THAI BUDDHIST TEMPLE ROLES IN THE VIRTUAL SPHERE AND ITS SPIRITUAL COMMUNICATION WITH YOUTH FOR THAILAND 4.0

Abstract

This research article aims to study roles and forms of spiritual communication appearing in virtual Thai temples, which will be used as a direction to reach Thai people in the period of Thailand 4.0. The study employed in-depth interviews to collect data from 10 of the temples’ online media producers in Bangkok with Facebook fan pages and 50 users of the temples’ virtual spaces. The results found that Thai temples play the assigned roles of spreading Buddhism, and publically communicating the temple’s activities via online social media, while the roles that people expect from Thai temples’ online social media are to release news regarding the temple and spread Buddhism through various topics. On the other hand, Thai Buddhist monks are expected to support people’s mind development through dharma practices that can be performed in daily life to achieve feelings of peace, relief, and mindfulness. In terms of communication forms, the results demonstrated that Thai temples present the contents of Buddhist dharma without alteration, and communicate the temples’ various activities. Forms of presentation include photos with explanations, video clips with explanations, photos, video clips, and live broadcasts via Facebook fan page, YouTube, Instagram, and website. Presentation techniques are adjusted for ease of understanding as Bali and Sanskrit languages are less focused. Finally, monk’s attendants can participate in writing articles to strengthen moral commitment and help people increase their understanding of the religion.