The Only Thai Monk in the Village New Wales

Rhymney, a council estate in Caerphilly,

is home to the only Thai Buddhist monk in Wales.

The head monk sent me to here. I'm very worried.

I think, "I cannot do anything here."

When we had a call to say that there were Buddhist monks moving to Rhymney,

the general consensus was it's somebody who's off on leave

having a joke. Nobody believed us.

He has one Welsh follower who left Christianity,

converted to Buddhism and became a monk for two weeks.

It was a life that I could quite happily go back to,

if it wasn't for the fact of my family responsibilities,

my professional responsibilities.

And there is a problem having a Buddhist temple beside the estate.

It's not meant to be a prison,

either to keep people out or to keep people in.

That can happen in my house where I live. I was scared, to be honest.

The monk lives in the temple,

which is beside a housing estate in Rhymney

and across the road from protected cottages that cannot be demolished.

After only one visit to the area in 2009,

the head monk thought it would be the ideal location

for Wales' first and only Thai Buddhist temple.

The first time he came here and saw the property, he liked it.

We didn't know about Wales

and we didn't know about people or the area, to be honest...

Sawat, 46, originally came from a farming family in Thailand,

where he was first ordained as a monk.

Having worked in London for five years, he was sent to Wales,

where Buddhism is the sixth most popular religion.

His mission - to support Wales's 500-strong Thai community

and spread Buddhist teachings.

HE CHANTS

We all see him walking up and down the street, like.

-That's it.

-That's it. That's all.

-They wear, like, dress things.

-OTHER BOY GIGGLES

-They do.

-They do, don't they?

Young people, they still laugh

and still look at us like something...

I don't want to say we are a joke, what we are looking for us...

But we understand, because what we wear is different from them.

MOTORBIKE ENGINE ROARS

Meditation needs a lot of quiet and peace.

And when we have some problems, it makes us feel worry.

Maybe it's a problem in the future.

Well, it's been going on for the last two years.

All the youngsters break in people's houses,

off their face on drugs and meow meow.

Gone rough around here, man, real rough.

It ain't safe to go out now.

And they burn cars up here, the lot.

It's a wonder they ain't up here now on the motorbikes and that.

MOTORBIKE ENGINE ROARS

It's like the other week we had armed police

and everything up the street, a boy had a knife to a woman's throat.

His mother's throat, so... And that's just round your corner.

Sawat encountered his own difficulties when he first arrived,

after raising a Thai flag on his front gate.

I...

I get in the morning, I didn't see the flag there. So I have a look...

So, it's broken down

and it's burned. I don't know who has burned this.

The building opposite the temple is very old.

Almost every week someone come to burn...

..the house and the children come to play around inside.

The listed houses have become targets for vandalism.

At night, about 9 or 10pm...

I heard something outside

and I see the lights from firemen.

I have a look out my window. The fire's quite a big fire.

Windy and through to the house... I'm quite nervous,

because I just never seen like this before.

If something happened in my house,

it's quite difficult to call people who are close to me.

I'm quite scared, to be honest.

Sawat now no longer ventures out onto the estate alone,

worrying about drawing attention to himself.

Yes, I hear that, someone coming.

Maybe Andy.

Swat's solicitor and close friend Andy has lived

and worked in Swansea for the past five years.

Today, he has come to ask for advice on converting his garage

into a Buddhist prayer room.

We weren't sure whether to have a Buddha image in the garden...

He first travelled to Thailand in 1998,

where he met his wife and became a Buddhist.

When they moved back to Wales,

his mother supported Andy's new way of life.

She accepted Sawat and she accepted...

Not so much accepted the Buddhism part of it - I think that would be wrong to say -

but she accepted the peace and tranquillity that came with it.

After being diagnosed with cancer,

she understood his need to turn to Sawat for support.

His mum get the cancer...

So he asked me what is the best thing for him to be...

..to do something for his mother.

I told him, if possible, to become a monk for a while.

But he has to ask his mother first.

After spending six months learning Buddhist teachings,

Andy's time as a monk was short-lived.

For those two weeks,

it was a life that I could quite happily go back to,

if it wasn't for the fact of my family responsibilities,

my professional responsibilities.

The peace, the tranquillity, the respect...

..has remained with me.

I can't use the same respect and tranquillity as a solicitor, because I wouldn't be a good solicitor.

With only one temple for Welsh Buddhists,

Andy wants to build another place of worship in Wales.

Well, what I'd like to do, and we do need your guidance, is...

this would be the area for the Buddha images.

-Mm-hm.

-And what we were thinking about is...

obviously not being able to do anything as grand as that.

-The room is for meditation.

-For meditation.

I know the shrine room is a mess at the moment,

but come the first week in April, it's going to be beautiful.

-Thank you very much indeed.

-Thank you. Hope that you finish soon!

It's going to be finished in the next two weeks.

-Where's wood, where's wood? Quick!

