The International Network of Engaged Buddhists (INEB) is collaborating with the Spirit in Education Movement (SEM) NGO on the “Spirit of Music Festival”—a two-day event planned for 30–31 January 2027 at Wat Thai Watthanaram, a Buddhist monastery in the western border town of Mae Sot, in Thailand’s Tak Province.
SEM, which is based in Bangkok, said the festival was intended as the first step in a longer initiative to turn temples, churches, and mosques into community hubs for people from Thailand and Myanmar. Mae Sot, on the Thai border with Myanmar, has received a growing numbers of people from Myanmar since the February 2021 military coup, and the Myanmar junta’s introduction of conscription in 2024 has added to the influx, particularly young people and students.
“This is an interactive community experience where participants are invited not only to enjoy performances but also to engage, learn, and build meaningful relationships across cultures,” SEM remarked. “By combining artistic expression with shared experiences and community conversations, the Spirit of Music Festival seeks to transform cultural diversity into a foundation for social harmony and collective resilience.”
Myanmar’s military declared a state of emergency on 1 February 2021, after detaining President Win Myint, State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi, and other members of the National League for Democracy (NLD) party. The coup d’état took place hours before the country’s new parliament was due to convene, following a general election in November 2020 in which the NLD secured a decisive victory. Since then the junta has sought to consolidate power through military-led suppression.
“Although many organizations provide humanitarian assistance, education, and protection services, relatively few initiatives intentionally create long-term community platforms that strengthen relationships, interfaith collaboration, and mutual support between Thai host communities and people from Myanmar,” SEM explained. “As humanitarian actors and NGOs inevitably evolve or conclude their projects, there remains a need for trusted local institutions that continue serving communities beyond the externally funded interventions.”
INEB is a worldwide network of individuals and organizations who are committed to promoting and working toward social justice, compassionate societies, and world peace. INEB emphasizes the importance of developing an ethical, Dharma-based approach to its activities, and encourages members to work collaboratively and respectfully with individuals and organizations upon a foundation of shared values and aspirations.
The Spirit in Education Movement (SEM) was founded by Buddhist scholar and activist Sulak Sivaraksa in 1995 with the objective of offering alternatives to mainstream education rooted in spiritual and societal transformation. Since 1996, SEM has been committed to empowering grassroots and civil society actors in Myanmar to build a movement of people that empowers local communities to address their own needs in a participatory and sustainable manner.
“The Spirit of Music Festival is designed as more than a two-day cultural event,” SEM noted. “The word ‘spirit’ represents the human spirit that connects people across culture, faiths, and national boundaries through compassion, creativity, and hope.”
The festival is organized around four distinct strands: music performances by traditional, ethnic, youth, spiritual, and contemporary artists; hands-on cultural exchange, including dance and music sessions and demonstration matches of chinlone, a traditional sport related to sepak takraw; keynotes, lectures, and panels on migration, identity, and the role of the arts in peace-building; and a community marketplace with Thai and Myanmar food, crafts, and local products.
The organizers anticipate more than a thousand participants from Thai and Myanmar communities. They also aim to establish new relationships across cultural boundaries and develop partnerships among artists, schools, religious leaders, community organizations, and public agencies.
“We believe that religious institutions, including temples, churches, and mosques, are uniquely positioned to become these enduring community anchors,” SEM added. “They are trusted public spaces that have served communities for generations and will continue doing so long after individual development projects have ended.”
The festival is scheduled for the final weekend of January, marking the anniversary of the 2021 coup. Rather than focusing exclusively on remembrance, the organizers intend the event to emphasize hope, resilience, solidarity, and peaceful coexistence through shared cultural experiences.
For INEB and SEM, the initiative reflects an understanding of engaged Buddhism in which compassion, nonviolence, and mutual responsibility are expressed in practical cooperation. By bringing people together around music and culture, the organizers hope to lay a foundation for long-term collaboration and mutual respect and support.
“We propose the Spirit of Music Festival as the inaugural milestone of a longer-term initiative to transform sacred spaces into community hubs that foster social cohesion through interfaith dialogue, cultural exchange, and locally led humanitarian engagement in Mae Sot area,” SEM emphasized “Rather than being a one-time event, the festival represents the beginning of an annual community platform where culture, spirituality, arts, and community participation become pathways toward peaceful coexistence and collective resilience.”
INEB and SEM welcome anyone who would like to join or support the Spirit of Music Festival initiative.
SEM contact information:
Email: [email protected]
Bank details for those who wish to support the Spirit of Music Festival:
Bank name: The Siam Commercial Bank
Branch: Charoen Nakhon
Account name: Spirit in Education Movement
Account number: 024-2-70156-9 Savings Account
SWIFT code: SICOTHBK
“The Festival will also reflect SEM’s longstanding commitment to engaged spirituality and regional solidarity. For more than three decades, SEM has worked alongside faith communities, educators, youth movements, and civil society organizations across Asia to promote peace, justice, compassion, and sustainable communities through its wider partners. Building on these relationships, the festival seeks to create a welcoming platform where people of different faiths, cultures, and nationalities can come together to cultivate shared values of compassion, non-violence, mutual respect, and our common responsibility for one another.”
See more
International Network of Engaged Buddhists
INEB – International Network of Engaged Buddhists (Facebook)
Spirit in Education Movement
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