The Journal of the Siam Society Vol. LXIV, Part 1-2, 1976 - Khamkoo

120 John P. Ferguson and Shalardcbai Ramitanondh
At the provincial level, it is difficult to determine just how important
the honorary system is. There are not many advanced Pali scholars
for the King to reward. In 1970, of the 516 abbots for whom information
is available in the province, only one had achieved a Pari an 7-9 level
in Pali studies (the three highest grades), fourteen had Parian 4-6, and
only two had Parian 3 (Dept. of Religious Affairs, I970:Table 18).
There were thus only a total of 17 of the 516 reporting abbots who
qualified for royal attention in the educational area. There are also only
four royal monasteries in the entire province with its total of just over
1,000 wats, although the influence of these four is considerable, as noted
above. The abbots of three of these royal monasteries in Chiengmai
certainly have great prestige that involves a high honorary rank and a
fairly high leadership position in the administrative hierarchy. The
main opportunity, thus, at the provincial level, for the state to distribute
honor is through recognition of the regular Sangha administrative
positions. The following Table gives a rough estimation of the relationship
between the two systems and the number of monks involved (aU
Mahanikaia):
Number of Monks
Holding Hierarchy
Position in Chiengmai
Administrative Position Honorary Title Range Province
Province Head
(Chao Khana Changwat) R. Thep (#6)
1
Deputy Province Head
( Rong Chao Khan a
Changwat)
District Head
(Chao Khana Amphur)
R. Saman (:j.j-8-1 1)
P.K. Sanyabat (#19-27)
2
19
Commune Head
(Chao Khana Tambon) P.K. Sanyabat (#37-41) 139
Abbot (Chao Al!'at) (no particular title) .932