From A Monk's Radio Station to Pagodas

For everything about the environment, tune in to Ven. Moha Samai.SURIN, Thailand - Monks in Thailand are on a 'green' alert these days. Some sing paeans to trees and others have built hundreds of pagodas standing guard in the middle of the forests.

For the past four years now, the Venerable Moha Samai has been singing songs about his love for trees through a very effective medium -- radio. Located in the north-eastern province of Surin, which is north of the Cambodian border town of O'Smach, the radio station is part of the work of Tim Nimitri, which Moha Samai formed more than eight years ago to help make residents more environmentally aware.

"I have been asked to become responsible for (and look after) other monks, but I prefer by far to deal with the protection of the forests," says the Thai monk. It is a difficult task, he adds, especially in a kingdom where senior government officials and powerful tradesmen are believed to be behind deforestation. "I think people see the trees only as a source of income and nothing else," laments Moha Samai.
The programmes of the radio station, dedicated to the environment, are presented in four languages - Thai, Lao, the Suoy dialect and Khmer, because Khmer is also spoken in Surin, which shares a border with Cambodia. Broadcast over the airwaves with a radius of 50 kilometres, the programmes also reach some villages in the district of Samrong across the border in north-western Oddar Meanchay province, Cambodia.
While he concedes that there is nothing much they can do to repair the environmental damage that has already been done, he says it is never too late to educate the younger generation about the richness of their ecological inheritance; thus, the rationale for this novel radio programme.

The monk said it was not easy to get the radio station off the ground because some government officials were not too keen on efforts that would undercut the profitable activities of corrupt officials. But today, with the help of Cambodia-based NGO Mlup Baitong, environmental topics get the lion's share in programming. Commercial advertisements, including those pushing beauty products, are politely refused.

Listeners are invited to ask questions or to discuss about particular environmental problems. "Our success is judged by the number of calls we receive," says Moha Samai.
"If we had cooperated with monks earlier in our work, Thai forests would be in a much better condition today," observes Tikcompon Singha of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.
According to Tanya Jaroenkolkit, an officer of the ministry in Surin, 15 percent of Thailand's forests are classified as national parks. According to Thailand's Forest Park Management, a national forest policy approved in the late 1990s requires the government to maintain at least 40 percent of the country's land area as forested areas. Twenty-five percent of these areas are to be declared protected forests and 15 percent, productive forests. Currently, protected areas cover about 17.8 percent of the country's total land area.
Pagodas Deliver A Message

Meanwhile, in Thailand's north-eastern provinces of Sisaket and Ubon Ratchathani, monks have erected more than 300 pagodas in the middle of the forest. The pagodas were set up to follow the example of the Venerable Ajahn Chah (1918-1992), who founded the Nong Pa Phong temple, located six kilometres from the capital of Ubon Ratchathani, in 1954. 

Ajahn Chah was known to have spent most of his life meditating in the forest and living peacefully among wild animals. His wisdom was widely known, so much so that even monks from other countries came to ask for his counsel and seek training.
“Pagodas built in places where there are not enough trees remind people not to cut the remaining trees and respect the principle of immersion in the forest,” says the Venerable Moha Souphum, head of the monks of the Phu Ding Deng temple in Kantharalak’s district in Sisaket.
Aajanh Sowath, head of the monks of the Pa Phosrisuwan pagoda in Sisaket, Thailand that has under its roof Cambodian monks from across the border, says the monks lend themselves perfectly well to meditation exercises.
The forests around Phu Ding Deng, Sisaket, Thailand provide a conducive environment for the monks there.“The songs of the birds are much more pleasant to the ear than the sound of car horns,” says a monk named Yuthna, who has lived in this pagoda for the last two years.
It is easy for monks to meditate in the forest, while those who live in towns are easily distracted by material concerns, he explains. “I cannot adapt to the urban life for there are too many things there that disturb me. In the forest, I find the quiet that is necessary for meditation,” says Pao Rang, head of the Nong Pa Phong pagoda in Oddar Meanchay who has lived for three months in Nong Pa Phong temple in Ubon Ratchathani.

He plans to import this model to his province in Cambodia, saying the monks would gain the respect of the faithful if they adopt this lifestyle. However, he points out, the forests in Cambodia are under the control of powerful persons.

But he remains optimistic. “If fate smiles at me, perhaps I will succeed in establishing a pagoda and be given the responsibility to protect my beloved trees,” says the monk Pao Rang.

(These articles were also published in 'Cambodge Soir' and the Khmer-language weekly newspaper 'Somne Thmey'.)

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