Religious Transformation And Peasantry In Yasothon (Baha’i Study In Contemporary Thailand)

This paper will examine religious and socio-economic life of Northeast - Thailand particularly Yasothon people identified as peasants’ community. Yasothon people have engaged with Buddhism elaborated as magico-animism as their majority belief, while they also welcomed to other religions for survival of their life. Recently, there is unacquainted phenomenon, religious transformation and conversion among peasantry in Yasothon. Such phenomenon is signaled by the presence of Santitham Wittayakon School established by Baha’i3 community, a religious minority group in Thailand. Baha’is has rapidly existed in Northeast since 1960s and succeeded to build private school for all ethnic groups and socio-economic classes, lower and upper middle class including peasants. Furthermore, this discourse will simultaneously analyze how peasants converted from Buddhism to Baha’ism and what kind of motivation making them interested to Baha’ism as social and religious movement. Due to Baha’is are currently developed in term of amounts; about thousands of Baha’is followers they are spreading mostly in agriculture areas and in the frontier of Northeast - Thailand. In summary, this study will objectively look at peasants’ movement, local beliefs, and the shift of Buddhism to Baha’ism, gender role and motivation of religious conversion in Yasothon