85
 F O  G U A N G  S H A N ’ S 
E X P A N S I O N  I N  T H E 
R E L I G I O U S  M A R K E T 
O F  T H A I L A N D :  A  S W O T 
A N A L Y S I S
G u i y u  S u ,  Y a o p i n g  L i u
Note of Romanization
Pinyin is used as the primary Romanization for Chinese charac-
ters throughout this paper; however, some names and organizations in 
the Wade-Giles system remain unchanged due to their continued use 
among Thais and various Westerners. For example, Hsing Yun. 
Introduction 
As the most prominent Buddhist country in continental Southeast 
Asia, Thailand is home to more than 300,000 monks.1 A total of 93% 
of its population follows Theravada Buddhism.2 In Thailand, there are 
33,630 temples registered under four Buddhist schools–Maha Nikaya, 
Dhammayuttika Nikaya, Annam Nikaya, and Jin Nikaya, respectively.3 
1  Samantha Bresnahan, “Why Thailand is putting its monks on a diet?” CNN Health, Oc-
tober 18, 2019, https://edition.cnn.com/2019/10/18/health/thailand-monks-vital-signs-well-
ness/index.html;
2  Office of International Religious Freedom, “2020 Report on International Religious Free-
dom: Thailand,” May 12, 2022, https://www.state.gov/reports/2020-report-on-international-
religious-freedom/thailand/. 
3  Division of Buddhist Religious Sites, Office of Religious Treasures (abandoned temples), 
“Nationwide measurement data statistics,” December 31, 2004, http://www.dhammathai.org/
watthai/watstat.php. 
https://doi.org/10.35469/poligrafi.2022.343 Poligrafi, no. 105/106, vol. 27, 2022, pp. 85–103
P O L I G R A F I
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Among them, the first two belong to the mainstream Theravada tra-
dition, while the latter two are derived from the Mahayana tradition 
founded by Vietnamese and Chinese immigrant monks subsequently 
in the 19th century.4 
With its large Buddhist population, Thailand also attracts a growing 
number of foreign Buddhist institutions for religious market expansion 
since the early 1990s.5 The Taiwan-based FGS is one of these foreign 
Buddhist institutions to have started setting up its branch in downtown 
Bangkok. The present research specifically refers to Taihua si and the 
Buddha Light Cultural and Educational Center, the two branches of 
FGS in Bangkok.
A Brief History of FGS
Born in 1927 to a Li family in Jiangsu Province, eastern China, 
Hsing Yun became a monk in his early teens. Later, the young Hsing 
Yun entered the Jiao Shan Buddhist College in Zhejiang Province and 
was inspired by the founder of the college, Tai Xu (1890–1947), who 
introduced the concept of earthly Buddhism.6 In 1967, Hsing Yun 
founded FGS in Ma Chu Yuan, Da Shu Township, Kaohsiung City, 
Taiwan, with Taixu as his spiritual teacher.7 In 1972, Hsing Yun for-
mulated the Constitution of the FGS Patriarchal Association, and since 
then, FGS has become a modernized, institutionalized, and well-or-
ganized religious group. FGS is guided by four primary purposes: to 
promote Buddhism through culture, cultivate talents through educati-
on, benefit society through charity, and purify people’s hearts through 
communal practice. Over the decades, FGS has established a university, 
4  Yaoping Liu, “The History of Jin Nikāya in Thailand: A Preliminary Study from a Socio-
political Perspective,” Journal of Chinese Buddhist Studies, 33 (2020): 123–124. 
5  Guo-zhong Xing, “Remark on paradigm of religion economic research,” Science and Athe-
ism, no. 6 (2008): 5–21.
6  Darui Long, “Humanistic Buddhism from Venerable Taixu to Great Master Hsing Yun,” 
Hsi Lai Journal of Humanistic Buddhism, 1 (2000): 56, http://buddhism.lib.ntu.edu.tw/FULL-
TEXT/JR-JHB/jhb94215.htm.
7  Dapeng Sang, “On Master Hsing Yun’s Practical Philosophy of Humanistic Buddhism - A 
Treatise on the Personality Characteristics of Hsing Yun’s Humanistic Buddhism,” Journal of 
Wuhan University: social sciences edition, no. 4 (2015): 7–14. 
