The Public Relation’s Developmen THE PUBLIC RELATION’S DEVELOPMENT OF THAI BUDDHIST SANGHA

Abstract

            Public relations in Buddhism referred to the way the Buddha or the Sangha expressed, clarified or declared the Dharma which was beneficial to living for 3 reasons; 1) understanding the essence of life, 2) realizing the natural facts that life interacted from birth to death, and 3) practicing to improve one’ life. There were 6 forms of public relations in Buddhism; 1) public relations through preaching, 2) magical power, 3) diplomatic method, 4) covenant, 5) making an analogy for the diagnosis of the problem , and 6) aid. The development of public relations of the Thai Sangha received 4 major influences; 1) the influence of Buddhism in the past, 2) social customs, 3) environment and 4) government regulations. There were 5 developments in the present period; 1) characteristics that adhered to the traditional Buddhist concept and new forms that had been developed from social change, 2) communication characteristics being developed with modern tools such as TV programs, radio and internet, 3) characteristics of cultural and environmental conservation, 4) project characteristics of moral and ethical training for youth and Thai government officials, and 5) diplomatic method which was developed to become missionary body.