Wat Sarawat Monks Pay Respects to Senior Buddhist Leader

On Friday, October 16, 2026, Somdet Phra Wachirayan Thera (Thongchai Sukyanon), a member of the Supreme Sangha Council, Ecclesiastical Regional Governor of Region 11, and abbot of Wat Sarawat, together with the Wat Sarawat monastic community, paid respects to Somdet Phra Buddhakhosa Thera (Prayut Payutto) at his recuperation residence in Suphanburi province.

Somdet Phra Wachirayan had assigned the Wat Sarawat monks to request an audience with Somdet Phra Buddhakhosa for several appropriate reasons, but it had not been convenient and the opportunity had not been granted until this occasion, which combined multiple purposes:

1. To express gratitude for the senior monk's guidance during the ordeal when five Wat Sarawat monks were detained by local officials, leading to a seven-year legal battle from 2018 to 2024. During this period, Somdet Phra Buddhakhosa — who was a close Dhamma companion of the late Somdet Phra Phutthajarn (Kiao Upsen Mahathera), former chairman of the Sangha Council's working committee, former abbot of Wat Sarawat, and a revered teacher in that lineage — provided counsel and strategy to the five monks until the courts finally dismissed all charges in sequence. This kindness is remembered by all disciples in that lineage.

2. To mark the occasion of Somdet Phra Wachirayan receiving the royal appointment as a member of the Supreme Sangha Council on July 28, 2026.

3. In observance of the Buddhist Lent tradition where monks and monastic communities perform the Pavarana ceremony for their preceptors and revered elders.

4. On the 13th anniversary of the passing and merit-making ceremony for Somdet Phra Phutthajarn (Kiao Upsen Mahathera), the patriarch of Wat Sarawat, on August 10, 2026. Additionally, Somdet Phra Wachirayan and the Wat Sarawat monks presented a chronicle of the Wat Sarawat monks' legal case, detailing the events and litigation process, to Somdet Phra Buddhakhosa.

5. On the occasion of eight Wat Sarawat monks receiving royal conferment and elevation of ecclesiastical titles on September 21, 2026.

Following the Pavarana ceremony and paying of respects, Somdet Phra Buddhakhosa expressed heartfelt appreciation for the Wat Sarawat monks' loyalty and continued reverence over time, and gave a Dhamma teaching. He reflected on the long-standing bond between himself and the Wat Sarawat community, particularly during the era of the late Somdet Phra Phutthajarn (Kiao Upsen Mahathera), from jointly establishing the foundations of Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University (MCU) — now a stable and modern Buddhist university — over more than a decade of collaboration.

Somdet Phra Buddhakhosa also addressed the five Wat Sarawat monks and the broader community who endured the legal struggles, noting their patience and steadfastness in maintaining their monastic purity until all were fully exonerated, had their monastic status restored, and received royal appointments to the Supreme Sangha Council, with all five monks receiving title elevations. He offered this valuable reflection: "When obstacles are overcome, they become the cause for growth and flourishing."