Temple Exposes Monks Selling Royal Gift Items for Profit
Wat Tha Khanun in Kanchanaburi has publicly exposed monks who allegedly stole royal bestowed items — including ceremonial containers and gifts — to sell for profit. The temple's senior monk revealed that the Royal Household Bureau was forced to stop using traditional pin to containers at a recent royal banquet due to the thefts. The scandal involves temporarily ordained monks who exploited palace access for social media credibility before monetizing royal gifts, prompting stricter verification rules for monastic officials attending royal ceremonies.
Wat Tha Khanun posted a strong warning on Facebook about a brazen individual who stole royal bestowed items — pin to containers and yam phra rachathan — to sell for money. On November 11, 2026, the temple's Facebook page shared a message from Phra Kru Wilat Kanjanatham, a senior monk at Wat Tha Khanun, stating that over the past few days, the most serious issue discussed among senior administrative monks was someone audaciously taking royal gift items to sell for cash. The situation became so severe that the Royal Household Bureau had to replace pin to containers with paper bags during a royal banquet hosted by His Majesty the King two days prior.
When consulting senior administrative monks, they explained that most of these individuals are 'tung ting' — those who ordained temporarily — and when given the opportunity to enter the palace, they created chaos by trying to photograph themselves in every corner to post on social media for credibility, then turned everything they received into a money-making scheme. If you observe, every royal gift item bears the words 'Received Royal Bestowal' with the date written on it to prevent accidental mixing with other belongings. Even during the royal food bestowal to Pali examination candidates at Sanam Luang, the royal monogram on every food box was peeled off and placed in high positions — refusing to let anyone discard boxes bearing the royal insignia in low places.
The monk noted that his generation was trained that any disrespect toward His Majesty the King, Her Majesty the Queen, or the Royal Family was described as 'apariyanai will eat your head.' One wonders where that fear has gone, allowing such behavior to persist. The situation reflects that the Thai Sangha is suffering from 'internal rot' — our own members destroying ourselves.
Currently, if anyone receives a palace invitation and holds a monastic rank below the Raja Khana class, they must have status certification from successive administrative superiors: district, provincial, and regional chief monks. All four levels must assume responsibility if anything goes wrong. The issue originated from Kanchanaburi's own Sangha, which had appointed a 'Provincial Chief Monk Registrar' nationwide, but the appointments were revoked after it was found they lacked authority. However, provincial and district chief monk duties are heavy responsibilities requiring registrars to assist. Since the revocation without new appointments, Kanchanaburi's Sangha registrars attended a royal ceremony at the Grand Palace and were reprimanded by superiors — an understandable error since appointments were nationwide and revoked only recently.
Just as that problem seemed resolved, neighboring Phetchaburi had a monk who received registrar status, then disrobed, re-ordained, and used his old registrar credentials to attend a royal ceremony. When palace officials discovered this, new rules were imposed: anyone below the Raja Khana class — simply put, from the Samanakhana class downward — must now comply with stricter verification.
