BANGKOK (Reuters) - As many as 300,000 Buddhist monks and devotees gathered at 32,000 temples across Thailand to pray for world peace in the wake of the attacks on the United States and strikes on Afghanistan, officials said on Wednesday.
In Bangkok, some 400 monks in saffron robes chanted late into Tuesday night in the glittering Temple of the Emerald Buddha in the landmark Grand Palace, while 400 women followers dressed in white robes encircled the temple.
Similar religious services were held across the country through the evening.
Smarnjit Piromruen, head of Thailand's Department of Religious Affairs, told Reuters the education ministry organised the nationwide prayers for peace after the September 11 attacks on the United States and the strikes on Afghanistan.
"The people of the world means people in any religion, not only the Buddhists. So the monks pray for everybody in the world, for the happiness, the prosperity, for the peace," Smarnjit said.
"The Thai people, they believe in Buddhism. When they listen to the prayers they will pray alongside, also at the same time, or meditate at the same time and then it would bring harmony to their minds," he said.
Predominantly Buddhist Thailand is not directly involved in the U.S.-led attacks on Afghanistan, but Bangkok has allowed U.S. aircraft involved in the air strikes to use the Vietnam War-era Utapao base in eastern Thailand for logistics purposes.
The country's roughly six million Muslims -- out of a total population of 62 million -- are not happy with the government's stance and have called for a review of the policy.
Early this month, some 30,000 people gathered in the Muslim-dominated south of the country to protest against the strikes on Afghanistan as Islamic leaders urged a boycott of goods from the United States and its allies.