Buddhism, education and politics in Burma and Thailand: from the seventeenth century to the present

Khammai Dhammasami guides us through the complex history of monastic education in two neighbouring but very different Buddhist societies from monarchy to modernism, from the challenges of the colonial period to the tensions of the present.

The volume provides a clear account of the ways in which royal leaders and monastic institutions worked to develop monastic education in the face of changing political and economic conditions resulting in the rise of colonialism and the political instability of the 19th and 20th centuries.

Thorough in its historical exploration, the book studies influences from both British colonists and Siamese/Thai reformers.

The author engages with both primary documents from Burmese monasteries and official government records, and also brings the fresh perspective of a practicing monk and teacher to this much-needed study.