Mae Ji

Mae Ji

Mae chee (Thai: แม่ชี, RTGS: Mae Chi, ) are Buddhist laywomen in Thailand occupying a position somewhere between that of an ordinary lay follower and an ordained monk.

It is still illegal for women to take ordination in Thailand, based on a 1928 law created by Prince Chinnawon Siriwat, then the Supreme Patriarch. He based this on the fact that the Buddha allowed senior female monks (the Bhikkhuni Sangha) to give monkhood to women. But, citing the belief that the Theravada Bhikkhuni Sangha died out centuries earlier, the Prince commanded that any Thai monk who ordained a female "is said to conduct what the Buddha has not prescribed, to revoke what the Buddha has laid down, and to be an enemy of the holy Religion...". The most recent case brought to the Supreme Court of Justice is that of Samana Phothirak, a monk who has been ejected from the Thai Sangha after being convicted of breaching the monastic laws repeatedly. Phothirak then created his own sect of Buddhism and ordained about 80 bhikkhunis in 1998, leading to his imprisonment for 66 months on several successive counts of "causing schism amongst the religion".

Mae chees have traditionally been and still are marginalized figures in Thai society. During the 20th Century, new movements to improve the lot of mae chees emerged. But the situation is still far from being acceptable under modern standards of human rights, with other Thai women often the most vocally opposed to women wearing robes. The Thai Bhikkhuni Sangha has been revived by Venerable Dhammananda, who has not been imprisoned. But opposition from high-ranking Thai monks seems to have discouraged mae chees from joining her.