Berkeley Supports Thai Temple Sunday Brunch

During the last week of September, the Berkeley City Council unanimously (9-0) rejected the appeal filed by some residential neighbors of the Sunday Brunch at the Wat Mongkolratanaram Berkeley Thai Temple. Neighbors had complained about noise, smells and crowds. The popular brunch attracts 200-1000 people on Sundays.

But city staff, elected officials, Temple members and lawyers from the Asian Law Caucus agreed that the Buddhist community's feed people a tasty brunch is part of the religious practice of the congregation, and is therefor protected under the law. Berkeley Buddhists earn merit by volunteering at brunch, thereby serving the temple.

The seventeen-month long issue rallied Thais and Thai Americans living in the area. There had been six mediation sessions, four Zoning board hearings, and several compromises by the temple including cutting Sunday hours by half and moving their cooking inside. Dionne Jirachaikitti, a community advocate at the Asian Law Caucus, observed that, "To a new generation of Thai Americans, this issue marked the first time second generation Thais in America have come together to organize for a cause." The issue was an "example of religious exclusion aimed at communities of color, in particular immigrant communities, that are less aware of zoning laws and more vulnerable to attack." Asian American activists formed the Save the Thai Temple (STTT) collective.

The University of California at Berkeley's student senate passed a bill in support of it. More than 2,000 people signed a petition to "save Sundays" at the temple.

The Thai Temple organized the brunch for 25 years and is close to the Ashby BART. At the city hearing, Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates asked the Temple to increase their recycling efforts.