Buddhist monks live in peace with tigers (video)

Seth Auberon, Pat Macpherson, Amber Larson, Wisdom Quarterly; StrangeFeed.com

Tony, it's great! I'll karate chop massage you straight to Sleepy Town (strangefeed.com).

(Animal Planet)

Here, Kimba, try using chopsticks.

There is a temple in Western Thailand where devoted Buddhist monks live among unwanted tigers, nurturing them and releasing them into the wild when they reach maturity!

The controversial Tiger Temple (Wat Pha Luang Ta Bua) is a Theravada Buddhist monastery founded in 1994 as a Thai forest tradition temple complex that has become a sanctuary for abandoned wild animals.

The temple is in the Saiyok district of Thailand’s Kanchanaburi province, close to the border with Burma (which the dictators renamed "Myanmar"), some 24 miles (38 km) northwest of Kanchanaburi along the 323 Highway. 

Hey, your thirsty tiger scratched me!

The story goes that in 1999 a tiger cub was given to the temple by villagers because it had been abandoned by its mother. Unfortunately, it later died due to the inexperience of the monks regarding tiger keeping.

 

Soon several more tiger cubs were given to the temple to care for, and the rest is history. As of records up to 2012, there are more than 100 tigers living in the temple.

(Etienne Verhaegen) "The Little Buddhas and the Tigers" (Les Petits Bouddhas et les Tigres)

Big predator cats love milk (strangefeed.com).

Tourists are attracted from around the world, where they can see enormous tigers lazily lounging wild around monk caretakers who go about with their daily routines. Some wildlife organizations have claimed that the temple has no permit from the Thai Wild Animals Reservation and Protection Act of 1992 and should be closed due to shady dealings with a tiger farm in Laos, allegations based on an investigation between 2005 to 2008.

Fortunately, in 2008, ABC News reporters spent three nights in the monastery and found no evidence of calming drugs being administered to the tigers or any other mistreatment. Both Thai and Western employees who were interviewed claimed that the animals were well treated. The head of the temple was interviewed and stated that their mission is clear, "To breed tigers and release them into the wild.” When in Buddhist Thailand, visit this wondrous place!

(Journeyman Pictures) Thailand's Controversial Tiger-Taming Temple

Who's a good tiger? (strangefeed.com)

"Taming the Tigers" (2013): Thailand's Tiger Temple is one of the country's best known tourist attractions. Although marketed as a sanctuary to help conserve an endangered species, some activists claim it has a history of exploitation and abuse.

"If you're selling animal exploitation as a conservation project, then I have a serious concern," states Edwin Wiek of the Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand. There's something undeniably mysterious and majestic about tigers, even in captivity. But while tourists are told the temple is a sanctuary for rescued animals, conservationist and animal rights activist Sybelle Foxcroft claims they are treated appallingly. "I personally saw sticks being broken across tigers' backs." The temple claims "assertive treatment" is the only way to train these powerful animals. In stark contrast, Foxcroft describes it as "probably one of the most horrific things I've ever seen."

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Thailand's Tiger Temple is full of real meat eating predators (Steve Winter/NatGeo).

(National Geographic Live) Steve Winter visits Thai Tiger Temple trembling with terror.

Reese Witherspoon buys Buddhist temple

Note Thai Thervada Buddhist art pieces likely belong to former owner, a Vajrayanist.

But it's tiny. And it used to belong to actor Steven Seagal. And it's in Brentwood, an exclusive enclave in West Los Angeles, near UCLA, Beverly Hills, and the President Reagan mansion... So you can't come. Only Jim Toth is invited. And the Witherspoons. Maybe Ryan Phillipe. Oh, and of course the gardener. From this aerial view it seems not so much a "Buddhist temple," as reported, but a Thai miniature spirit house and Tibetan stupa or chorten. Source

Cambodia wants UN to resolve Thailand border Temple standoff

By Sopheng Cheang (AP)

PREAH VIHEAR, Cambodia - Cambodia asked the U.N. Security Council and its Southeast Asian neighbors to intervene in resolving a military standoff over disputed border territory around an ancient temple, stepping up its rhetoric against Thailand.

"In the face of this imminent state of war, this a very serious threat to our independence and territorial integrity, we have an obligation to resort to the U.N. Security Council," said Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong, using the harshest terms yet in the confrontation.

There was no immediate reaction from the Thai government.

The dispute over 1.8 square miles of land near the Preah Vihear temple escalated earlier this month when UNESCO approved Cambodia's application to have the complex named a World Heritage Site. More than 4,000 troops have been deployed around the temple and in the immediate vicinity since July 15.

The troops are to remain in place, but the two sides nevertheless reiterated their commitment to avoiding an armed conflict as a bilateral meeting in the Thai-Cambodian border town of Aranyaprathet ended without a deal.

• BBC Video: ("Row over Hindu temple grows")

Preah Vihear, Cambodia (www.hiwaay.net)

Preah Vihear temple complex, Cambodia

On Tuesday, Cambodia launched a diplomatic offensive. Hor Namhong made his statement during a meeting with several foreign ambassadors, including those from countries that are permanent members of the Security Council.

He said the Cambodian ambassador in New York Monday submitted his country's request for an emergency meeting of the council to find a solution to the problem in accordance with international laws. Cambodia is also seeking regional intervention.

Hor Namhong asked Singapore, the chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, to form a regional "inter-ministerial group ... to help find a peaceful solution to the current crisis and avoid military confrontation."

Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat said the Cabinet was waiting for a report from Deputy Prime Minister Sahas Banditkul, who is representing Thailand at the Singapore meeting.

"It is a sensitive issue and we are worried about the current standoff. We are waiting to hear from him before making comments," Somchai told reporters.

The Cambodian Foreign Ministry statement said talks failed "because Thailand insisted on using a map drawn unilaterally, thus violating Cambodia's territory."

It said Cambodia was adhering to a map, drawn up in 1908, which was endorsed by the International Court of Justice when it awarded the disputed temple to Cambodia in a 1962 ruling.

Thailand's "aggression" also violated the 1976 Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia drawn up by ASEAN, the statement said.

In a letter to Singapore's Foreign Minister George Yeo late Monday, Hor Namhong asked that the foreign ministers of Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam and Laos be included in a group to resolve the crisis.

"Thai troops with artillery and tanks are building up along the border, constituting a very serious threat not only to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Cambodia, but also to peace and stability in the region," he said in the letter seen Tuesday.

The ASEAN foreign ministers are holding their annual meeting in Singapore this week.

Thailand sent troops to the border after anti-government demonstrators attacked Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej's government for supporting Cambodia's request to designate the temple a World Heritage Site. And Cambodia responded with its own deployment.

The Thai protesters claim the temple's new status will undermine their country's claim to the disputed patch of land.

Despite the deadlock, the atmosphere appeared relaxed Tuesday between the two forces at the site.

Opposing soldiers mingled casually. Some were lying in hammocks, while others sat on rocks swinging their legs with their weapons on their laps or on the ground near them.

"Nothing has changed. We have received orders to continue maintaining patience" after the talks failed, Cambodian Brig. Gen. Chea Keo said Tuesday.

"We're disappointed that this has happened," U.S. Ambassador Joseph Mussomeli told reporters after the Tuesday meeting with Hor Namhong.

"The movement of troops is something that is always worrisome. When you have that many young men with that many weapons in that close proximity, there's always a danger of violence," he said, calling on both countries to try to resolve their standoff "in a peaceful, fair manner."

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Associated Press writers Ambika Ahuja and Sutin Wannabovorn in Bangkok, Thailand, Ker Munthit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and writer Sumeth Panpetch along the Thai-Cambodian border contributed to this report.