Bangkok, Thailand - As soon as the government announced its campaign to encourage kids to enter temples by paying them, one fact became clear _ the religious institution is in despair. An initiative of the Social Development and Human Security Ministry, the campaign is to ensure that more people, particularly children, will walk into the temples and be closer to the spiritual good.
Target groups are students under Grade 6. Each will be given a report book in which the temple visit will be recorded.
Those making 20 visits to religious places will be entitled to 1,000 baht payment.
The money comes from the so-called ''education fund'' which at this stage will last for one year. There is no report, however, about how much money will be used for the fund.
In principle, the places of worship, which will be listed under the project, totalling 80 in Bangkok and the provinces, can be Buddhist temples, mosques and churches as the campaign is designed to embrace all major religions without religious discrimination.
But the fact that the launch date has been fixed for Maka Bucha Day which comes tomorrow, and the venue, at Wat Udomthamposa Krisana Wararam in Thawi-Watthana district, shows that it is Buddhism that is in the campaign's focus.
This is more clear given the concern expressed by a senior official at the Office of Women's Affairs and Family Development during a press conference on the campaign, that today fewer people care about making a visit to Buddhist temples, compared with those holding the Islamic and Christian faiths.
And the new campaign, at least in his view and that of some ministry officials, would be an answer to people's indifference towards the religion _ which is yet to be proven.
It is not deniable that the campaign springs purely out of good intentions _ it is good to bring children close to religion, said Social Development and Human Security Minister Paiboon Wattanasiritham, who pointed out that ''bringing children to temples, churches or mosques is one way to get them close to Dharma and goodness. They will grow up as good adults in our society.''
The campaign reminds us of a now-abandoned project launched a while back by the then culture minister Uraiwan Thienthong, with the aim of promoting Buddhism by setting up ''Buddhism corners'' in department stores.
A number of department stores participated, but few people paid attention to the activities.
Sooner rather than later, the project evaporated.
It is not uncommon that more people prefer the shopping malls to temples, as the latter have failed to adapt themselves to today's world, and monks bear the image of people in the old world, while their teachings are not relevant to current society.
In many cases, Buddhism is reduced to religious ceremonies while the core of the Lord Buddha's teachings are rarely observed _ either by monks or laymen.
Worse, some temples choose to stick to Buddhist commercialism _ an act that causes a big dent in the faith of those people who seek an end to secular suffering.
That is the main reason people have no interest in temples, or the religion.
With regard to the campaign, it is ironic that money, a worldly tool, is being used to draw people towards religion and to seek spiritual good.
Under the campaign, the selected temples will get a monthly budget for use in ''brushing up'' teaching activities. We have yet to see how that will work.
Needless to say, due to the ''easy money'', it is likely that some children will join and this will make the campaign last a bit longer than the previous attempt.
With the report book, it will be possible to calculate the number of participants, which can be used, by some, as an indicator of the campaign's success.