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a Buddhist college, a library, a publishing house, a translation center, a 
literature center, a teahouse, a nursery school, a home for the elderly, a 
senior high school, a newspaper, and a television station. The FGS San-
gha has since become a significant promoter of humanistic Buddhism 
in Taiwan and overseas.8
For better development, religion often responds to catch up with 
the social, economic, and sometimes even political needs of its times. 
Taiwan’s economy developed rapidly from the 1960s to the 1980s and 
became one of the “Four Little Dragons of Asia”.9 After economic 
growth, Taiwan gradually became internationalized, and many Taiwa-
nese businesspeople started investing and doing business abroad, brin-
ging Chinese culture to their hosting countries.10 At the same time, 
the 1980s saw the influx of an increasing number of overseas Chinese 
immigrants, including Taiwanese immigrants, who were already dee-
ply influenced by traditional Chinese culture. In addition, mainland 
China’s admirable economic achievements since its opening in the late 
1970s inspired the national pride and cultural confidence of overseas 
Chinese.11 Given these premises, traditional Chinese culture has beco-
me popular overseas, especially among overseas Chinese communities 
worldwide. This is also essential for religious institutions such as FGS 
to attract a large following and grow tremendous influence overseas, 
especially the Chinese communities on foreign soil.12
On the other hand, overseas Chinese communities have contributed 
to the quick and vast expansion of Chinese religious institutions, such 
as FGS, abroad. To date, FGS has grown its enormous influence over 
Chinese communities worldwide, including Thailand, in the manife-
8  Yu-Chieh Huang, “Flame-like Ritual Music and its Religious Connotations: The Case of 
the Buddhist Temple System in Taiwan,” Taiwan Music Studies 4 (2007): 20–38. 
9  Hujiang Li, “The ‘Blue Ocean Strategy’ of Contemporary Buddhist Organizations: The 
Case of the Buddha Light Mountain Mission,” Journal of Southwest University for Nationalities 
(Humanities and Social Sciences), no. 9 (2010): 109–113. 
10  Hujiang Li, “Three Features of the Blue Ocean Strategy of Contemporary Buddhist Or-
ganizations - A Comparative Analysis of the Dharma Body Monastic Order and the Fo Guang 
Shan Order,” Wutai Mountain Research, no. 1 (2010): 13–17.
11  Shi Cangjin and Li Qunfeng: “A Brief Analysis on Fo Guang Shan’s Spreading and Influ-
ences Abroad,” Southeast Asian Studies 1 (2013): 59–66.
12  Zhou Ye, “Communication Strategies in Faith Consumption - An Experimental Analysis of 
Taiwan’s Fo Guang Shan Cultural and Educational Group,” Business Manager, no. 3(2011): 1–21.
P O L I G R A F I
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station of its large Chinese following and the growing number of local 
converts. However, there is a dearth of scholarship that has paid atten-
tion to its expansion from a marketing perspective. 
FGS promotes exchanges and understanding among different de-
nominations and sects. It actively plays the role of “ambassador of civil 
diplomacy,” using religious beliefs as a link to strengthen understanding 
and trust between countries and to promote relations among them. The 
spread of FGS overseas also encourages the influence of the “Greater 
China” cultural soft power overseas.13
FGS’s internationalization movement 
In the late 1970s, FGS expanded out of Taiwan to foreign countries. 
In Asia, the Buddha’s Light International Association has established 
associations in India, Ladakh, Sri Lanka, Sikkim, Bhutan, Bangladesh, 
Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Macau, Korea, 
Tokyo, Osaka, the Philippines, and other countries and regions.14 There 
are dozens of FGS branches in Asia, located in Japan, Korea, the Phili-
ppines, Malaysia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Thailand, India, and many 
other countries. Most of these countries have a prevalent Buddhist faith 
or some social influence; in addition, many have huge Chinese popu-
lations, many of whom are devout Buddhists. In Southeast Asia, FGS 
first entered Malaysia, where a large Chinese population and Buddhism 
are generally popular in the Chinese community.15
In 1963, Hsing Yun visited Malaysia as a member of a delegation 
from Southeast Asian countries. Since the 1980s, Hsing Yun has visited 
Malaysia almost every year, and his itinerary mainly consisted of lec-
tures, presiding over pujas, three conversions, five precepts pujas, etc. 
