in life. Other tests can be taken over and over again, always with an opportunity for improvement. But we have only one chance at the test called death. And it’s a test we may be forced to take unexpectedly at any time.

Despite death being the greatest test, few people prepare themselves. Most spend their lives in trivial pursuits, wasting countless hours watching TV, scrolling social media, arguing over pointless things, and playing games. In other words, living as though they will never die.

When old age arrives and death is fast approaching, modern society encourages the preserving of life at all costs, regardless of its quality — always refusing to acknowledge the importance of death as “life’s greatest test,” or as it’s said in Thai: “bòt tót-sòp têe yîng-yài nai chee-wít” (บททดสอบที่ยิ่งใหญ่ที่สุดในชีวิต).

Despite the teachings of Thailand’s Buddhist monks, many Thais today have embraced the Western view of death as something scary and terrible, and that any preparation for it while one is still healthy and fit is weird or morbid.

This is due to the fact that even though Thailand is an overwhelmingly Buddhist country, where religious traditions still play an important role in the lives of rural villagers, the increasingly Westernized middle-class residents of the cities, and the younger generations who live on the internet, often have separated themselves from life’s spiritual dimension, dismissing the beliefs of the “chaao bâan” (ชาวบ้าน) or rural folk as old “superstitions”.

Leading Thai monks are aware of this situation, and have begun focusing their attention on “life’s greatest test” and how they can help people “face death calmly” (เผชิญความตายอยางสงบ), without fear. They also have emphasized the importance of those Buddhist rituals which are to be conducted prior to and after the death of a loved one.

One notable example of this effort is the work being done by Phra Ajahn Sanprach Panyakamo (พระอาจารย์แสนปราชญ์ ปัญญาคโม) of Wat Pa Non Sa-at in Nakhon Ratchasima (Northeast Thailand).

Ajahn Sanprach has launched a hospice care facility at his temple. It teaches “How to Die Well the Buddhist Way,” or as it’s said in Thai: “Dtaai Dee Wí-tĕe Phút” (ตายดีวิถีพุทธ). He hopes the facility will serve as a model for end of life care throughout Thailand.

Reclining Buddha in Wood — The peacefulness of the “Reclining Buddha” as he approached death is the ideal sought at Wat Pa Non Sa-at.

Wat Pa Non Sa-at Buddhist Hospice Care in Korat

The Thai hospice at Wat Pa Non Sa-at (วัดป่าโนนสะอาด) cares for both terminally ill monks, as well as poor local villagers who are near the end of life. Some of the core benefits that the hospice’s residents experience via mindfulness and meditation exercises include:

1. The ability to recognize and embrace of the good, which blocks out the bad (in both thought and deeds).

Read the Full and Newly Edited Version of This Essay
in Why Thailand: Short Essays on Thai Culture, Language, and Life

Ajarn David

Ajarn at Sakon Nakhon Rajabhat University

Ajarn David is an educator, writer, and podcaster who has been working with Thai universities for over 20 years. He is the author of "Why Thailand" (Short Essays on Thai Culture, Language, and Life), "Life Lessons from Isaan" and the bilingual poetry collection "Poems from Sakhon". He lives with his Thai wife and daughters on a farm in Sakon Nakhon (Northeast Thailand).