Dhammakaya Foundation Meditation Hall
BANGKOK, Thailand — Scott Smith, an expatriate American living in Bangkok and long-time member of SKAL Bangkok, was awarded a prestigious first-place prize on February 28 at an elaborate ceremony at the Dhammakaya Foundation in Bangkok’s Rangsit district. He won first place in his category by taking a test on Buddhist principles and writing several essays based on the same.
Smith, 41, a Hawaii native, is a lecturer at ABAC University in Bangkok in the tourism management department and is currently working on his PhD in that field. He entered the annual World Peace Ethics Contest sponsored by the Dhammakaya Foundation, a Buddhist organization with branches worldwide, and the World Peace Ethics Club.
The awards ceremony was attended by over 100,000 people in the Grand Meditation Hall on the grounds of the foundation which is located on the outskirts of Bangkok. The most venerable Luang Phaw Vitak, a Buddhist monk and the abbot at Dammakaya, presided over the ceremony and presented the award to Smith and the winners in other categories. Smith remarked in a video interview that “When I received the award from the venerable Luang Phaw Vitak I was just blown away.”
The contest was entered by several million people who took the test at 334 locations worldwide including overseas branches of the Dhammakaya Foundation. The Rangsit branch is the international headquarters of the foundation and is located on over 1,000 acres of land. To see the complete interview with Smith, please see the link below.
Video link: http://www.youtube.com/
For more information, contact Tom Aikins at tom.aikins@marketingbangkok.com or 668-420-1946.
Photo:
http://www.prlog.org/