In 1987, at the “North-South Masters’ Reunion” lecture organized by 
13  Nan Gao, “The Social Functions of Humanistic Buddhism - An Example of the Buddha’s 
Light Mountain Mission in Taiwan,” Humanity, no. 26 (2016): 38–38.
14  Yang Liao, “The Philosophy and Practice of Humanistic Buddhism-A Sociological Analy-
sis of Humanistic Buddhism in Fo Guang Shan,” Essays in the Sociology of Human Buddhism, 
no. 1 (2018): 302–318
15  Yi Wang, A Preliminary Study on the Religious Beliefs of the “Four-Faced Buddha” in Thai-
land and Taiwan, Vol. 1( Beijing: Social Science Literature Publishing, 2015).
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the Malaysian Buddhist Youth Federation, Hsing Yun represented the 
Northern and Southern Buddhist Dharma Society to discuss the tea-
chings together. In the same year, at the invitation of the President of 
the Malaysian Buddhist Association, Elder Kim Ming, and the Budd-
hist community of Singapore, Hsing Yun led a 20-member delegation 
to Malaysia and Singapore to teach the Dharma. In 1989, Hsing Yun 
presided over the groundbreaking ceremony of the South China Tem-
ple (now the Tung Chan Temple in Lamjung, Selangor), which was 
the first time in the 20 years since the establishment of the Malaysian 
Buddhist Association that a formal letter was sent to invite foreign ma-
sters to come and teach the Dharma. Since then, Malaysia has had a 
local Buddhist monastery.16
From the early 2000s, Hsing Yun turned his attention to Southeast 
Asia and his visits there became more frequent. In 2002, he went on 
a month-long charity tour to Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia, and Thai-
land to promote Buddhism and further facilitate exchanges between 
Buddhism in the North and South. In 2004, Hsing Yun officiated at 
the opening ceremony of the 2004 Asia International Buddhist Associ-
ation Fellowship in the Mouri Temple, Japan, and revealed the future 
development of the Buddhist cause. In 2006, Hsing Yun was invited 
to Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India, to officiate at the Three Jewels 
conversion ceremony for 200,000 people. In 2008, Hsing Yun went to 
Indonesia, Singapore, and Malaysia for a 12-day Dharma tour, offici-
ating at the Three Conversions and Five Precepts, the Bodhisattva en-
lightenment ceremony, and the Singapore Buddha Mountain opening 
ceremony, as well as talking with the faithful. In 2009, he went to New 
Malaysia and Thailand. At the same time, he also went to Singapore, 
Malaysia, and Thailand again for a 10-day Dharma tour, where he pre-
sided over the reading of “Ten Thousand Visions of Humanity,” the 
“Three Conversions and Five Precepts Ceremony,” and the “Fourth and 
Fifth Council Meetings of the World General Assembly of the Buddha’s 
Light Association”; at the same time, he delivered a lecture on “How to 
Obtain the True Meaning of Buddhism in the World”. The same year, 
16  Kun-hong Hou, “Buddhism and Politics in the 1930s: Venerable Tai Xu and Chiang Kai-
shek,” Journal of Sichuan Normal University: Social Science Edition, no. 33 (2006): 7–5.
