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ABSTRACT
Effeminate or kathoey monks have generated considerable public discourse concerning Thai Buddhist monasticism. Anxieties are heightened when kathoey monks are found to be performing feminine gestures and behaviours. These actions are captured in Thai social media, revealing the extent of surveillance surrounding male monastic bodily performance. I label this regulation by Thai Buddhist laity onto male monastics as the Thai Buddhist lay gaze. Using social media analysis, Thai news stories and Thai Buddhist understandings of gender, this article untangles the debate concerning kathoey monks within contemporary Thai Buddhist society. I argue that when femininity is seen as attached to worldliness, sexuality and beauty, it is deemed incompatible with monasticism.
Acknowledgments
An earlier version of this article was presented at the 2019 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion in the Religions of Southeast Asia Unit and the Bodies of Buddhism: Somaesthetic Explorations Conference held at Florida Atlantic University in 2020. I thank the organizers and members of the audience for their feedback. I would also like to thank Michael Chladek and Piyawit Moonkham for comments on an earlier manuscript, and two anonymous reviewers whose feedback improved this final version.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 The Bangkok Post summarized this news story on their Facebook page on 2 February 2016, where there are over 1.5k likes, 294 comments and 598 shares. https://www.facebook.com/bangkokpost/posts/monks-in-high-heelstwo-buddhist-monks-were-photographed-checking-out-womens-shoe/10153658371862713/. Kapook Hilight’s coverage of this story on 1 February 2016 has over 39,000 views. Kapook is a well-recognized Thai media website for news and entertainment. Their title is ‘Oh monk! Two monks found in a women’s shoe store sitting and trying on high heels' (คุณพระ! หลวงพี่ 2 รูปโผล่กลางดงร้านรองเท้าผู้หญิง นั่งลองส้นสูง). Accessed 10 December 2020. https://hilight.kapook.com/view/132315.
2 These comments come from a more detailed article in a Thai news media outlet called CatDumb, which features entertainment. The author, Miaw Fin, presents selected comments on this photo from the Facebook page of the original poster. The article is called ‘One pair only! Netizens complain a lot about monk in a picture with iPhone while trying on high heels like he doesn’t care’ (สักคู่ไหมจ๊ะ!! ชาวเน็ตสวดยับ ภาพพระสงฆ์ถือสมาร์ทโฟน ลองรองเท้าส้นสูงในร้านแบบไม่แคร์สื่อ). Accessed December 11, 2020. https://www.catdumb.com/monk-pick-a-shoe-717/. Posted on February 2, 2016.
3 For direct quotations from article comments, I have corrected any misspellings so that it is easier to read. These corrections do not affect the translation or meaning.
5 As Nicola Tannenbaum (Citation1999, 249) reminds scholars, attitudes towards sexuality vary across different contexts in Thailand, including class, region and time period. The focus here is on lay Thai Buddhists who view media on Thai news websites regularly. There is no way to know the exact nature of this demographic; however, they all have access to mobile devices and are able to read and write in Thai.
6 I emphasize the male monastic body here because most monastics in Thailand are male. There are about 300,000 male monks compared with just over 200 female monks. Thai female monks ordain in Sri Lanka and have set up several bhikkhuni communities in Thailand.
7 Thanissaro Bhikkhu, in his explanation of the monastic code, states that the monastic robes and rains-bathing cloth must be dyed the proper colour before being worn (Citation2013, 467). Monks needed to wear bathing robes so that laypeople did not become attracted to them or believe that they were a group of naked ascetics, instead of Buddhist monks (Citation2013, 227).
8 Accessed 17 December 2020. https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/politics/275055/bringing-things-out-in-the-open.
9 A video of this performance can be seen here: https://video.sanook.com/player/453995.
10 All of the comments can be found below the video clip of this incident from 2012: Accessed 17 December 2020. https://video.sanook.com/player/453995.
11 Jazz is a nickname. He was born as Sarawi Natthi.
12 Miss Tiffany has taken place in Pattaya, Thailand, since 1984. The popularity of this contest demonstrates the acceptance of femininity in male bodies in Thai society at large. However, this tolerance does not translate to the male monastic body within Thai Buddhism.
13 ‘Phra Jazz, Former Miss Tiffany Ordains in Songkhla’ (พระแจ๊ส อดีตมิสทิฟฟานี่บวชแล้วที่สงขลา). 13 May 2013. Accessed 28 December 2020. https://www.posttoday.com/ent/news/221825.
14 ‘Gay Monk on Woody Talk Show’. 21 April 2014. Accessed 28 May 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlvSz6Dyfrw.
15 The websites are Naeo Na, TeeNee News, Amarin TV News, Siam Rat and Post Today. Although not as reputable as Thai Rat, they are recognizable websites for reliable news coverage. Naeo Na used to be a magazine and covers politics as well as entertainment. TeeNee News and Amarin TV News focus more on entertainment with coverage of general news as well. Siam Rath also used to be a magazine and covers a wide range of news in Thailand along with Post Today.
16 18 July 2013. Accessed 5 January 2021. https://www.posttoday.com/politic/report/234978.
17 Tut and taeo, are often translated as sissy or queen.
18 Some of the training rules fall in the category of monastic dress and behaviour in inhabited areas. Their purpose is to remind the monk that even ‘the minor details of his behaviour can often make the difference between sparking or killing another person’s interest in the Dhamma’ (Thanissaro Bhikkhu Citation2013, 432).
19 Tee Nee Website. ‘Found Luang Che Wearing Strapless Robe Police Raid the Temple Monk Accepts Mistake Before Disrobing' (เจอแล้ว หลวงเจ๊ จีวรเกาะอก ตำรวจบุกถึงวัด เจ้าตัวก้มหน้ารับ ก่อนสึก). 18 January 2020. Accessed 28 May 2020. tnews.teenee.com/etc/157938.html.
20 Naew Na Website. ‘Revealed ‘phra tut-nen taeo-mi mia' are numerous throughout Bangkok and other provinces’ (แฉ 'พระตุ๊ด-เณรแต๋ว-มีเมีย' ยังมีอีกเพียบทั้งวัดใน กทม.ต่างจังหวัด), 5 June 2018. Accessed 28 May 2020. https://www.naewna.com/likesara/343373.
21 In May 2018, the arrest of five monks for alleged temple fund embezzlement in three Bangkok temples (Wat Sam Phraya, Wat Saket and Wat Samphanthawong) caused much media attention. Bangkok Post, ‘Buddhist followers cling to their beliefs in wake of temple embezzlement scandal’, 10 June 2018. Accessed 14 June 2018. https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/1482169/buddhist-followers-cling-to-their-beliefs-in-wake-of-temple-fund-embezzlement.
22 The exact quote from the article is ‘เมื่อรู้ว่าลูกเป็นตุ๊ด เป็นแต๋ว ก็ไม่ควรส่งมาบวชในพระพุทธศาสนา กระบวนการที่ 2 เจ้าอาวาส และพระอุปัชฌาย์ เมื่อเห็นว่า เป็นตุ๊ด แต๋วชัดเจน ก็ไม่ควรที่จะให้บวช’, which can be translated as ‘when you [parents] know that your male child has feminine tendencies, you should not send him to ordain in Buddhism. The second step in the process would be the abbot and preceptor. When they see the child clearly has flamboyant characteristics, they should not ordain [the boy]’.
23 Rosalind Morris (Citation1994, 24) notes that kathoey are often thought of as dressing up the body as a woman better than women.