Waiting in the shadows
Veteran politician Khunying Sudarat Keyuraphan has very much enjoyed her role in promoting Buddhism during her current hiatus from politics.
One of the country’s most influential female politicians, Khunying Sudarat has been engaged in several activities related to the preservation of Buddhism, including a project to restore the birthplace of the Lord Buddha at Lumbini in Nepal, and to cast statues of the young Lord Buddha, known as baby Buddha.
Recently, she has been pursuing a degree in religious studies.
Despite all this, critics still accuse her of trying to boost her public image or expand her political support base.
Not all that long ago, speculation was rife that she was a candidate for leader of the Pheu Thai Party. It was also rumoured that she would become leader of a new political party affiliated with the military which would be set up to allow the junta to stay on in power and complete its task of ending the political conflict.
These rumours did not discourage her from the path to dhamma, and she recently launched a new project named “Khao San Tham” (rice that carries on the dhamma) under Thai Phueng Thai (Thais Depending on Thais) foundation, of which she is the chair.
The project seems to be an antidote for Pheu Thai’s scandal-plagued and loss-ridden rice-pledging scheme.
The project is aimed at easing the plight of rice farmers affected by falling paddy prices as well as the drawn-out dry spell. The project is intended as a channel for farmers to sell chemical-free and organically-farmed rice products directly to consumers.
The project will help farmers from villages which are taking part in the so-called Five Precepts Village Project, which encourages villagers nationwide to practice the five precepts of Lord Buddha to strengthen public morality.
The Five Precepts Project was initiated by Somdet Phra Maha Ratchamangalacharn, also known as Somdet Chuang, and the project has the support of the government.
Somdet Chuang, the 90-year-old abbot of Wat Pak Nam Phasi Charoen, has recently been nominated by the Sangha Supreme Council to become the new supreme patriarch, which has sparked a wave of opposition over his ties to the controversial Wat Phra Dhammakaya. The monk currently chairs a monastic committee performing the supreme patriarch’s duties.
Khunying Sudarat said her project will help farmers get reasonable prices for their crops, entice community residents to follow the five precepts which provide the fundamentals for their moral well-being and become decent people, as well as to give quality products to consumers.
She believes this will help boost moral integrity and sustainability, which in turn will help foster reconciliation in an indirect way.
Like her projects, this one is not spared criticism from opponents who try to highlight the relationship between politicians and Wat Phra Dhammakaya.
But like it or not, Khunying Sudarat still has her supporters and she is still the favourite to lead Pheu Thai.