127
B U D D H I S M  A N D  A N  A G E I N G 
S O C I E T Y  I N  T H A I L A N D  A S 
A  P A R T  O F  S U V A R N A B H U M I 
L A N D
S o m b o o n  W a t a n a 
Introduction
In terms of history, since more than 2000 years ago, Suvarnabhumi 
land has referred to what is now Southeast Asia. Buddhism was first 
propagated in this region around the third Buddhist era, especially in 
some parts of Thailand and Myanmar, by the eighth line of Buddhist 
missionaries led by the Indian Buddhist monks named Sona and Ut-
tara, which was supported by King Asoka, the Great. In terms of Su-
varnabhumi land in part of Thailand, history talks of the acceptance 
of Buddhism since the early third Buddhist era. Nakhon Pathom City 
and Uthong City, Suphan Buri province, Thailand, were the eviden-
ce concerning Buddhism found by the scholars. From that era to the 
present day, when the city was stronger and stabilized, there have been 
many kingdoms, and the kings became leaders. From the Dvaravadee 
kingdom from the 1st to the 11th century, from the Srivijaya kingdom 
from the 6th to the 13th century, from the Lop Buri Kingdom from the 
9th to the 13th century, from the Sukhothai Kingdom from the 13th 
to the 15th century, from the Lanna Kingdom from the 14th to the 
17th century, from the Ayudhaya Kingdom in 1350-1767 C.E., from 
the Thonburi Kingdom in 1767-1782 C.E., and from the Ratanako-
sin Kingdom from 1782 C.E. to the present, Buddhism has been the 
main religion and has contributed to Thai society constantly. Here, the 
teaching of Buddhism has been propagated, interpreted and applied in 
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the religious, societal, economic, cultural and individual dimensions 
for the sake of the well-being of the people. Consequently, in the pre-
sent century, one global issue is an ageing society. Thailand has already 
become an ageing society, and Buddhism has been interpreted and ap-
plied to solve this issue.
In the earlier 21st century, the ageing population has shown a con-
tinuing upward trend. According to a report by the United Nations 
Population Fund in 2012, 2 people are celebrating their 60th birthday 
every second, and in a year, there are about 58 million new elderly 
people around the world. Consequently, the one in nine people in the 
world aged 60 years or more is predicted to increase to one in five by 
2050.1 The global population aged 60 years or more was 962 million in 
2017, which was more than twice as large as in 1980 when there were 
382 million elderly people globally.2 The ageing population globally is 
predicted to reach over 1.5 billion in 2050.3 
Thailand defined the “elderly” (or senior citizens) in 2003 in the 
“Elderly Person Act 2003” as a person who is aged 60 years or over and 
has Thai nationality.4 Thailand has been an ageing society since the year 
2006 when the population aged 60+ years reached 10.4 %, and was 
about become an aged society in 2021 due to the number of the ageing 
population reaching 13 million or 20% of the country’s population.5 
The impact of this change in the population structure, if it is not pre-
pared for effectively, will lead to other consequences, such as affecting 
1  United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Aging in the Twenty-First Century: A Celebra-
tion and A Challenge (New York, and HelpAge International, London, 2012),12, https://www.
unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/Ageing%20report.pdf.
2  United Nations, World Population Ageing 2017 Highlights (New York: United Nations 
Publication, 2017),1, https://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/publications/pdf/
ageing/WPA2017_Highlights.pdf.
3  United Nations, World Population Ageing 2020 Highlights (New York: United Nations Pub-
lication, 2020), 1, https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.
desa.pd/files/undesa_pd-2020_world_population_ageing_highlights.pdf.
4  Institute for Population and Social Research, Mahidol University and Foundation of Thai 
Gerontology Research and Development Institute (TGRI), Situation of the Thai Elderly 2017 
(Bangkok: Deuan Tula Printing House,2019), 14, http://www.dop.go.th/download/knowl-
edge/th1552463947-147_1.pdf.
5  Department of Elderly Affairs, Ministry of Social Development and Human Security of 
Thailand, Measures to Drive the National Agenda on Aging Society (Revised Version) (Bangkok: 
Amarintara, 2019), 8.
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society, the economy and the allocation of resources in the future. The 
number of people in the labour age groups will be reduced, which will 
affect the country’s gross development production. Meanwhile, the al-
location of resources for age-related caregiving in the country will inc-
rease and will affect the economic and social stability of the country in 
the long term. It will also significantly affect the country’s budget bur-
den as the state will have to allocate the tax money of working people to 
welfare for caregiving. The higher proportion of the ageing population 
will influence the government to use more of the budget for age-related 
caregiving. This situation may affect the long-term fiscal stability of the 
country. 
