SPLIT-LEVEL CHRISTIANITY IN THAILAND: A SURVEY OF LOCAL THAI BELIEFS AND PRACTICES AMONG THAI CATHOLICS

Popular religiosity, which involves a mixture of older local beliefs and practices, with newer more universal religious practices, is very common in Thailand. These older beliefs and practices are rooted in animistic beliefs and practices present before the coming of other religious traditions. This phenomena – which is often described as syncretism – hasbeen well documented with regard to Thai Buddhism. But what has not been investigated is its presence in Thai Catholicism and Christianity. While Thai Catholics confess themselves as Catholics, in their daily lives, they still hold older local Thai beliefs and practices. This paper will consider this phenomenon through the concept of ’split-level Christianity,’ a term coined by Jaime Bulatao. And it will discuss the attempts of the Catholic Church in Thailand to accommodate those local Thai beliefs and practices through various kinds of inculturation.