Leaders of the largest Buddhist temple in the world want it “to be like Mecca is in Islam, a global center,” says Rachelle Scott, an expert on the group and assistant director of religious studies at the University of Tennessee. “Critics question the intentions of the temple. They think that the primary intention is to make money.” More →

June 13, 2014

Bruce Lasky, founder of Bridges Across Borders Southeast Asia, is setting up legal clinics and instilling in Asian law students the moral obligation to help the poor. More →

October 18, 2013

Economic prosperity and modernity are beginning to have an impact on religious life in Thailand, a country that is 95 percent Buddhist but that in the last 30 years has seen the number of Buddhist monks decrease by about half. More →

May 24, 2013

This award-winning economist is credited with bringing down Thailand’s HIV infection rate, lowering its high birth rate, reducing poverty rates, and championing sustainable development ideas that work in rural settings. More →

May 11, 2012

Engaged Buddhism means “you must confront social suffering,” says Thai scholar and activist Sulak Sivaraksa, “and people suffer now because of the environment.” More →

January 15, 2010

FRED DE SAM LAZARO, guest anchor: Hundreds of government officials and activists wrapped up a meeting in Bangkok this week by calling for more efforts to curb the exploitation of children. East Asia and the Pacific region have been especially … More →

August 22, 2008

BOB ABERNETHY, anchor: Four years ago our correspondent Fred de Sam Lazaro visited an AIDS hospice in a Buddhist monastery in Thailand. This year he went back and discovered that low-cost new drugs are keeping many patients alive, and the … More →

March 30, 2007