Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2001. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Bangkok Post - May 10, 2001
Anjira Assavanonda
Chai, 25, said he was surprised to learn that people who want to get ordained must submit medical details including blood test results.
He overcame the obstacle by submitting someone else's certificate which showed him to be in good health. "I have no choice. It was my family's wish to see me in robes. They did not know my HIV status, and I couldn't let them down," Chai said.
He had spent three weeks in the monkhood, and it was meaningful to his spirits.
"Three weeks in the temple was better for my mentality. I felt calm and peaceful, and began to get closer to dhamma."Some of his fellows who took entry to the monkhood for granted lacked self-discipline. Some were forced into the monkhood by their families. They complained of a boring life and wanted to go back home.
Chai said the experience was different for him. He had faith in the religion and wanted to experience the peace of monkhood before he died.
The right of people with Aids and HIV to be ordained is championed by Aids activists and NGOs.
Supatra Nakhapiew, director of the Centre for Aids Rights, said barring HIV-positive people was in violation of their rights.
Nimit Tien-udom, of Access, an Aids counselling centre, told a story of an HIV-positive friend who was ordained at a temple in Kalasin. He was told to quit the monkhood when he disclosed his HIV-status to the abbot.
"Society should learn that people infected with HIV are as productive as other people. Despite their HIV status, they are as capable as they were before," Mr Nimit said.
He asked whether monks knew enough about the disease and what role they were supposed to play.
Chaokhun Metheedhammacharn, who looks after ordination at Wat Suwannaram, said tougher rules were issued by the Sangha Council.
The council wanted people being ordained to be free not only of Aids and HIV but tuberculosis, leprosy and elephantiasis.
Stricter rules came in after the murder of Joanne Masheder, a British backpacker who was killed by a drug-addicted monk in the grounds of a temple in Kanchanaburi.
"Loosening measures as we have in the past made temples a shelter for criminals and wrongdoers trying to escape legal or social punishments," the senior monk said. The council feared monks with Aids and HIV would spread the virus to others.
"It's not easy to contract HIV, and it's not difficult either, especially for monks who have to live together. They have to share things, like clothes, spoons, and water glasses.
"New monks, in particular, have to stay with others, and we're not sure if this could cause transmission, but it's better to prevent it beforehand," he said. More than that, monks shaved their heads regularly. The disease could be transmitted through razors.
Luang Phor Sung, of Wat Nongpakchee, said he sympathised with those barred from ordination, but the temple had to follow the rules.
If people really wanted to practise dhamma, they did not have to get ordained.
"Dhamma can be practised everywhere, not only in the temple. Even at home, without the monk's robes, if they have pure minds and spirits, dhamma can help," said Luang Phor Sung.
But for people such as Chai, temple life has made a big difference.
"Being ordained keeps me attuned to Buddhist principles. The religious atmosphere, the robes reminded me of the monkhood and helped strengthen my spirit," he said.
Phra Alongkot Tikapanyo, who works with Aids patients at Wat Phra Baat Namphu in Lop Buri, said monks were poorly equipped to deal with the disease.
"HIV is not easily contracted, either from sharing a spoon or drinking from the same glass. It can be simply prevented with proper treatment," Phra Alongkot said.
For HIV-positive people who remained in strong health, barring them from the monkhood was unfair and discriminatory, he said.
"Monkhood could be the greatest chance in a man's life, maybe the last thing he does before he leaves this world," he said.
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