P O L I G R A F I
90
he went to the Philippines for a five-day Dharma promotion tour and 
presided over the “Three Conversions and Five Precepts Puja.”17 
FGS and Hsing Yun also place great importance on exchanges with 
different denominations to promote understanding and trust within 
Buddhism and among different sects.18 In February 1994, FGS signed 
a bilateral agreement with the Dharma Sangha in Bangkok, Thailand, 
which includes an exchange of publications, protection of human ri-
ghts and religious freedom, preservation of Buddhist traditions, and 
promotion of cultural and educational collaborations between Budd-
hist groups. In 1998, Hsing Yun traveled to Malaysia and met with 
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, where they engaged in 
dialogue and exchange on Buddhism and Islam.19
In 2003, at the invitation of the Korean religious community, Hsing 
Yun visited Korea and met with representatives of Songgwang Temple, 
Haein Temple, Tongdu Temple, and the Choe Gye Sect, and held a 
“Cultural Exchange Alliance Ceremony” at Haein Temple. In 2004, 
Hsing Yun met with Elder Dharmadatta, head of the Southern Mission 
in Malaysia and Singapore, and Venerable Keung Thima, President of 
Shakyamuni Bhikkhu University. In 2005, Hsing Yun met with a dele-
gation of the Board of Trustees of the Dongguk University of Buddhi-
sm in Korea.20
In response to the invitation of Global Vision Vietnam, Hsing Yun 
visited the thousand-year-old Zhen Guo Temple in Hanoi, Vietnam, 
in October 2011. He met Phu Huy, the third Dharma Master of the 
Buddhist Association of Vietnam, to exchange views on the current 
situation of Buddhism in Vietnam and the future development of 
Buddhism. In 2008, Hsing Yun met with Malaysian Prime Minister 
Abdullah Badawi at the Malaysian Prime Minister’s residence to discuss 
17  Feng Han, “The Role of Buddhism in the Socio-Economic Development of Thailand,” 
Asia-Pacific Studies, no. 1 (1994): 72–76.
18  Leilei Zhang, “The Development of Monastic Economy and the Concept of Humanistic 
Buddhism - A Study of Buddha’s Light Mountain as an Example,” Journal of Guangdong Techni-
cal Teachers College, no. 6 (2014): 92–98.
19  Qun Zheng, “Thailand:The Fusion of Modernity and Tradition,” Creation, no. 2 (2004): 
3–16.
20  Weimin Liao, “Ci Xiang Xifang: An Exploration of Master Hsing Yun’s Communication 
Style in the Perspective of Charity Culture,” Film Review, no. 11 (2014): 4–25.
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topics related to inter-ethnic harmony. In 2008, Hsing Yun met with 
Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi at the latter’s office to di-
scuss issues related to ethnic harmony and social development. On the 
ground, FGS has always attached importance to political connections 
and often built closer relationships with the different levels of gover-
nment in its hosting countries.21 For example, In Malaysia, the head of 
state visits Dongchen Temple on important Chinese holidays such as 
the Lunar New Year. On 28 December 2011, the Malaysian Ministry 
of National Social and Family Development invited FGS to Malaysia 
to discuss the content of youth education activities to reduce family and 
social problems caused by youth and to promote social harmony. Choo 
Seng, President of FGS Johor Bahru Branch, and representatives from 
the Board of Directors of the branch suggested to the government to 
practice the “three good things” (speak good words, do good deeds, and 
keep a good heart) and to advocate and jointly promote the “Seven Pre-
cepts of the Purification of the Human Heart Movement,” which are to 
quit smoking and drugs, pornography, violence, theft, and gambling. It 
is hoped that the participants can purify their hearts and minds and rec-
tify social morals through young leadership training camps, Buddhist 
youth camps, and the Seven Commandments Movement. Mr. Sulaini, 
the official representative of Malaysia, expressed his appreciation for the 
choice of Dongzen Temple as the main venue for the activities of FGS 
Malaysia, which promotes the participation of youth from different 
towns in various activities beneficial to the mind and body. In 2005, 
when a disastrous tsunami struck Southeast Asia, FGS cared for the 
children who lost their parents due to the disaster and launched a relief 
campaign with the participation of more than 5,000 monks and devo-
tees. In 2008, when tropical cyclone Nal Gis hit Myanmar, Hsing Yun 
instructed the Bangkok Cultural and Educational Center in Thailand 
and the local Buddha’s Light Association to mobilize their members for 
disaster relief work.22 
21  Jin-Cheng Shen, and Jin-Yan Xie, “A Study of the Relationship between Religious Tourism 
Attractiveness, Satisfaction, and Loyalty: A Case Study of Kaohsiung Fo Guang Shan,” Tourism 
Management Research, no. 1 (2003): 79–95.
22  Duo Jue, “Report on the Study Tour of the Literary and Educational Business of Fo Guang 
Shan,” Buddhist Studies, no. 1(2008): 366–373.
