Revered monk Somdet Phra Maha Ratchamangalacharn, aka Somdet Chuang, abbot of Wat Pak Nam Phasi Charoen in Bangkok, has died at the age of 96.
Somdet Phra Maha Ratchamangalacharn
The abbot had been receiving kidney dialysis treatment for five years.
He died peacefully yesterday at Siriraj Hospital after being admitted on March 26 last year, according to the hospital.
Somdet Chuang was born Chuang Sudprasert on Aug 26, 1925 during the reign of King Rama VI, in Bang Phli district of Samut Prakan. He was the second of four children in the family.
At the age of 14, he was ordained as a novice at Wat Sangkha Racha in Lat Krabang district and ordained as a monk at 20 on May 11, 1945, at Wat Pak Nam Pasi Charoen. He founded the Luang Pho Sod Wat Pak Nam Foundation to promote the teachings of Buddhism and the Dhammakaya meditation method revived by the Luang Pho Sod Wat Pak Nam, or Phra Mongkol, about a century ago.
In 1965, he became the abbot of Wat Pak Nam.
He was made acting supreme patriarch on Jan 20, 2014, but King Rama IX favoured the abbot of Wat Ratchabopit for the position.