Life
The grandson of a Chinese immigrant, whose surname was Lim, Sulak Sivaraksa was educated in Bangkok and at the University of Wales, Lampeter, where he is now an honorary fellow in Buddhism. Upon his return home, he became the editor of Social Science Review magazine. Many considered it the leading Thai intellectual journal of its time. By 1968 the Social Science Review had become “the intellectual voice of the nation." Also in 1968, Sulak founded the Sathirakoses-Nagapradipa Foundation (SNF), which publishes “the intellectual successor” to Social Science Review and acts as an umbrella organization for a group of NGOs. Soon after his return to Thailand, he directed his energies towards the development of sustainable models for a rapidly changing economic and social environment. The military coup of 1976 forced him into exile for two years. At this time he toured Canada, the US and Europe to lecture to academic audiences. Because of the tragedy of the coup, Sulak’s commitment to peace was strengthened. Since then he has been championing nonviolence in war torn and repressed countries like Sri Lanka. His devotion to peace and nonviolence is demonstrated by his leadership and membership in international peace organization like Buddhist Peace Fellowship, Peace Brigade International, and Gandhi Peace Foundation. After he returned to Thailand, Sulak was prompted to establish the Thai Inter-religious Commission for Development (TICD), and soon thereafter Sulak was appointed chairperson of the Asian Cultural Forum on Development (ACFOD) and the editor of its newsletter, Asia Action. In 1982, Sulak established the Thai Development Support Committee as a way to coordinate other nongovernmental organizations in order to better tackle large problems that they could not tackle alone.
He foreign contacts he made while in exile proved beneficial when Sivaraksa was arrested in 1984 for lese majesty, causing international protests which pressured the government to release him. Sivaraksa was again charged with lese majeste in September 1991 after a talk he gave at Thammasat University about the repression of democracy in Thailand. Sivaraksa fled the county and went into exile until he was able to convince the courts of his innocence in 1995. He was awarded the Swedish Right Livelihood Award in 1995, the UNPO (Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization) award in 1998, and the Indian 'Millennium Gandhi Award' in 2001. He was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by the American Friends Service Committee in 1994.
Sulak was a strong critic of deposed Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. He publicly accused Thaksin of adultery at rallies organized by the People's Alliance for Democracy. However, he has never cited any evidence for his claims. During a protest on 26 February 2006, Sulak called Thaksin a pitiful dog. Sulak's comments were condemned by Somsri Hananantasuk, Chairperson of Amnesty International (Thailand), who said that such words could provoke violence.
In 2007, he spoke out against proposals to declare Buddhism Thailand's 'national religion' in the new constitution, arguing that to do so would exacerbate the existing conflict in southern Thailand.
Sulak Sivaraksa also appears in the feature documentary film about the Dalai Lama, entitled Dalai Lama Renaissance.
Sulak Sivaraksa is an advocate for social and political change in his native country, Thailand, as well as on a global scale. Sivaraksa has written several influential works that have both inspired thousands of people to work towards justice and provoked controversy from political leaders. Nonetheless, Sulak Sivaraksa’s speeches and other writings discuss political and economic corruption in Thai government, universal ethics and socially engaged Buddhism (his website). Some of Sivaraksa’s most influential works include his autobiography- Loyalty Demands Dissent, as well as Seeds of Peace: A Buddhist Vision for Renewing Society, and Conflict, Culture, Change: Engaged Buddhism in a Globalizing World. Sulak Sivaraksa’s writings, as well the organizations he has created express his desire for a moral and ethical world from a Buddhist perspective. Sivaraksa’s religious faith is clearly the foundation of all of his political and social beliefs, yet he uses his religious beliefs to create social change in a modernist fashion.
Sulak was arrested on November 6, 2009 for lèse majesté. He was bailed out shortly thereafter.
He is councilor of the World Future Council.
Read more about this topic: Sulak Sivaraksa
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