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The Dharma-related and social activities of FGS, especially Hsing 
Yun, have received high recognition in Asia. In 1995, Hsing Yun was 
awarded the “Buddha Treasure Award” by the Indian Buddhist Con-
gress. In 2000, Hsing Yun received the “Best Contribution to Buddhi-
sm Award” from the Thai government. In 2003, Hsing Yun received an 
honorary doctorate in “Educational Management” from the Mahabha-
rat Chulalongkorn Buddhist University in Thailand. In 2004, Hsing 
Yun received an honorary doctorate in philosophy from Dongguk Uni-
versity in Korea and a doctorate in religion from Dhammapada Magud 
Buddhist University in Thailand. In the same year, representatives of 
the Dhammapada Sangha under the monk king of Thailand jointly cast 
19 giant gold Buddhas, which were presented to 19 Buddhist countries 
and regions worldwide for worship. In 2006, at the age of 80, Hsing 
Yun received a birthday gift of “80,000 people copying the Heart Su-
tra” from the Malaysian Buddhist community. In August 2010, Hsing 
Yun was chosen by the Malaysian newspaper Sing Tao with the highest 
number of votes as the “2010 Most Popular Foreign Writer” and rece-
ived an honorary doctorate in literature from Geumgang University in 
Korea.23
Research Problem
As an active advocate of humanistic Buddhism, Hsing Yun dedica-
tedly expands this new form of Buddhism out of Taiwan by setting up 
branches of FGS in different continents. For the Theravada Buddhist 
countries such as Thailand, he and his followers, both monastic and 
lay, promoted the inter-tradition harmony of Mahayana and Theravada 
Buddhism (or Buddhism spread northward en route to central Asia and 
southward en maritime route).24 To attract the following from the local 
Chinese immigrants, Hsing Yun and his dispatches to Thailand na-
med their second Buddhist sanctuary Taihua si, literally the temple of 
Thai and Chinese, perhaps also for ethnical cohesion. Since the establi-
23  Jinqiang Su, “Master Hsing Yun’s Human Buddhism,” Taiwan Voice, no. 21 (2018): 1–11.
24  Gongren Zheng and Li Bin, “Ten Contributions of Master Hsing Yun to Buddhism,” 
World Religious Culture, no. 5 (2015): 11–16.
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shment of the Buddha Light Cultural and Educational Center in 1994, 
FGS has become one of the most influential foreign Buddhist instituti-
ons active in Thailand. Its following is growing, and its influence exten-
ds beyond the local Chinese community to reach Thais. According to 
inside information provided by an anonymous person, the number of 
FGS followers in Thailand now exceeds 250,000.25 FGS’s expansion in 
Thailand directly or indirectly poses challenges, especially to the local-
-grown Chinese Buddhist school, Jin Nikaya, given they both share the 
common religious market, Thai-Chinese communities.26
The scholarship on FGS’s internationalization movement has as yet 
paid almost no attention to its expansion in Thailand.27 Dr. Yaoping 
L.I.U., the Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Professor in Buddhist 
Studies, who has been based in Thailand for many years, has observed 
the growing influence of FGS and other Taiwanese Buddhist instituti-
ons.28 He has noted the competition between FGS and Jin Nikāya in 
the local religious market.29 But neither he nor others have gone into 
any profound studies of how FGS had accessed the religious market 
in Thailand with such great success and in a such short period. None 
of the existing literature has addressed the strengths FGS bears for its 
past success in the local religious market and the weakness of its future 
existence in Thailand. 
Research Objectives 
To solve the problems motioned above, this paper constructs a 
SWOT matrix to mainly analyze the strengths and weaknesses FGS 
bears for its expansion in the religious market of Thailand. In addition, 
the paper also aims to explore the potential opportunities for FGS’s 
25  Hujiang Li, “The Way of Management of Contemporary Buddhist Organizations - An 
Example of the Buddha’s Light Mountain Order and the Dharma Body Temple Order,” Journal 
of Qinghai University for Nationalities: social science, no. 42 (2016): 9–32.
