Advice to Visitors by ThailandServicedApartments.com

Religion

Row of Seated Buddhas at Wat Suthat Statues Wat Suthat, Bangkok, Thailand

Thai law has a number of special sections concerning religious offences, and these cover not only Buddhism, the religion of the majority of the people, but also any other faiths represented in the kingdom. It is, for instance, unlawful to commit any act, by any means whatsoever, to an object or a place of religious worship of any community in a manner likely to insult the religion. Similarly, "whoever causes any disturbance at an assembly lawfully engaged in the performance of religious worship of religious ceremonies" is subject to punishment, as well as "whoever dresses or uses a symbol showing that he is a monk or novice, holyman or clegyman of any religion unlawfully in order to make another person believe he is such person."

In less legal language, here are a few tips on what to do and what not to do on a visit to a religious place:

In Thailand

Dress neatly. Do not go topless, or in shorts, or other unsuitable attire. If you look at the Thais around you, you will see the way they would prefer you to be dressed which, in fact, is probably not very different from the way you would dress in a similar place in your own country.
It is all right to wear shoes while walking around the compound of a Buddhist temple, but not inside the chapel where the principal Buddha image is kept. Do not worry about dirt when you have to take them off, the floors of such places are usually clean.
In a Muslim mosque, men should wear hats and women should be well-covered with slacks or a long skirt, a longsleeved blouse buttoned to the neck, and a scarf over the hair. All should remove their shoes before entering the mosque and should not be present if there is a religious gathering.
Buddhist monks are forbidden to touch or to be touched by a woman or to accept anything from the hand of one. If a woman has to give anything to a monk or novice, she first hands it to a man, who then presents it. Or in the case of a woman who wants to present it with her hand, the monk or novice will spread out a piece of saffron robe or handerchief in front of him, and the woman will lay down the material on the robe which is being held at one end by the monk or novice.
All Buddha images, large or small, ruined or not, are regarded as sacred objects. Therefore, do not climb up on one to take a photograph, or generally speaking, do anything that might show a lack of respect.