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BACKGROUND OF THE TEMPLE
The Brisbane Thai Buddhist Temple is a spiritual and community based organization that administers to the spiritual, moral and cultural needs of the Thai Buddhist community. The Temple is a pivotal component of the community, offering spiritual services including religious guidance, support in times of illness, counseling services, marriage ceremonies, funeral processions, language and cultural classes.
Daily Lunch Ceremonies are held, where the Thai Community offer food to the monks who are unpaid for all of their work and who fast after the pre-midday meal. The monks rely totally on their parishioners for all of their material needs. Between 6-10 people attend the Lunch Ceremonies Monday to Friday and up to 40 people on the weekends.
On special religious ceremony days (four each year - see below and the Thai Culture page), between 2,000 and 3,000 people from the local Thai and Australian community attend the Temple.
  
Special Ceremonies
The Buddhist calander has many special ceremonies. We have many very special ceremonies which include: the Buddha’s Days (Makha Puja, Vesakha Puja and Arsanha Puja), Mother's Day (the Thai Queen Mother's Birthday), Thai New Year [Songkran] and Robe Offering [Tod Kathin] Ceremony.
Currently we have more than 500 member families, who are actively involved with the Temple and approximately 2000 non-members, who reside in South East Queensland and use the Temple’s services and attend during festivals and other celebratory occasions.
  
Providing a Free Service to the Whole Community
Wat Thai Buddharam provides a valuable service to the community. The population of Thai people who were born in Thailand, but live in Queensland is 3,050. Approximately 2,000 of this population reside in South East Queensland.
Wat Thai Buddharam has developed a cultural program to strengthen ‘mixed’ families and to support migrant Thais and their non-Thai spouses. The program helps to make the Thai parent feel looked after and benefit from their children's cultural understanding of the Thai way of life. This aims to produce an empathetic family experience. In this way Wat Thai Buddharam has been pro-active in ensuring the immediate and future welfare of the Thai community and their families in Australia. Wat Thai Buddharam is profoundly involved with the local community, as it serves as a focal point for all Thai people in our community.
Thai Language School
Our program assists and encourages our youth and adults to learn Thai as a second language. This greatly benefits the wider community, as it may, in the future facilitate cultural exchange essential in a globalizing community. This has benefits that stretch from our local community, out into our national community.
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Children are taught to read, write and speak Thai, free of charge every Sunday during the primary school terms.
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Non-adult Thais are taught Thai language, Thai culture and Calm and Insight meditation.
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This helps spouses and step-children to communicate with their Thai side of the family, both here and in Thailand.
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Adult non-Thais traveling to Thailand for work or pleasure, are keen to learn as well.
  
Benefiting Everyone
Our festivals and religious events provide an opportunity for isolated members of the Thai community to meet other Thais and develop friendships.
The Thai and local Australian people benefit from all of the services that the Temple provides. This includes:
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Counselling and support to assist people to deal with individual crisis.
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The language and culture program, which brings together Thai-Australians on a social level and assists their children to learn present Thai culture, past Thai culture [Thai history] and Thai language, that is, their Thai heritage.
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Raising local awareness of Thai culture and providing an opportunity for the broader community to learn about Thai people and Thailand. For the broader public, this means greater understanding of diversity and cultural exchange.
Improving Relationships in Families & Communities
The benefits of our programs will echo throughout the entire community. Benefits such as:
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A strengthening of the entire community through its youth oriented focus. Flow-on effects extend directly to the families and the broader community.
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Children will be connected to their Thai cultural heritage and will feel more accepted in the Thai community.
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A reduction of the social isolation associated with newly migrated Thais. This will assist adjustment to Australia and help create happy households.
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An increase in our children’s self-esteem and their pride in a ‘mixed’ cultural identity.
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