Monks and Merit in Thailand: Tak Bat and How to Behave

Thai Buddhists "make merit" (ทำบุญtam-bun) by doing good: giving food to monks, donating to temples, helping others. Merit is believed to bring happiness in this life and the next. The most visible way is ตักบาตรdtàk-bàat, giving food to monks on their silent morning walk, and visitors are welcome to join in if they follow a few simple rules.

Making merit

บุญbun is merit, the good that comes from good actions. Thais make merit on birthdays, before exams, when they open a shop, after a bad dream and when someone dies. Sharing it matters too: after giving, many people slowly pour water from a small jug while the monks chant (กรวดน้ำgrùat-náam), passing the merit on to parents and to relatives who have died.

Many young men are ordained (บวชbùat) as monks for a short time, from a few weeks to a whole rainy season, to make merit for their parents, especially their mother. Boys can become novices (เณรneen).

How to give alms

1. Be out early, around 6:00 to 7:00, when monks walk barefoot with their bowls (บาตรbàat).
2. Buy a ready-made set from a vendor (sticky rice, a bag of curry, a snack, water) or bring food you've cooked. Don't give money, and don't give food after midday: monks don't eat between noon and the next morning.
3. Take off your shoes, and stand or kneel on a mat, a little lower than the monk.
4. Put the food gently into the bowl. Women must not touch the monk.
5. If the monk stops to chant a short blessing, crouch and hold your palms together until he finishes.

Do it quietly and sincerely. Don't chase monks for photos or flash a camera in their faces; in some tourist spots that has become a real problem.

Around monks

• Women should never touch a monk or hand him something directly: place it on the cloth he lays down, or ask a man to pass it on.
• Buses, the BTS and the MRT have seats reserved for monks. Give yours up if a monk boards.
• Don't sit higher than a monk or point your feet at him.
• Monks don't return a wai. That's normal, not rude.
• Call an older monk หลวงพ่อlǔang-pâw, "venerable father", and a younger one หลวงพี่lǔang-pîi, "venerable brother".
• After a blessing, Thais answer สาธุsǎa-tú, a Pali word much like "amen".

On the major Buddhist holidays, such as Makha Bucha and Visakha Bucha, temples hold candlelit processions around the main hall, and alcohol sales are banned for the day.

In Chiang Mai, temples such as Wat Chedi Luang and Wat Suan Dok run "Monk Chat" sessions where you can ask monks about their lives in English. Check the times locally.

You'll meet ทำบุญtam-bun and ตักบาตรdtàk-bàat in Unit 19 of the free course, when Fon's family make merit at Songkran.