Is there a specific reason why in Thailand the Buddha is usually depicted as being skinny versus other nations where he appears to be fat? ?

This is what I learned in college in an intro to Buddhism class:

Siddharta Gautama, who later became the Buddha, was a rich young Indian who was shielded from all pain and sorrow. He left the palace as a youth for the first time and became aware of loss, pain, suffering, and impermanence. He asked why such things exist, and sought the path to defeat them.

This led him to pursue traditional Hindu ascetism, involving enormous physical deprivation and self-discipline, including lengthy fasting. This is the skinny, emaciated, pre-enlightened Buddha.

After realizing that the answers he sought were not in the immolation of the flesh, he went to the opposite extreme, attempting to find enlightenment in libertine self-indulgence. This also proved fruitless and he began to travel. Enlightenment came to him when he sat to rest under a Bhodi tree. This is why the fat, laughing Buddha is often depicted sitting under a tree.


Peri Dwyer Worrell...Show more

"What’s the difference between the fat Buddha and the skinny Buddha?
The skinny Buddha was born Prince Siddhartha Gutama in India, and searched for the solution to the problems of disease, old age and death. In his quest he became ‘awake’ and laid out the the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path as the solution to the problem of suffering and the path to enlightenment.
He is the founder of the philosophy of Buddhism.

The fat one, usually very happy and laughing, is not ‘the’ Buddha.
In China, his name is Budai Luohan, a Chinese monk, believed to be an earlier incarnation of Matreiya the future Buddha.

In Japan, his name is Hotei, the god of contentment and happiness, and the god of good luck from Shintosim."

http://theoracle.ca/whats-the-difference-between-the-fat-and-skinny-buddhas/

"The skinny Buddha is Sakyamuni Buddha, the historical Buddha. The fat one is not really Buddha at all, but an Icon of a Chinese monk whom they believe was a reincarnation of Matreiya the future Buddha. In Chinese, his name is Budai Luohan and in Japanese, Hotei."

https://www.religiousforums.com/threads/skinny-buddha-vs-fat-buddha.61127/
~...Show more