Luang Pho Ha's First Amulet Unveiled at Don Kai Dee
Luang Pho Ha Chantraso, the former abbot of Wat Don Kai Dee in Samut Sakhon, was a respected monk known for his contributions to education and community development. He helped establish the first secondary school at the temple and was later honored with a royal ecclesiastical title. His legacy lives on through the amulets and traditional medicine prescriptions he left behind.
Luang Pho Ha Chantraso received his monastic name Chao Khun Chantraso and remained at Wat Don Kai Dee, studying occult sciences with Luang Pho Aji and often going on tudong (forest wandering) to seek solitude. He earned the trust of the then‑abbot, who entrusted him with administrative, educational, and missionary duties. In the field of education, he served as a committee member for the royal examinations in 1927, as a provincial committee member for Buddhist studies in 1937, and as chairman of the royal examination committee in 1958. Together with local politician Boon Lom Srisuwann and assistant education officer Phongchai Chun Bangyang, he advocated for opening grades 1‑3 of secondary education at Wat Don Kai Dee, which was achieved in 1951. Classes initially took place at the temple’s municipal primary school before construction of a dedicated school began on June 29, 1955 and finished on November 21, 1955; the school was named Krathum Baen Wisetsmutkhun School in his honor. After Luang Pho Aji’s death in 1954, villagers and disciples invited Luang Pho Ha to succeed him as abbot. His ecclesiastical appointments progressed: he became a ecclesiastical judge in 1923, abbot of Wat Don Kai Dee in 1954, a preceptor in 1955, district sangha leader in 1958, acting provincial sangha leader in 1962, and acting provincial sangha leader of Samut Sakhon in 1974. He earned successive ecclesiastical titles: a junior monk in 1947, a senior monk with the honorific Phra Khru Wisesmutkhun in 1951, a senior monk with district‑level rank in 1962, a senior monk with special district rank in 1965, and on December 5, 1975 he was raised to the rank of Phra Rachakhana Chaummun Phra Sommut Khunachan. He devoted himself to developing Wat Don Kai Dee, overseeing the construction of roads and schools and sharing his knowledge of traditional Thai medicine, which turned his handwritten prescriptions into a widely used household remedy collection. He remained in charge of the temple until his peaceful death in the monk’s quarters on July 16, 1980 at 02:41 am, aged 93 with 72 rainy seasons. The amulets he created include Buddhist images, metal casts, and coins, all series.
