Found this in the dev log

[VedalkenBear]

Something else that I was given to believe regarding Buddhism in its various forms (and I'm fairly sure that KO can back me up on this) is that the Buddhism practiced in Eastern Asia (i.e., China and Japan) has a fundamental difference from the Buddhism practiced in Southeast Asia and, I believe, India. That fundamental difference would be the ability of others to help the believer towards enlightenment. (The answer to the question is 'yes' for East Asia and 'no' for Southeast Asia.)

I am not surprised at all that the tradition found in Thailand (Theravada, I believe it's called, or alternately Inhayana) has no issue with individuals entering and leaving their 'faith'. The Mahayana tradition, as found in China and Japan, would probably be more likely to have issues, but neither probably have the issues that 'leaving the faith' does with almost any Western religion.