Due to the complete transition into an ageing society, the Thai go-
vernment has prepared to face this challenge in many areas such as 
the country’s policy and the national government’s responsible depart-
ment, etc. The government has established policies and plans to su-
pport the ageing society in both the National Economic and Social 
Development Plans. These plans have a concrete and clear vision to 
develop the quality of life of the population in the ageing society so 
that every member of the Thai population is born into a quality enviro-
nment that is developed at all ages, which can be a powerful driver for 
the growth of the country with stable security. Following this agenda, 
the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security has establis-
hed strategic issues to lead the practice.6 In spite of the efforts of many 
such sectors, better quality age-related caregiving is needed. This does 
not only require physical factors such as budget, accommodation and 
government policy – no less important is a philosophy or concept of 
caregiving for ageing people, because this is an important factor that 
will lead to the real goal of quality caregiving for the ageing population. 
Thai society is a Buddhist society because about 93.5% of the popula-
tion believes in Buddhism.7 Elderly people would be familiar with a 
6  Department of Elderly Affairs, Ministry of Social Development and Human Security of 
Thailand, The Strategic Plan of the Department of Elderly Affairs 20s, BE 2561-2580 (Bangkok: 
Samlada,2018).
7  National Statistical office, Social, Cultural and Mental Health Conditions 2018, accessed 
November 3, 2022, http://www.nso.go.th/sites/2014/DocLib14/News/2561/09-61/N21-09-
61-1.pdf.
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way of life that is close to Buddhism as their religious capital. Buddhi-
sm has been deeply rooted in Thai society for thousands of years since 
the age of Suvarnabhumi where Thailand is now located. It has made 
many contributions to Thai society in terms of teachings about living, 
education, arts, culture, traditions and beliefs, as well as the aspect of 
buildings such as temples, Buddha images, pagodas, etc. Hence, in this 
paper, the Buddha’s teaching about age-related caregiving in the case of 
parents in the Pāli Canon and the research papers of Thai scholars, as 
well as the Buddhism project for ageing people, will be interpreted and 
applied to propose alternative age-related caregiving that is suitable for 
the well-being of the ageing Buddhist Thai society.
The concept of Ageing People in Buddhism
The Meaning of Ageing People in Buddhism 
The term “ageing people” refers to the term “Phusungaāyu” in Thai, 
which was first enacted in Thailand in 1962 by Maj. Gen. Luang At-
tasitthi Sitthisunthorn.8 The terms “Phusungaāyu” and “Phusungwai” 
in Thai indicate the number of people that are older counting the age 
from birth (Chronological age) and who are generally referred to as 
“Konkae or Konjarā (old person).” The office of the Royal Society, 
BE 2554 (2011), gives the meaning of the word “Kae (old)” as having 
more age or being of old age, and gives the meaning of the word “Jarā 
(old)” as old with age and worn out.9 In Buddhism, there is no word 
“Phusungaāyu” directly, but there is a word in Pāli, “Jarā (old)”, which, 
in Thai, means, Kae (aged), Koaw (old) and Kramkra (mature). The 
dictionary of the Royal Institute, B.E. 2546 (2003 C.E.), used all these 
words to give the meaning of “Phusungaāyu (ageing person).” In Budd-
hism, the word “Jarā” appears in the scriptures as the Buddha said, 
“oh! Monks, what is Jarā (old) ... (it ) is the condition of old teeth, 
falling grey hair, the age of decline, the old age of human beings and 
8  The Royal Institute, Definition of Elderly, Dictionary of the Royal Institute 2003 (Bangkok: 
Nanmee Books Public Class, 2003), 347.
9  Puangthong Kraiphibul, “older Person,” accessed December 9, 2021, http://haamor.com/th.
B U D D H I S M  A N D  A N  A G E I N G  S O C I E T Y  I N  T H A I L A N D
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all other beings, this is called “Jarā (old age).”10 The ageing of human 
beings and other sentient beings means the deterioration of the various 
components i.e., physicality and the potentiality related to that physi-
cality, such as vision, listening, movement, etc., which has the meaning 
of “the old age of Iṇdriya (the faculties),” with the word “Iṇdriya” also 
meaning the ability of the body and behaviour related to the body and 
the mind. Iṇdriya is great in their duties, such as the ears (Sotiṇdriya) 
that are responsible for listening and the eyes that are responsible for 
seeing. Each part has a different duty or function in its way, so it is 
called “Iṇdriya”.11 Therefore, the ageing person is old. An ageing person 
experiences their physical ability and behaviour related to the body di-
minishing compared to a younger age.12 There are many definitions of 
an ageing person given by many organizations according to the langu-
age of their own countries. However, all the definitions mean a person 
who enters old age and maturity.
In terms of the importance of elderly people in Buddhism, stories 
talk of the importance of ageing people who have maintained Buddhi-
sm. In the Buddhist scriptures, there are many stories of elderly people 
who are important in preserving Buddhism in various fields, as in the 
following example:
An Anāthapindhika millionaire has been praised by the Buddha as 
being a great Buddhist disciple in giving alms. He has achieved Dharma 
and proclaimed himself as a worshiper. He donated a lot of property, 
built 54 temples in Rajgirh town to Savatthī, and regularly offered food 
to 2,000 monks per day. He also established the first monastery called 
Chetavana for the Buddha. 
The Chivakakomarabhacca (medical doctor) was a physician of the 
Buddha and other monks as ordered by Bimpisala, the King of Magada 
state. In addition, king Bimpisala appointed Chivakakomarabhacca as 
10  Mahamakutarajavidhyalaya Foundation in the Royal Patronage, Tripiṭaka, and Commen-
tary 91 Books the 200th Anniversary of the Chakri Dynasty Rattanakosin (Bangkok: Mahamak-
utarajavidhyalaya Foundation in the Royal Patronage,2003), vol.26, 92.
11  Ibid., vol. 17, 117.
12  Somboon Watana, “Concept of Elderly Care in Theravada Buddhism,” Journal of the Hu-
manities and Social Sciences Burapha University 24, no. 44 (2016): 173-193, https://so06.tci-
thaijo.org/index.php/husojournal/article/view/55972/46738.
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a regular doctor. Chivakakomarabhacca gave special treatment to the 
Buddha 2 times. The first time, he prepared a special laxative to drain 
the accumulated things in the body of the Buddha, and the second time 
when Phradevadatta rolled a stone to kill the Lord Buddha, fragments 
of which struck his feet causing them to bleed, he made a healing me-
dicine. Chivakakomorabhacca also provided treatment for monks who 
were ill with various diseases without charge.
In addition, there are many shreds of evidence indicating the be-
neficence of elderly people in the Buddha’s time in the scriptures and 
that the Buddha has praised many people who have contributed to 
Buddhism, for example, Mrs. Khushchutara, Mrs. Samāvati, Mrs. 
Uttaranundā, Mrs. Supavasakoliyadhitā, Mrs. Supipiyā, and Mrs. 
Katiiyāni.13 Ashoka, the Great King, maintained Buddhism and propa-
gated Buddhism to various lands in India and other countries, helping 
it spread throughout the world today. 
Examples of various people who uphold Buddhism show that those 
people in the Buddha’s time and later, such as the kings and wealthy 
persons, young and old, inherited Buddhism till the end of their own 
lives. These cases were only partly presented in this work. Many other 
cases show the importance of elderly people who have contributed to 
the succession of Buddhism. 
In the Buddha’s time, there was no issue of an ageing society. Howe-
ver, in this paper, the author will take the case of the parents as de-
scribed in the Pāli canon as ageing people, since parents imply ageing 
people because it can be assumed that generally all parents live to old 
age and all ageing people are parents till the end of their lives.
Apart from assigning importance to elderly people as mentioned 
above, Buddhism shows the importance of elderly people as the pa-
rents of sons and daughters. In Buddhism, ageing people as parents are 
important to their children and daughters because they give birth, and 
give favours to their children. Ageing people as parents have a love and 
compassion for their children, which is pure and a difficult thing to 
13  Mahamakutarajavidhyalaya Foundation in the Royal Patronage, Tripiṭaka and Commen-
tary 91 Books the 200th Anniversary of the Chakri Dynasty Rattanakosin (Bangkok: Mahamak-
utarajavidhyalaya Foundation in the Royal Patronage,2003), vol. 33, 152.
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have for as many people as possible. The Buddhist scriptures spoke of 
the importance of ageing people as the parents of sons and daughters in 
many places, which can be summarised in the following sections. 
Importance of Ageing People in Buddhism
Buddhism mentions that the birth of sons and daughters in the 
present life must rely on three important factors, one of them being 
the relationship between the mother and father. As the Buddha said 
in Mahātanhasaṅkhayasutta, because of the meeting of the 3 factors, 
namely, 1) the mother and father live together 2) the mothers are of re-
productive age, and 3) there is Ganḍabbo (Citta (mind) at the moment 
of birth in the human world) or the birth of the baby in this human 
world. After that, the mother keeps the baby for nine or ten months, 
then the mother gives birth to a burdensome baby with a lot of risks 
and fed the heavy burdens that were born with their blood and a risk 
to life itself.14 
The Buddhist scriptures have shown the importance of the parents 
as high moral people who were well-regarded in the Buddha’s time. 
The Buddha has praised parents as the Bhraman, the first angel, the 
first teacher, etc. of sons and daughters.15 Based on the above eviden-
ce, it can be concluded that Buddhism gave honour praising parents 
as equivalent to the highest people because they have supported sons 
and daughters. Buddhism glorifies, praises and honours the parents of 
sons and daughters. If any son or daughter does not give importance to 
parents and are ungrateful, their hearts are rough and are unable to de-
velop themselves to have good morals and ethics. Buddhism praises the 
grateful person as the symbol of a good person, as the Buddha said that 
a Sattapurisa (good person) would be grateful. They are grateful people 
and they all are praised by the Sattapurisa (good person). Gratefulness 
is a basic aspect of a good person ...”16 
14  Ibid., vol. 19, 452. 
15  Ibid., vol. 45, 286.
16  Ibid., vol. 33, 277.
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An Interpretation and Application of Buddhism for the Well-Being 
of Ageing People in the Ageing Society in Thailand as a Part of 
Suvarnabhumi
According to the perspective of Buddhism, ageing people are not a 
problem of society, they are long social contributors, long-life experts, 
and a storehouse of knowledge. Therefore, the elderly should be taken 
care of by the younger generation, and the younger generation should 
give praise and learn long life experiences from them to develop our 
society as well.
obviously, in the Buddha’s time, there was no issue with an ageing 
society. This paper will take the case of parent caregiving by sons and 
daughters as described in the Pāli canon concept. Here, parents’ caregi-
ving implies elderly caregiving because it can be assumed that generally 
all parents live to old age and all ageing people are parents till the end of 
their lives. Hence, the Buddhist concept of caregiving for parents or the 
elderly will be pointed out here. According to the Buddhist philosophy, 
through ontological analysis, man consists of mind and body (Rupa, 
Kāya (corporeality) and Nāma, Citta (mentality), which are not duality 
and not identity but are both in a state of becoming and cooperating 
under the law of Buddhist causation (Paṭiccasamuppāda), as supported 
by Chien-Te Lin (2013), who said that the Buddhist position could 
perhaps be best described as a middle way approach of ‘neither-duality-
-nor-identity.’ And what is called “man”, according to Buddhism, can 
be classified in more detail as Pancakhandha (Five Aggregates), namely, 
1) corporeality, 2) sensation, 3) recognition, 4) mental formation and 
5) consciousness. A person who consists of these five aggregates must be 
developed and cared for according to these five aggregates (or in brief, 
Rupa, and Nāma). For age-related caregiving, in Buddhism, corporeal 
caregiving and mentality caregiving should be taken in balance. 
According to Buddhism, human beings are components of the body 
and mind, or Rūpa and Nāma in the Buddhist language, which are 
composed of 5 aggregates, namely the Rūpa (the body and its properties 
including various behaviours that are due to the body), Vedanā (feeling), 
Saññā (memory, determination, knowing what it is), Saṅkhārā (thou-
ghtful preparation, conceptualization) and Viññāṇa (consciousness). 
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Accordingly, if a human is both body and mind, then a human should 
take care of himself both physically and mentally in parallel with the 
development of life. To Buddhism, elderly people are similar to general 
people in terms of the five aggregates (Pañcakhanda). Human life is in 
the state of Paṭiccasamuṭapāda (dependent origination). The human life 
development principle in Buddhism is Trisikkha, which consists of 1) 
Silasikkhā, 2) Cittasikkhā, and 3) Paññāsikkhā. Silasikkhā is the pattern 
for developing human life to have a good relationship with the envi-
ronment. Cittasikkhā is the pattern for developing human life to have 
a meditated mind, to be aware of restraint, stability, steadfastness, he-
althy mental development, strength and happiness, which is conducive 
to intellectual use. Paññāsikkhā is a framework for life development to 
discriminate between what should be and should not be, what is useful 
and non-useful, what is right and what is wrong, and what is real, in 
order for the effective development of life until free from the suffering. 
Since ageing people are the parents of us or of others, they have made a 
high contribution to society, and all of us should find ways to take care 
of them as the best reward for them. 
Therefore, according to Buddhism, the application of Trisikkhā to 
age-related caregiving should always consider that the Trisikkhā is like 
the principle or framework of development and development guide-
lines. There are many guidelines according to various doctrines, but 
here we will propose the development of the so-called Bhāvanā 4. The 
Bhāvanā 4 can be used for development in 4 areas. Both Trisikkhā 
and Bhāvanā 4 are the caregiving method that can develop the body, 
behaviour, environmental relations, mind and wisdom in balan-
ce. Trisikkhā is the development principle and the main part. The 
Bhāvanā 4 is the practice method to measure whether or not people 
have been developed by Trisikkhā.17 Somdet Phra Buudhaghosacariya 
(P.A. Payutto), the well-known Thai scholar and Buddhist monk, said 
about the real meaning of the development of elderly people in terms 
of Buddhism: “what’s important is that…old persons have grown to 
a matured stage, which means they have become fully endowed with 
17  Somdet Phra Buddhaghosacariya (P. A. Payutto), Bhuddhadhamma (Original Edition) 
(40th edition 2021), 301, https://www.watnyanaves.net/th/book_detail/302.  
P o L I G R A F I
136
mental and intellectual strength that can be the core and the leader of 
true development.”18  
Accordingly, Somdet Phra Buudhaghosacariya (P.A. Payutto), when 
he was given the name Phradhammapiṭaka (P.A. Payutto), stated con-
cerning how to develop humans in terms of Buddhism that life should 
be developed in a balanced manner, including 4 aspects: physical de-
velopment, to be known, to use the eyes and organs, the hands, feet, 
mouth, etc., and to have a relationship that is supportive of the physical 
environment. An orderly society contains relationships that are suppor-
tive of fellow human beings with a system of appropriate expression 
methods and discipline in development. Accordingly, the development 
of life with the Bhāvanā 4 is to develop people to understand and realize 
the truth of life. Firstly, human development in precepts should be ta-
ken. To be able to perform the precepts, they must be composed of the 
body and organized properly. When the body is complete, the precepts 
are born. When a person has the precepts, it will lay the foundation for 
the mind to be kind. And with wisdom, they will gain more knowledge 
and understanding of what should be done and should not be done.19 
For this reason, the application of Buddhism as the Buddha’s teaching 
for the care of elderly people is to apply the principle of Trisikkhā and 
the teaching of the Bhāvanā 4 as the philosophy for caregiving for age-
ing people.20 This philosophy, for all the stated reasons, is an appropri-
ate way for age-related caregiving in a Buddhist society. The Doctrine 
of Bhāvanā 4 for the development of 4 aspects of humans has the fol-
lowing meanings:  
1) Kāyabhāvanā (Physical Development) is physical training accor-
ding to the five sensations to get in touch with all five things 
outside of the sense organs, treat those things in a way that is 
18  Institute for Population and Social Research, Mahidol University and Foundation of Thai 
Gerontology Research and Development Institute (TGRI), Situation of the Thai Elderly 2017 
(Bangkok:Deuan Tula Printing House,2019), 2, http://www.dop.go.th/download/knowledge/
th1552463947-147_1.pdf.
19  Phra Phrom Kunaporn (P. A. Payutto), Buddhist Holistic Wellbeing (Nakhonpathon: Wat 
Yanavesakawan,2014),142–144. 
20  Uthaiwan Sukimanil, “Concepts of Health Care for The Elderly under Buddhist Methods 
and Laws,” Journal of MCU Peace Studies 8 (Supplement Issue 2020): 395, https://so03.tci-
thaijo.org/index.php/journal-peace/article/view/241410/164884.
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beneficial for our lives, promote moral improvement, and deve-
loping relationships with the physical environment.
2) Silabhāvanā (Moral Development) is discipline training, not 
encroaching or causing damage, remaining well with others, and 
supporting each other.
3) Cittabhāvanā (Emotional or Mind Development) is the mental 
training to be strong, stable and grow with all the virtues such as 
benevolence, diligence, patience, concentration and freshness. 
4) Paññābhāvanā (Wisdom Development) is wisdom training, to 
know and understand the things that are true, knowing the world 
and life according to conditions, able to manage the mind free 
from suffering, and solving problems through intelligence.21 
Applying the Buddha’s teaching of Bhāvanā 4 to caregiving for age-
ing people can be interpreted as follows:
1) Kāyabhāvanā (Physical Development) is the physicality caregi-
ving of elderly people, caring for the healthy bodily development 
and relationships with the physical environment, physical and 
behavioural caring for ageing people’s bodies, such as encou-
raging them to exercise properly, supplying medicines, provi-
ding the right food for them, caring for and preventing various 
dangers that may occur to them. Accordingly, James Stuart has 
explained why elderly people should be taken care of, saying that 
in the Buddhist tradition, providing for ageing people’s needs is 
the main way of showing respect. In many cases, parents live with 
their children and may help raise their grandchildren. Young pe-
ople should also take care of their parents’ financial and other 
personal needs.22 In the year 2016, the author conducted research 
on “Caring for Elderly Parents According to the Buddhist Tea-
chings of Thai Buddhists” by surveying a sample population in 
the Bangkok area of 632 people who take care of elderly parents 
on the issue of taking care of them by helping the elderly parents 
21  Phra Dhammapitaka (P. A. Payutto), Dictionary of Buddhism (Bangkok: Sahadhammik, 
2002), 70.
22  James Stuart, “Buddhist Belief in Respect of the Elderly,” accessed January 20, 2022, 
https://classroom.synonym.com/buddhist-belief-in-respect-of-the-elderly-12085136.html. 
P o L I G R A F I
138
to exercise appropriately, to have a proper food supply, better hy-
giene, taking them to a doctor in time, helping pay for their me-
dical expenses and providing money for them to spend in daily 
life. The result was that in the overall sample group, 95.4% had 
taken care of their elderly parents according to the guidelines of 
Kāyabhāvanā.23 
2) Silabhāvanā (Moral Development). Moral development for age-
ing people is a kind of caregiving to take care of the ageing people 
in social relationships and the social environment so they can 
live well with others. Therefore, those who care for ageing peo-
ple should consider helping the elderly to interact well with the 
people around them such as relatives, friends, sons, daughters, 
etc. In addition, caregivers should help ageing people take care 
of their health by themselves. Accordingly, the research entitled 
“Caring for Elderly Parents According to the Buddhist Teachings 
of Thai Buddhists” by surveying a sample population in the Ban-
gkok area of 632 people who take care of elderly parents in terms 
of Silabhāvanā, inquired about taking their elderly parents to 
visit relatives, friends’ houses, doing social activities, facilitating 
transportation in doing social work, taking them to travel for 
relaxation in a good environment, taking them to the temple to 
make merit, giving to the underprivileged, and creating benefits 
for society in various ways. It was found that in the sample group, 
93% of the sample took care of their elderly parents according to 
the guidelines of Silabhāvanā.24 
3) Cittabhāvanā (Emotional Development) is the care of the mind, 
feelings and emotions of ageing persons. The caregivers should 
take care of the elderly by helping them have a strong mind, ha-
ppiness, joyfulness, stability, a lack of loneliness, and a lack of 
anxiety. Those who care for ageing persons should pay special 
attention to this aspect because the elderly often need the ho-
nour of caring from the caregiver. In addition, since the ageing 
23  Somboon Watana, “Caregiving for Elder Parents in accordance with the Buddhist Doctrine 
in Thai Buddhist Families,” Journal of Community Development Research (Humanities and Social 
Sciences) 10, no. 2 (2017): 74, https://www.journal.nu.ac.th/JCDR/article/view/1821/1103.
24  Ibid., 75.
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persons are senior citizens. They have wisdom accumulated over 
a long lifetime; younger people can show respect by listening to 
the advice of their ageing persons. Buddhists also extend the idea 
of filial piety to all ageing persons as senior citizens.25 Accordin-
gly, in the year 2016, the author conducted research on “Caring 
for Elderly Parents According to the Buddhist Teachings of the 
Thai Buddhists” by surveying a sample population in the Ban-
gkok area of 632 people who take care of elderly parents in terms 
of caring for Cittabhāvanā (Emotional Development) inquiring 
about supporting practice meditation, friendly talk, creating an 
atmosphere that is always happy and cheerful, always showing 
love and respect for the elderly, etc. The result revealed that in the 
overall sample, 97.3% took care of their elderly parents according 
to Cittabhāvanā guidelines.26 Supporting ageing people through 
practicing Cittabhāvanā (Emotional Development) to be min-
dful can fulfil their spiritual well-being because religious aspects 
are often associated with spirituality. 
4) Paññābhāvanā (Wisdom Development) is caring for the ageing 
persons in terms of intelligence. Caregivers should support the 
ageing persons to understand the nature of life and create oppor-
tunities for them to be close to the Dharma teachings in Budd-
hism. Paññābhāvanā is the practical way to obtain Buddhist spi-
ritual well-being. In this stage, elderly people will be happy and 
have peaceful minds. The research entitled “The Effectiveness of 
Buddhist Doctrine Practice-Based Programs in Enhancing Spi-
ritual Well-being, Coping and Sleep Quality of Thai Elders”27 
has presented the significance of Paññābhāvanā (Wisdom Deve-
lopment) promoting the spiritual well-being of the Thai ageing 
people as the result of the research revealed that ageing people 
who practiced Vipassanā meditation demonstrated significantly 
25  Stuart, “Buddhist Belief.” 
26  Watana, “Caregiving,” 76. 
27  Rodchana Wiriyasombat et al., “Effectiveness of Buddhist Doctrine Practice-Based Pro-
grams in Enhancing Spiritual Well-being, Coping and Sleep Quality of Thai Elders,” Pacific 
Rim International Journal of Nursing Research 15, no. 3 (July–September 2011): 203, https://
he02.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/PRIJNR/article/view/6512/0.
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better spiritual well-being at one, two and four months after com-
pleting their intervention. Those who practiced chanting showed 
a significant increase in spiritual well-being, only two months 
and four months after completing their intervention. The control 
group demonstrated no significant changes over the three mea-
surements. Although all three groups revealed significant changes 
in coping, at various times during the three measurements, both 
the Vipassanā meditation group and the chanting group showed 
better coping than the control group. Regarding sleep quality, 
both the Vipassanā meditation and the chanting group, compa-
red to the control group, demonstrated significant increases in 
sleep quality four months after completing their invention. Ac-
cordingly, in the year 2016, the author conducted research on 
“Caring for Ageing Parents According to the Buddhist teachings 
of Thai Buddhists” by surveying a sample population in the Ban-
gkok area of 632 pele who take care of ageing parents in terms of 
caring for the intellectual development of ageing people, asking 
about issues of taking parents to make merit, to listen to sermons 
at the temple and to practice Vipassanā meditation, etc. The re-
sult revealed that in the overall sample, 91.1% took care of their 
ageing parents according to Paññābhāvanā guidelines.28 
Buddhism Activities for Age-Related Caregiving in Thailand
Following the Buddha’s teaching of the willingness for human well-
-being, to respond to the ageing society in Thailand, some activities for 
age-related caregiving in Thailand of the Thai Buddhist monks will be 
taken as examples as follows:
Wat Suan Kaew Ageing Care Home: The Wat Suan Kaew Ageing 
Care Home, located in the Nonthaburi province of Thailand, was esta-
blished by well-known senior Thai Buddhist monk Luang Por Payom 
Kalyᾱno in 1992. The rationale of this project is that nowadays off-
spring are burdened with having to pursue a career and raise a family, le-
aving no time to take care of their parents and grandparents. At present, 
28  Watana, “Caregiving,” 77.
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ageing people experience hostile loneliness, a disease that destroys the 
mind and body prematurely, a disease that can occur in ageing people 
of all levels. So, for ageing people who have been abandoned by their 
offspring, Luang Por Phayom Kalyᾱno also provides a comprehensive 
upbringing for them. Moreover, the ageing people who come to request 
aid have never been rejected. Accordingly, he provided medical care for 
those ageing people until the end of his life as a nursing home project. 
The project was established as an association, a club to exchange views, 
a collection of experiences of ageing people, and also the opportunity 
to help the activities of the temple, which is considered a charity that 
elderly people will receive for the last moment, a value to the heart.29 
Wat Dhammaraksa Nivesana Ageing Care Home: This project, loca-
ted in Lopburi Province, Thailand, was established by the well-known 
Thai Buddhist monk named Luang Por Alongkot Tikkhapanyo who is 
the abbot of the Wat Phra Bat Namphu temple, Lopburi Province, Thai-
land, where there is a rehabilitation facility for people with AIDS. This is 
a new extended project of this Thai Buddhist monk. The main mission 
aims to provide late-stage shelters for abandoned ageing people. The 
rationale of this project is based on the increase in abandoned ageing 
people. Consequently, Luang Por Alongkot Tikkhapanyo, with his com-
passion for ageing people, stated “if temples and monks do not reach 
out to help, then who will help them to have a proper place to eat and 
die?” Hence, the Wat Dhammaraksa Nivesana Ageing Care Home has 
been divided into an ageing care tower for elderly people who can still 
help themselves and also for those who are less able to help themselves. 
Additionally, ageing people who are less able to help themselves, such 
as those who are blind, have lost limbs, have Alzheimer’s, or have excre-
tory problems, are looked after by volunteers to provide caregiving for 
both physical and mental health. Furthermore, a health service system 
has been provided that is linked to the health insurance of the Nong 
Muang Hospital, a public hospital. And for ageing people who can help 
themselves, such as being able to walk and eat, the temple provides daily 
activities for them to do, such as waking up to collect mattresses, clea-
29  “Wat Suan Kaew Aging Care Home,” Suan Kaew Foundation, accessed January 30, 2022, 
https://www.kanlayano.org/home/projects/projects_10.php.
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ning the premises, watering the plants, planting trees, exercising, eating, 
listening dharma, listening to or playing music therapy, watching movi-
es, listening to music, and participating in group conversations.30
These two examples of Buddhist activities for age-related caregi-
ving in Thailand were established and managed by well-known Thai 
Buddhist monks, namely Luang Por Payom Kalyano of the Wat Suan 
Kaew temple and Luang Por Alongkot Tikkhapanyo of the Wat Phra 
Bat Namphu temple. These two monks are called in Thai “Luang Por” 
in the sense of ageing, beloved, respected monks of various Thai people 
because they have sacrificed their life for monkhood in Buddhism, then 
followed the Buddha’s teaching for human well-being by doing work 
of social engagement for the long time of around 40-45 years. It is not 
too much to say that these two monks are leaders in social engagement 
work in Thai society and even on the issue of the ageing society in 
Thailand.
Conclusion and Discussion
Thailand is a part of Suvarnabhumi land where Buddhism originally 
arose around 2300 years ago. Buddhism, as it has been interpreted and 
applied, has created various contributions to the Thai people such as 
culture, society and the economy, as well as a moral way of life, etc. The 
ageing society is a new issue in the 21st century. It is the result of the de-
velopment of science and technology in terms of medical sciences and 
economic growth in the past century. In the present year of 2022 C.E., 
Thailand is an ageing society. In the perspective of Buddhism, ageing 
people, or the parents referred to in the Pāli Tripiṭaka, are important. 
The ageing people or the parents have been praised by the Lord Buddha 
and are regarded as a noble equivalent to Brahma, the saint of the sons, 
etc. Hence, the age-related caregivers or the sons and daughters should 
take care of the ageing people or their ageing parents. Buddhism has 
praised caregiving for ageing people or ageing parents in terms of both 
the body and the mind for comfort. 
30   “open Thammaraksa Temple to help the elderly,” Thairath Online, accessed January 25, 
2022, https://www.thairath.co.th/content/140303.
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Moreover, the Buddha suggests that age-related caregivers (such as 
sons or daughters) should take care of them, for the sake of the sustain-
ability of caregiving. Ageing people or ageing parents should be taken 
care of by the Buddha’s teaching of Bhāvanā 4. Buddhist age-related 
caregiving can be an innovation for age-related caregiving in the 21st 
century to promote spiritual well-being in the global world. otherwi-
se, the age-related caregiving trend will be strongly promoted in terms 
of physical and mental caregiving but will ignore spiritual caregiving, 
which is the most important dimension of the elderly in a Buddhist so-
ciety like Thailand. Both practical and academic approaches regarding 
age-related caregiving are still needed to advance both the quantity and 
quality to promote the Buddha’s teaching about age-related caregiving 
for better human life from generation to generation. Age-related care-
giving in an ageing society is not the duty of any one person but is an 
important agenda for all in societies to respond to this duty together in 
the best and most suitable way for ageing people. Since ageing people 
are the model of the future generation, taking care of them appropriate-
ly would create an ethical norm of generosity for each other and would 
be a society that cultivates the virtues of gratitude that is the basis of the 
goodness of living together in society.
In addition, to support the agenda of age-related caregiving in an 
ageing society in Thailand, there are 429931 Buddhist temples that the 
Thai government and related sectors plan to use as the religious capital 
for age-related caregiving according to the Buddha’s teaching for hu-
man well-being. How can this idea be realised? To answer this question, 
the above 2 example projects of Luang Por Payom Kalyano and Luang 
Por Alongkot Tikkhapanyo should be models for other Thai Buddhist 
temples. To support this idea, the research on the “Preparedness of 
Buddhist Temples for an Ageing Society” conducted by Pornsiripong, 
Sasiwongsaroj and Burasitdhi32 should be taken as an example. The fin-
dings of the research were that almost all of the temples were moderately 
31  “Temple Registration System,” National office of Buddhism, accessed January 30, 2022, 
http://binfo.onab.go.th/Temple/Dashboard.aspx.
32  Saowapa Pornsiripong, Quanjit Sasiwongsaroj, and Yongyut Burasitdhi, “Preparedness of 
Buddhist temples for an aging society,” Journal of Language and Culture 33, no. 1 (2014), 100, 
https://so03.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/JLC/article/view/21723/18736.
P o L I G R A F I
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ready. They were highly prepared for social networking and social space 
and moderately prepared for life-long learning and health promotion. 
Factors affecting different degrees of preparedness included: the abbot’s 
potential, the number of monks, the qualifications and knowledge of 
the resident monks, support from communities nearby, and experience 
in social networking. The means for developing the preparedness of the 
temples were: sharing knowledge on best practices, training programs 
for abbots on active administration, educating monks on aspects of age-
ing people, supporting temples in establishing networks, and creating 
an age-friendly environment.” Accordingly, James Stuart33 observed 
the modern practices of the Buddhists and found “prolonged life-
spans have changed the way senior citizens live, and this has affected 
the way Buddhists practice respect for ageing people. Since many pe-
ople are healthier for longer, they want to remain independent and 
work long into their old age. Some Buddhist temples have begun or-
ganizing clubs to bring senior citizens together with younger people, 
and many Buddhist organizations celebrate special days intended to 
focus attention on respect for the ageing people.” These 2 examples of 
academic studies indicated the potentiality and possibility of utilizing 
the Buddhist religious capital for society, as well as for the well-being 
of the elderly in the ageing Thai society. Again, the author, as a lec-
turer on the course “An Introduction to Buddhist Philosophy” in the 
Bachelor of Arts Program in Religious Studies of the Mahidol Uni-
versity of Thailand, has designed the topic of Buddhist Philosophy 
and Age-Related Caregiving in this course and taught more than 100 
students for 4 years from 2014 to the present to prepare them for 
challenging the ageing society in Thailand. All these attempts are a 
way to apply the Buddha’s teachings to the challenge of the ageing so-
ciety in the 21st century. All these attempts of Buddhism in Thailand 
to be concerned with the new challenge of the ageing society have 
a foundation in the religious capital of Buddhism continuing from 
the Suvarnabhumi age more than 2000 years ago. Lastly, it can be 
said that the interpretation and application of the Buddha’s teachin-
gs originally rooted in the Suvarnabhumi age and continuing to the 
33  Stuart, “Buddhist Belief.”
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present in Thailand are the way Buddhism in Thailand promotes the 
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations (UN). 
The 2030 Agenda’s transformational vision and the pledge of SDGs to 
“leave no one behind” means that development agendas must include 
all people of all ages. The implementation of SDGs must essentially rely 
on equality, social justice and human dignity and recognize that ageing 
people have an equal right to development.34 
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