Thai constitution drafters vote not to make Buddhism national religion

Thailand's constitution drafting committee on saturday rejected a proposal to enshrine Buddhism as the national religion in the next charter.
The Constitution Drafting Assembly voted 66 to 19 against the proposal to recognize Buddhism followed by about 90 percent of Thailand's 64 million people as the official national religion.
A member of the Constitution Drafting Assembly says religion is a very sensitive issue, which has never before been mentioned in the constitution.
Prasong Soonsiri, the chairman of the Constitution Drafting Committee who opposed the effort, had declared previously that the draft constitution should leave people free to practice their own religious beliefs in a democracy.
The decision triggered protests by Buddhist monks and others who have been staging rallies and hunger strikes in favour of the measure.
Most Buddhists, both monastic and lay people, agree that the new constitution must clearly state Buddhism as a national religion, whereas, some non-Buddhists feel that doing so would lead to religious conflicts and downgrading people of other religions to second and third grade.
Southern Muslims have long complained of discrimination in the Buddhist-dominated country.
Buddhist monks had campaigned fiercely for its inclusion, with 3,000 rallying outside the Thai parliament earlier this month. A similar protest in june saw the monks bring nine elephants marching through the streets of Bangkok.
Buddhist activists reacted angrily to the Constitution Drafting Assembly (CDA) decision, with a group of monks on saturday tipping over a huge replica alms bowl outside parliament.