-HE LAUGHS

Five miles from Andy's house is Swansea town centre,

and today a member of the Thai community has asked Sawat to conduct a blessing.

This used to be one of the many shopping streets of Swansea.

This is the first time he has done a public blessing in Wales.

It's very, very strange for me today.

It's the first time for me in the shop or in the centre like this,

nobody in the forest!

-Is it strange having lots of people around you?

-Yes, yes.

Like, people looking at me

and what we are wearing is different from people.

And how does that make you feel?

-Shy.

-HE LAUGHS

The tradition is for blessings to be performed by an odd number of monks,

and two others have travelled down from Birmingham.

Kachana, the owner of the stall, recently moved into the market.

I feel very excited and all of my friends come to support me.

SAWAT CHANTS

SAWAT CONTINUES CHANTING

LISTENERS REPEAT CHANT

SAWAT CONTINUES CHANT

LISTENERS REPEAT CHANT

We try to not show off about who we are.

About what we are doing.

MONKS CHANT IN UNISON

Much to his surprise, someone else takes advantage of Sawat's visit.

It was nice, something different. They said they could do it,

so I thought after all these years in the market, we could do something,

-have it blessed.

-And it has uplifted the market,

-it's such a nice atmosphere.

-The atmosphere's been brilliant. It really has.

-And the food was excellent.

-Yes.

-Really nice.

Back on the estate in Rhymney,

there have been 178 reported crimes in the past three months.

Trouble has now spread from the cottages next door to the temple grounds.

This is the second time his shed has been broken into.

And there has been an attempted break-in at his prayer room.

I think they come in this way.

They just come up from the gate and they come to break that.

They just break on top here, then pull out here

and firstly they tried this one.

If they try to get in the house, quite serious, if they can get in.

-Hello.

-Hello.

-Hiya.

Do you want to show us up in the shed?

Yes, yes, sure. Come through.

Did it happen overnight?

Yes. Sometime in the night.

-They come to break the window.

-Yeah.

-This one up here.

But I think it just happened, because here there's nothing...

-Nothing...nobody's come in?

-Yeah.

Don't feel you're targeted in any way, because it's not against you.

They obviously thought that this was being used a shed.

We've got a crime prevention officer involved, so we've got the window alarms

and the extra security there, but we can also put cameras in.

That's something that you can do,

because we will help you so much as well,

but it's important that you take these security precautions as well.

Call us first rather than relying on somebody else to do it for you.

-Thank you.

-All right?

I don't think it was a surprise as much,

purely because of the area that we're in.

What surprised me was at times the amount of problems they had

and it's from the younger generation,

rather than the older generation.

And therefore, having something as strange as this -

people in orange robes walking around, chanting -

something unusual always attracts attention.

ALARM WAILS

So, it's maybe to protect us about...

what happened in the night-time.

This is a place of peace, this is a place of tranquillity.

It's not meant to be a prison,

either to keep people out to keep people in.

It goes against the whole philosophy of Buddhist teaching.

In this case, I feel not comfortable

for people who would like to come to stay to practise meditation.

They will be scared when they know what happened nearby the temple.

I think it's the time now to move on.

The previous week, after a long struggle with cancer,

Andy's mother passed away.

But he still wants to drive Sawat to view a possible relocation

of the temple to a house in Bridgend.

..property and see whether a) it's going to be suitable

-for our needs, and b) whether we can have it.

-Yes.

-OK.

-We can see.

The property is on the market for half a million pounds,

which may be more than Sawat and the Buddhist community can afford.

-Oh. Hello. Good morning.

-Good morning, pleased to meet you.

Yes, nice to meet you.

I've never had a Thai Buddhist monk come anywhere near myself

or my property, to be quite honest.

-Morning.

-Nice to meet you.

-Nice to meet you.

-I'm David.

-I'm Sawat.

-Hello, Sawat.

-Hello.

-You've come to have a look at this bungalow?

-Yes.

-OK, no problem, I'd be very pleased to show you around.

-Yes.

-It's done very nicely.

-Yeah, it is.

-Fitted very well.

-Yeah.

-All good quality tiling and fixtures.

-Very good quality.

Wine rack there, I don't know if you'd use that.

THEY LAUGH

-Put whatever drinks you want in.

-No, we're not allowed.

No, I heard you say that. All the glass is toughened,

so as far as safety is concerned, they're all individually locked.

It's regarded locally to be a reasonably good area here.

We're thinking about renting money from the bank

and from the people who like to support us.

Hopefully we can get some money from donation.

After the year that we've had with Sawat up in Rhymney and...

HE SNIFFS

..the week I've had with the loss of my mother,

I think it's about time something happened.

I really do think something happened. Sorry.

Rather than contacting his headquarters in London,

Sawat will first try to raise all the money he needs locally.

And today, the long-established Tenby Thai community of around 20 families

have come together to support him.

