The DOI matches its Crossref record.
Buddha‐izing a Global City‐State: Transnational Religious Mobilities, Spiritual Marketplace, and Thai Migrant Monks in Singapore
Abstract
This article proposes an argument that transnational mobilities are culturally and religiously rooted. Religion and human mobility have been inseparable for centuries. I It either encourages border‐crossing movements of clergies and laypersons away from home, or channels human interaction as well as tension across the lines of ethnocultural and national differences. This article uses the case study of migrant Buddhist monks from Thailand, their cross‐border religious mission, and complicating aspects of their religious practices in Singapore to illustrate some subtle roles of religion in the broader context of transnational mobility and settlement in a multiracial and multicultural city‐state. Under Singapore’s racial and religious harmony policy, Thai monks have become mobile agents to spread the Dharma and to serve the Buddhist population under some regulating structure and scrutiny in Singapore.
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In the citing paper
“Like their Sri Lankan counterparts, Thai Buddhists made their way to maritime Southeast Asia during the colonial period and established temples in Singapore.”
From The Road Less Travelled: From Landways to Seaways in the Study of Theravāda Buddhism (2021) · cites this paper as Kitiarsa 2010
In the citing paper
“He also discusses how rituals are an important part of Thai religious life in the diaspora.”
From The Road Less Travelled: From Landways to Seaways in the Study of Theravāda Buddhism (2021) · cites this paper as Kitiarsa 2010
In the citing paper
“Most of the Thai Buddhist temples in Singapore, as Kitiarsa highlights, have assigned monks to conduct ritual blessings and consultations in the main shrine for both Thai and Singaporean devotees on a daily or weekly basis (2010: 266).”
From The Road Less Travelled: From Landways to Seaways in the Study of Theravāda Buddhism (2021) · cites this paper as Kitiarsa 2010
In the citing paper
“Kitiarsa offers fascinating insights into the ' exportation of Buddhist monks, canonical knowledge, ritualized skills, and religious objects ' from Thailand to Singapore.”
From The Road Less Travelled: From Landways to Seaways in the Study of Theravāda Buddhism (2021) · cites this paper as Kitiarsa 2010
In the citing paper
“Pattana Kitiarsa ' s study shows that many more Thai Buddhist temples were established in Singapore after the Second World War and especially during the 1980s (2010: 260 -262).”
From The Road Less Travelled: From Landways to Seaways in the Study of Theravāda Buddhism (2021) · cites this paper as Kitiarsa 2010
In the citing paper
“He observes that many Thai Theravāda monks are ' magical and ritual specialists ' who have been invited by their Thai or Singaporean Chinese followers to ' give sermons, provide magical services, perform special rituals, and offer astrological readings and consultations ' in Singapore (2010: 264).”
From The Road Less Travelled: From Landways to Seaways in the Study of Theravāda Buddhism (2021) · cites this paper as Kitiarsa 2010
In the citing paper
“Kitiarsa concludes that the growth of Thai Buddhism in Singapore since the 1980s is the result of ' strong spiritual and administrative ties between the Buddhist authorities and communities in Thailand and Singapore, ' as well as the popular demand for Thai monks ' ' magical rituals and amulets ' by the Singaporean Chinese Buddhist community (2010: 269 -270).”
From The Road Less Travelled: From Landways to Seaways in the Study of Theravāda Buddhism (2021) · cites this paper as Kitiarsa 2010
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
The Road Less Travelled: From Landways to Seaways in the Study of Theravāda Buddhism
Chia, J. M.-T. (2021) · Zenodo · doi:10.5281/zenodo.4727625 · Cited by 4
Metadata
- Authors
- Kitiarsa, P.
- Affiliations
- National University of Singapore (SG)
- Corresponding author
- Kitiarsa, Pattana
- Venue
- Mobilities
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2010-05
- Volume
- 5
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 257-275
- ISSN
- 1745-0101 (ISSN-L)
- 1745-011X
- OpenAlex
- W1976283734
- Cited by
- 19
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2024: 2 · 2022: 3 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 1 · 2016: 1 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 1 · 2012: 2
- FWCI
- 3.70
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Mobilities (publishedVersion)
- National University of Singapore (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Ministry of Cultural Affairs
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Demography › Diaspora, migration, transnational identity
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Religious studies › Indian and Buddhist Studies
- Social Sciences › Geography, Planning and Development › Religious Tourism and Spaces
- Keywords
- Buddhist monks, dharma, missionary work, Singapore, Thailand, multiculturalism, Buddhist diaspora, religious settlement
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Cite CoChat for the checks on this page, and the paper for its own findings.
- This page
- CoChat. (2026). Citation check: Buddha‐izing a Global City‐State: Transnational Religious Mobilities, Spiritual Marketplace, and Thai Migrant Monks in Singapore. https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.1080/17450101003665184
- The paper
- Kitiarsa, P. (2010). Buddha‐izing a Global City‐State: Transnational Religious Mobilities, Spiritual Marketplace, and Thai Migrant Monks in Singapore. Mobilities. https://doi.org/10.1080/17450101003665184