26  Liu, “The History of Jin Nikāya in Thailand,” 123–124. 
27  Tianhong Kuo and Jia Wang, “The Positive Role of Buddhism for Social Charity in Taiwan 
- Focusing on Fo Guang Shan and Tzu Chi,” Heilongjiang Ethnic Series, no. 3 (2012): 187–192.
28  Liu, “The History of Jin Nikāya in Thailand,” 123–124.
29  Ibid.
P O L I G R A F I
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further growth in Thailand and certain threats it might face in the near 
or long future. 
Research Scope
The present research is limited to the two Buddhist sanctuaries FGS 
built in Bangkok and the religious programs it carried out for the local 
religious market based on the two sanctuaries. 
1. The Buddha’s Light Mountain Cultural and Education Center in 
Bangkok.
To promote exchanges between China and Thailand, FGS establi-
shed the Bangkok Cultural and Education Center in the commercial 
area of Thailand in 1994, with the capacity to host 800 people for re-
ligious gatherings. In 2020, Venerable Nyin Guan, the abbess of this 
center, led a record 600 people to take the three precepts. Furthermore, 
according to an anonymous monk, the Buddha’s Light Society’s ve-
getarian meditation, short-term retreats, Buddha City pilgrimage, as 
well as Chinese arts programs such as cooking classes, hand-copying of 
scriptures, Great Compassion Confessions Ritual, and so on, especially 
the lively teaching style of the Sutra Hall, are currently attracting many 
men and intellectuals and are a future force for the promotion of Budd-
hism in the world.30
2. Taihua si
Taihua si was built under the auspices of Hsing Yun, the founding 
master of FGS in Taiwan, and supervised by Hsing Yun, the former ab-
bot of FGS in Taiwan. The overall shape of Taihua si is that of a Chinese 
Buddhist temple. Adhering to the philosophy of “Respect and Inclu-
sion” and the spirit of “The Four Elements” of the Founding master of 
FGS, Taihua si is dedicated to promoting humanistic Buddhism in the 
region. Through the intermediary of the Vice Governor of Bangkok, 
30  Li , “The Way of Management of Contemporary Buddhist Organizations ,” 9.
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the Tourism Authority of Thailand has listed Taihua si as a recommen-
ded tourist attraction in Bangkok.31
Literature Review 
Religious market in Thailand
Buddhism has been long and deeply integrated with Thai society 
and life. People cannot live, grow old, die, receive education and me-
dical care, get married, put beams on their new houses, or travel to 
work without a temple and monks.32 Besides the family, the temple is 
the most important basic unit in village life in Thailand. Every village 
or cottage has a temple.33 The cultural and spiritual life of Thai people 
revolves around Buddhist temples. Monks play an essential role in the 
social reality of people’s lives. Thais have a traditional “accumulation of 
merit” model of faith. They believe that special powers on the part of 
monks, through wealth donations or religious practices, are transferred 
to the lives of the faithful, ultimately transforming their suffering in the 
world.34
The basic presupposition of Stark and Fink’s economics of religion 
or religious market theory is that, like the material economy, there is a 
similar exchange of supply and demand in faith that constitutes a reli-
gious economy or market. Definition: “the religious economy includes 
all religious activity in a society, including the ‘market’ of present and 
potential believers, one or more organizations that attempt to attract or 
maintain believers, and the religious culture offered by these organizati-
ons.” Stark and Fink argue that religious demand in any society is fairly 
stable and that all religious economies include a relatively stable set of 
market demand niches that are potential market segments for believers 
with specific religious preferences (needs, interests, and expectations). 
31  Li, “The “Blue Ocean Strategy,” 5.
32  Li-Liang Chen, “The History and Overview of Buddhism in Thailand,” Dharma Yin, 
no. 12 (2018): 1–12.
33  Yan Gao, “Experiencing Thai Buddhist Culture,” Qiaoyuan, no. 9 (2017): 2–18.
34  Li-Ping Fan, “Buddhism in Thailand and Thailand’s Industrialization,” Journal of Guangxi 
Normal University: philosophical and social science, no. 4(1995): 5–33.
P O L I G R A F I
96
Thus, Stark et al.’s theory is also known as the supply theory or supply-
-side explanation.35
Because of the popular demand for faith, monks in Thailand have 
had to assume the values and ideal goals of the faithful. The monks’ 
religious activities give believers a shared cultural experience and reli-
gious psychological satisfaction, giving them a sense of belonging and 
closeness to the sacred.36
SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats)
A SWOT analysis is a situation analysis based on the internal and 
external competitive environment and conditions, i.e., the main inner 
strengths, weaknesses, and external opportunities and threats closely 
related to the object of study are listed through investigation and arran-
ged in the form of a matrix. Then a series of conclusions are drawn by 
matching various factors with each other using a system analysis, and 
the conclusions are usually decision-oriented.37
Strengths, which are internal factors of the organization, include a 
favorable competitive situation, adequate financial resources, good cor-
porate image, technical strength, economies of scale, product quality, 
market share, cost advantages, advertising, and so on.
Disadvantages, which are also internal factors of the organization, 
include aging equipment, disorganized management, lack of critical 
technologies, backward R&D, shortage of funds, poor operation, pro-
duct backlog, poor competitiveness, and so on.
Opportunities, which are also external factors of the organization, 
include new products, new markets, new demands, lifting of foreign 
market barriers, mistakes of competitors, and so on.
Threats external to the organization include new competitors, an inc-
rease in substitute products, market tightening, industry policy chan-
35  Rodney Stark and Ching-Jin Chang, “The Economics of Religion,” Journal of Shandong 
University of Finance and Economics, no. 6 (2011): 20–31.
36  Zhiyin Yang, “The Regularity Study of Religious Economy - A Systematic Construction of 
Religious Economics,” Studies in World Religions, no. 5 (2012): 6–34.
37  Zhiping Fan and Yonghong Sun, “An Enterprise Knowledge Management Strategy Based 
on SWOT Analysis,” Nankai Management Review, no. 5 (2002): 3–23.
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ges, economic recession, changes in customer preferences, unexpected 
events, and so on.
Using this method, a comprehensive, systematic, and accurate stu-
dy of the scenario in which the subject of the study is located can be 
conducted so that corresponding development strategies, plans, coun-
termeasures, etc., can be formulated based on the results of the study.
How to apply the SWOT in the analysis of a religious institution
The positive orientation of religious culture can help promote 
society’s good and orderly development and play a positive role for 
religious people and believers in promoting economic and social de-
velopment.38 The application of SWOT in religious institutions has a 
certain value and significance for current and future issues of common 
concern and discussion in academic and religious circles, such as how 
to modernize religion in response to the needs of the times and society, 
how to explore and expand the theoretical construction and practice 
of human religion, how to correctly deal with the relationship between 
initiation and exodus, transcendence and secularization, and how to 
grasp the future development of religion in the context of globalizati-
on–all have certain value and significance.39 The questions of how to 
deal with the relationship between secularism and initiation, transcen-
dence and secularization, and how to grasp the future development 
direction of religion in the context of globalization are of some value 
and significance.40
Research Method
This paper focuses on the literature research method, observation 
method and interview method, field as well as social media visits and 
informal interviews with the two branches of FGS.
38  Li, “Three Features ,” 13–17.
39  Gao, “The Social Functions,” 38–38.
40  Tian-Hong Kuo and Jia Wang, “The Positive Role of Buddhism for Social Charity in 
Taiwan - Focusing on Fo Guang Shan and Tzu Chi,” Heilongjiang Ethnic Series, no. 3 (2012): 
187–192.
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Literature research method: Based on extensive references to aca-
demic works, papers, and temple memoirs in related fields, theoretical 
knowledge such as the sociology of religion are applied to analyze and 
study the marketing strategies of FGS.
Participant observation method: Mainly, we participated in the lives 
of the monks of FGS to understand their views on the church of FGS 
and the development of FGS culture in various places.
Informal interviews: Interviews were conducted with residential 
monks and laypeople, mainly to understand the impact of the various 
activities carried out on their ordinary lives and to analyze further whe-
re improvements are still needed for the smooth spread of the Buddhist 
movement in Thailand, represented by FGS.41 
SWOT Analysis 
The SWOT analysis has the advantage of considering the problem 
comprehensively, thinking systematically, and being able to “diagnose” 
and “prescribe” the problem. 
41  Xue-Cheng Yang and Xiao-Hang Zhang, “Application of social network analysis in mar-
keting,” Contemporary Economic Management, no. 31 (2009): 5–6.
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Strengths Weaknesses
1) Teachings (doctrinal theory-Humani-
stic Buddhism) are understandable and 
acceptable for Thai-Chinese, even Thais, 
given that it shares many commonalities 
with the dominant Theravada Buddhi-
sm in Thailand. 
2) The FGS conducts various religious 
activities and operates sophisticated 
art programs, such as Meditation, the 
New Year Festival of Light and Peace, 
Buddha’s Birthday Celebrations, Inter-
national Book Fairs and the Vegetarian 
Expo, and so on. 
3) The FGS is a well-known Buddhist 
brand within and outside Taiwan, with 
3,500 temples built in 173 countries 
across different continents. 
4) The FGS has been good at fund-rai-
sing through its sophisticated religious 
and arts in Taiwan and the Chinese 
communities in its hosting countries. 
1) The Chinese immigrants in Thailand 
have long intermingled with Therava-
da teachings and practices; it will take 
more time for FGS’s Humanistic Budd-
hism to gain wider recognition. 
2) The two branches lack monastic 
manpower, especially the Thai-speaking 
monastics, to organize significant religi-
ous and philosophical activities for the 
local Chinese communities who rarely 
speak Chinese Mandarin, even southern 
Chinese dialects. Local-born Chinese 
school. 
3) To build and maintain the muni-
ficent facilities in Thailand is costly 
and will consequently pressure FGS 
branches to attract donations and 
further escalate its competition with the 
local-born Chinese school. 
P O L I G R A F I
100
Opportunities Threats 
Though registered in Thailand as a civil 
foundation instead of a Buddhist tem-
ple, it has purposely built close relation-
ships with the Thai Sangha, especially 
the powerful Buddhist leaders and the 
local political figures, for protection. 
This questionable status presses FGS 
and its representatives to generate more 
supportive networks for existing and 
then expanding. 
The local-grown Jin Nikaya has been 
long questioning FGS’s legitimacy to 
act as a Buddhist temple in Thailand. 
As one of the four legally-recognized 
traditions under the Thai Sangha, the 
former bears unparallel influence within 
and outside of Thai-Chinese commu-
nities, especially among the local-born 
Chinese due to its long history and 
deep assimilation into Thai society. The 
disputes between these two institutions 
are not top secret despite manifesting 
in a silent manner at this point. We just 
hope these two Buddhist institutions 
will not resort to public fighting in the 
near future.
Since Thailand is the Southeast Asian 
country hosting the second largest 
Chinese population, only after India in 
this region, it is not difficult for FGS to 
gain a sizable share of the local religious 
market. 
The main market target of FGS is 
Chinese immigrants with a certain 
emotional bond with Chinese culture 
and religions. However, the almost 
zero Chinese proficiency, especially of 
the local-born Chinese, prevents FGS 
from gaining wider market recognition 
in Thailand. The problem, as menti-
oned previously, is that FGS failed to 
mobilize more monastics who can speak 
Thai to entertain the participants in its 
activities. Relying on the local interpre-
ter often ends up with some unexpected 
problems.   
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101
Conclusion 
FGS’s international expansion has been successful in the past deca-
des, given the enormous number of its branches across different con-
tinents and its strong networks with Chinese Buddhists in different 
hosting countries. This is commonly agreed upon and even praised by 
scholars in multiple languages. 
However, its expansion in Thailand, a country long dominated by 
Theravada Buddhism, leads to various challenges, even threats from its 
local competitors, according to the SWOT analysis above. Moreover, 
its weakness, such as the lack of Thai-speaking monastic manpower and 
the legitimacy of existing as a Buddhist temple, are exposed despite the 
various strengths it bears and opportunities it has created during its 
decades of struggling for wider market recognition. 
The authors hope this paper can inspire new approaches to studying 
this prominent and influential Buddhist institution, which has been 
active on the world stage for a long time. 
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