CHATTERING

She's got to go to work today, though...

Like Andy, Robert also married a Thai bride.

In Thailand, they get treated with so much respect

and then to come here and they're laughed at

and people talk about them and, well, invade their privacy.

I think if they understood the monks and how they feel and their attitude

towards life and people - they are so friendly and peaceful.

As you know, Buddhist monks wouldn't harm a fly, they literally will not

kill anything at all, no matter what the circumstances.

They're the kind of people who'd rather get ate by the tiger than shoot the tiger.

SAWAT LAUGHS

On paper, they probably picked the right place,

because it's in the middle of Wales, which seems probably a good idea.

But as it happens, it's a bit difficult to get to,

people can't find it, they get lost coming up here.

And they have had some problems with the locals.

CHATTERING

THEY CHANT

HE SPEAKS IN THAI

The visitors have brought a donation towards the new temple.

The raised just over £1,000,

a small contribution towards fundraising for a new home.

It's the day of Andy's mother's funeral

in his converted garage in Swansea.

If I was in Thailand, I would be able to be ordained as a monk

just for the day or two, so I think it's nice to have a haircut

to show respect for the monks and also for my mother.

-OK?

-OK.

Things around the prayer room had to be brought forward

because of Mum's passing. When Sawat comes today now,

it'll be the first time he's seen it in its complete, finished form.

When the hearse comes, Mum will come in like royalty,

like she deserves and, um... Like she deserved and deserves.

Welcome home, Mum.

Welcome home.

Andy's son Yoan has brought his own personal tribute.

It will go with the face... Up here.

Why did you decide on the Welsh flag for Gran?

Gran was very proud of her heritage and was very passionate about Wales

and it seemed appropriate to have the Welsh flag on her.

This is the first time a funeral like this has happened in Wales.

Here?

So I will now follow what Sawat says and does.

Um...

You will see the Buddha statue, the Thai culture,

the Thai flags and the monk flags.

So, the monks...

-Just the same.

-HE CHUCKLES

Three more monks and a Buddhist nun have come down from Birmingham

to support Sawat.

This is not the opening of the prayer room that anyone had in mind.

The Thai community have been so supportive

and yet my own family have been so disruptive.

Have you seen my notice anywhere in the post?

Some members of his family expected a more traditional funeral.

No, no, no. You're more than welcome, more than welcome.

Andy's brother turns up, but doesn't want to stay.

-Sorry, guys.

-Right, see you around.

MONKS CHANT

Today marks the start of the Thai New Year,

which takes place between the 13th and the 15th of April.

Still way off raising the money for the new temple,

Sawat e-mails the head monk in London to try and get extra support.

The Thai New Year celebrations will be in Cardiff,

where he will have further opportunities to fundraise.

CHATTERING

This Buddha or this big one?

-The big one.

-The big one? Oh...

Today we can see people to support the temple.

They do many things for the temple just by donation.

They can give a hand.

I feel happy. I can be a good friend for them.

In the evening yesterday, the head monk from London called me,

asked about the new place.

After this festival's finished,

maybe a few days I will have a meeting for trustees

to talk about the new place, then we move on, step by step.

HE LAUGHS

Andy's journey following the death of his mother has been difficult.

You know, the idea of New Year - it's the Thai New Year,

it's the year of blessing, the year of cleansing...

And the more I thought about that, the more I thought,

"I can't face the crowds in there."

It's when the older generation would sit down and under Thai tradition,

the younger generation would go and pour water over their hands

and their feet. And I just thought, "No..."

You know. Although Mum didn't come to these, it's the thought.

Sawat is also concerned about having to celebrate in Cardiff,

rather than at his temple in Caerphilly.

I feel...sorry,

because in Rhymney it's quite difficult to do like this

in the temple in Rhymney.

I be happy, healthy and good luck.

And I put some here...

Sawat yesterday had a quiet word with me and...

I need to go to the temple and just go through the meditation

and the process of mindfulness,

where you turn your negatives into positives.

And the positives into success.

HE SPEAKS IN THAI

Two weeks have passed since the New Year celebrations.

Sawat has just received bad news from the head monk,

who can't provide the rest of the money required for a new temple

in Bridgend.

MOTORBIKE ENGINE ROARS

He wants to continue his work in Wales

and, for the meantime, has to stay in Rhymney.

We tried to buy,

but we got a problem about money,

because we come to count our money, it's not enough for that place.

My only hope is - and prayer is -

that Sawat and the trustees of the Sanghapadipa temple

are able to find a good place to be,

cos the place they're at at the moment is bad.

And they cannot do what they're here to do where they are.

I think it's a good time in the summer

to put this property on the market.

So many properties we're looking for in Cardiff, Cowbridge, Bridgend...

Desperately trying to find something nice for them. We will.

I know we will.

When we sell this house, we can move on,

because at the moment we cannot do anything.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd