The national religion of Thailand is Theravada Buddhism. The most Thai culture is based on their religion; and foreigners would easily find that Thai calendar is in Buddhist Era. There are also many Buddhist temples which attract tourists. As Buddhism is widely spead in Thailand, it is common to run into a monk not only in the temples but also on the road. Monks in Thailand are highly respected, and there are a few rules people should remember.
Women should never touch a Buddhist monk, and women cannot hand something to monks directly. The monks will never accept anything directly from a woman's hand, and if women want to hand something to monks they have to hand to a man around them. Then the man can hand something to monks. It's nothing about gender discrimmination. The monks have vowed to seperate themselves from the world, and it could be temptations to monks to be touched by women. Also since handing something directly might have chance that women's hands will touh the monks hands, the monks deny something from women's hands directly.
