India's Benevolence to Thailand

[Guest guest]

The influences abound for strong bonds

Saritdet Marukatat

Bangkok Post

Different roots and religious beliefs are keeping apart Thais and

ethnic Indians living here despite the enormous influence India has

had on almost every aspect of Thai daily life.

 

>From language to food, Thais are in contact constantly with Indian

influences since they have been part of Thai life from before the

Sukhothai empire.

 

Thais speak and write a language which derives from Pali and

Sanskrit, their traditional clothing, or sarong, was introduced by

Indians, and they deeply enjoy nam phrik, a dish adapted from an

Indian recipe.

 

"Surely, we would not know how to eat nam phrik had we not befriended

the Indians," said the late venerable Buddhadasa Bhikku.

 

Indians mix onions and chili with vinegar in their dish, wrote the

renowned monk in his book "India's Benevolence to Thailand". Without

contact with Indians, Thai cuisine would be totally different. The

other major culinary influence, Chinese, does not use peppers and

spices.

 

Indeed, the four basics in life - food, clothing, housing and

medicine - all comprise Indian elements to varying degrees here in

Thailand, and of course there are the rites and ceremonies rooted in

Brahminism, he writes.

 

But the most important gift of all, the monk said, is Buddhism.

 

"Indian culture and its religions, Buddhism in particular, coalesced

under the name of the Wheel of Law and were firmly established here,

thus giving birth to the Thai Buddhist Realm.

 

"Had the Wheel of Law not been established here, we might have been

followers of other religions, maybe Christianity or Islam."

 

Buddhism is believed to have been introduced to Thailand and other

Southeast Asian countries more than 2,000 years ago when the land was

ruled by the Khmers. The great Indian king, Ashok, is said to have

dispatched two Indian monks, Sona and Uttara Bhikkus, to introduce

Buddhism here.

 

Karuna Kusalasaya, a well-known writer who spent 13 years in India

studying the Sanskrit and Hindi languages, confirms the influence of

India on Thailand, saying religious and cultural links closely

knitted the two countries.

 

But these bonds have not translated into close contacts between Thais

and Indian immigrants, unlike with the Chinese, another major ethnic

group, who have integrated smoothly with the local people.

 

Thais and Chinese mix easily due to their shared Mongol roots while

Indians are Indo-Aryan, according Mr Karuna, who translated

Buddhadasa Bhikku's book and other Indian literature.

 

Both the Indians and Chinese left their home countries to settle in

Thailand to take advantage of the better economic opportunities here.

But the Indians brought with them their religious beliefs and social

barriers which make it difficult for them to integrate with non-

Hindus because of religious factors, he said.

 

"The class system discourages Indians from marrying local people" and

this has blocked their full integration.

 

"Blood is very important in binding different groups to each other so

they sympathise with each other," he said.

 

Worse, Indians have a negative image among many Thais typified by the

old saying: "When confronted by an Indian and a snake, hit the Indian

first."

 

Mr Karuna said Indians still suffer from the impression created by

the first immigrants, who lived rough while trying to build a new

life similar. This is common to all such immigrants. "Even the

Chinese were once looked down on by Thais."

 

"We cannot use this image to generalise about all Indians," he said,

adding that things are changing as Indians become more involved in

the country's development.

 

Mr Karuna called on Thailand to study India, which is seen as an

impoverished nation characterised by selfishness despite the fact it

is a land of freedom where many religions were given birth.

 

"The world is smaller in this age of globalisation so we should put

more effort into understanding countries around us based on facts and

information. We should no longer underestimate them."