Vtopia in Thailand 

Ratchathani Asok is an amazing community: it’s a Buddhist, vegan, organic, drug-, alcohol-, and tobacco-free, solar-powered, communal, service-oriented, self-sufficient, peaceful village without crime or even conflict. Whether to work and what jobs to do if one does work is voluntary, as work is not used to guarantee necessities nor strictly for production, but primarily for social and spiritual purposes. It’s truly a utopia! 

Started in 1994, Ratchatani Asok currently has over 500 members, many living in upcycled sunken teak boats or in structures that are otherwise sustainable and who eat their organic, whole-foods, plant-based meals communally outside their homes. There is also housing for those who have “nowhere to stay”, as I was told. Some of the members also work outside of the village, but most stay in it most of the time. 

Trying to be self-sufficient on their ~1000 rai of land (~ 400 acres or ~ 160 hectares), this healthy, sustainable, spiritual, and compassionate community grows all its food without relying on imports, chemicals, or any factory foods. They have rice and soy fields and even engage in aquaculture for micro-greens, setting up duckweed ponds for high-protein plants, while using fermented urine for biodynamic agriculture. 

They also make their own tofu and grain milk and have an online herbal business to earn money. Further, there are flowers and little vegetable gardens throughout the village, increasing the amount of beauty, food, and self-sufficiency for the people there. “Their avoidance of foreign goods springs from their general negative attitude to luxury goods and any kind of luxurious life”, according to Marja-Leena Heikkilä-Horn. 

A woman who lives there rescued her three papaya trees, like her “daughters” she told me, to escape the flood of 2022, and then re-planted them afterwards. There is reverence for all life in this loving community. In all Asok communities, life and resources are protected, waste and destruction are minimized, and there is an emphasis on reusing or upcycling and then recycling and, of course, composting. The idea is for the least resources to produce the most goods — as well as the most good — while minimizing any bads. 

Instead of sitting still with eyes closed, as many meditators do, the members of this movement believe that people should serve their community and fellow beings with eyes open. One could, of course, do both. Because they want their residents to be pro-social and communal, instead of individualistic and self-centred, there are, shockingly, no pets and no TVs in the community. That’s also why the village shares communal meals in their dining room. There is no advertising, no brand names, no logos, and no litter throughout the village. And if errant plastic is found anywhere, a resident will be sure to clean it up. 

I met a couple of other women in their mid-60s, both former professionals who now happily live in this impressive village. They said they enjoy the peace and the principles of the village and they love living with their fellow Buddhist vegans. 

Ratchathani Asok has lots of morally-themed art throughout the village, in addition to a school and a hospital, where people learn, work, grow, and heal together.  

The community hosts monks, nuns, and meditation retreats and has built a beautiful, upcycled boat building for this purpose.

Although Ratchathani Asok warmly welcomes visitors, they discourage donations. People generally cannot donate unless they visit at least 7 times and understand the community! I guess I’ll have to return. Even then, non-material donations of labour are preferred because it is more in line with spiritual uplift. Indeed, the Asok movement is so generous that one of their slogans is: “Our loss is our gain.” 

Oddly perhaps, the community has a Disneyfied theme-park area called Buddhaland with various statues, fake rocks, a pond, and a waterfall that flows on the weekends. There is also vegan food and shops on the weekends to accommodate visitors.  

And it’s a place worth visiting!

Dan Brook, PhD is the founder and leader of Hands on Thailand, a study-abroad, service-learning adventure in Chiang Mai from San Jose State University in California.