Thai Buddhism in America: an historical and contemporary overview

Abstract

This article describes the history and practice of Thai Buddhism in America from the early 1970s, when the tradition first arrived, to the present. It is the first systematic historical overview of the tradition in the United States and is based largely on unique information gathered over an eighteen-month period in interviews with the Abbots of eighty-seven Thai Buddhist temples in America. After providing a brief history of Thai immigration, the paper presents and analyzes the history and current locations, leadership, attendership, and activities of Thai Buddhist temples in the United States. At the center of the paper is evidence of the multidimensional ways Thai Buddhism is adapting in the American context.