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

MONKS AND HIEllAHCHY IN NORTHERN THAILANJl 133
better, we interviewed 15 out of the 17 Commune Heads for Chiengmai
Muang in order to study an urban administrative system at work.23
We found that the average number of years of experience in t~e
monkhood (phansa) was 35 for the Commune Heads, and most of them
had seniority in their commune, although in a very few cases older monks
bad refused the position, and a younger monk was given the post. All
were abbots in their communes except one who lived outside his commune
and another who lived at the commune's most prestigious monastery but
under the abbot who was the most senior monk in the commune. This
monk without seniority was clearly nervous about his role, even though
everyone grants that in the hierarchy, ability can take precedence over
seniority. But in this case, the Commune Head restricted his role to
receiving and sending reports, and he did not presume to tour his area
as one who sets the discipline and leads the others. The usual situation,
however, was that the Commune Head had seniority and was the abbot
of a prestigious monastery as well.
Two of those we interviewed were acting Commune Heads, and
neither wanted to stay in office, one more interested in teaching and the
other too busy as an abbot famous for astrology and counseling. All the
monks interviewed were na·tives of Chiengmai Province, and all but three
were natives of Cbiengmai Muang. It is important, however, .to realize
that some of the religious communes of Chiengmai Muang reach out into
the countryside several miles like spokes from a bub, and thus one
Commune Head may live among rice fields and deal with farmers in a
rural, conservative area, while another Commune Head may be in the
heart of the modern city and have the royal and progressive Wat Pbra
Singh in his domain.
The majority of the Commune Heads felt that the most time-consuming
of their official duties was that of governing. They, of course,
have to meet with the District Head at least three times a year, and some
said they did so monthly. There was considerable variety in how often
the Commune Heads )]let with the monasteries in their commune. The
23) One of the two monks we were not able to interview was in Malaysia, and the
other was in the hospital.
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