POWER RELATIONS BETWEEN THE STATE AND FOREST MONKS: IDEOLOGICAL NEGOTIATION IN THE POST-2014 COUP ERA

Abstract

      This article examines the power relations between the Thai state and forest monks (Phra Sai Pa) through an analysis of ideological negotiation in the post-2014 coup context. Using documentary research based on academic articles and related studies, the study focuses on mechanisms of state control and ideological bargaining under an authoritarian political regime that seeks legitimacy through morality, Buddhism, and national security.

    The findings reveal that following the 2014 coup, the Thai state intensified its control over the Sangha through legal frameworks, policies, and ecclesiastical administrative structures, particularly under the justification of “Sangha reform” and the “protection of Buddhism.” At the same time, certain groups of monks have been mobilized as ideological instruments to promote discourses of social order, morality, and national unity, thereby weakening the legitimacy of political dissent. However, forest monks are not entirely subject to state domination; instead, they engage in ideological negotiation by reaffirming their spiritual identity, emphasizing asceticism, strict adherence to the Vinaya, and detachment from politics. Their distancing from state power does not constitute direct resistance but reflects the exercise of moral and symbolic authority. In this sense, forest monasticism functions as an alternative ideological space that highlights tensions between state power, religion, and political morality in contemporary Thai society, while also revealing the limits of state ideological control under authoritarianism.