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

MONKS AND HIEHAHCHY JN NllHTIIEHN TIIAJLANil 139
get started. To some Mabanikaia monks, theThammayut are"parasites"
living on the huge Mahanikaia tree. Its enemies accuse it of catering
to the politically powerful, the wealthy, and thefarangs.26 Its friends
see it as symbolizing a purer Buddhism that is an exemplar for its more
popularly supported competitor. In any case, the Sect is dynamic in
its search for new footholds in Mahanikaia territory, and in the province
it has won powerful supporters just as it has always done since its royal
inception over a century ago.
Conclusion
We have reviewed the history of the hierarchy in Thailand to
stress the royal role and then the governmental role in supporting and •
controlling what would otherwise be an independent monkhood,living
on local support and guided mainly by the Vinaya. We have suggested
that the monkhood naturally, according to its traditions, accords leadership
to seniority and depends upon the silence of unanimity to govern.
The abbots were already established, supported, and maintained by a
loyal laity long before there was a national hierarchy, which we view as
something superimposed. The presence of an administrative system in
its present form we attribute to secular interest in control, not to a
monastic propensity toward hierarchy.
We have reviewed the. organization of the hierarchy in detail in
order to explain how it works out at the provincial level. . Our conclusion
is that it is a rationally neat system that is applied gently, not
harshly in terms of strict imposition of all its rules, with ample room for
exceptions when necessary. By the time it reaches down to the commune
level, its presence .on a daily basis is not too demanding, for the wording
of national Sangha Ia ws leaves ample room for local freedom of movement
within their spirit. That is not, to say that people are not excited or
deeply involved when honors from the hierarchy are given or administrative
rituals take plac~. The hierarchy bas a certain beauty as a
system, mid since the monks are Thai, they, like the rest of their
countrymen seem to enjoy the hierarchy for its own sake as a symbol of
an ordered society functioning under a highly respected monarch.
26) F 11 rang : a term usually used to describe \lOY ~on-Asian foreigner, usually
focusin~ on Cauca~ians d1,1e to their omn\fresence,