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

REVIEWS 321
English translation. Each entry is given a cross-reference, and every
single technical term could be traced back to the exact page in the Pali
Canon and its commentaries. Obviously this is the work of a very
serious scholar.
Part II deals with a Thai-English Buddhist dictionary. Part III is
the English-Thai Section, plus an appendix on taking the Five Precepts,
etc. Those two parts are not so extensive as the first one, yet they can
familiarize students with exact Buddhist terminology, at least with
terminology which Buddhist scholars tend to use, e.g. "vanity l.Jll::" and
""" J 0 • •
UIJU~ lnVllat10n."
Dictionaries like the latter two parts have been attempted before
by other Thai scholars like Sujeep Bunyanupap of Maha Makut Buddhist
University. Had our compiler had the time, he might have been able to
do a more complete job.
When reading the book under review, the reader may not realize
that the author received his formal education entirely within the
traditional Pali system; having graduated from Maha Chulalongkorn
Buddhist University, he became a lecturer there as well as its Assistant
Secretary -General, besides being an abbot of his own monastery. With
so much administrative work, a large teaching load and "priestly" duties,
Chao Khun has yet managed to find the time to write such a scholarly
work and compile such a dictionary. One cannot but admine him.
With his present sabbatical leave at Swarthmore College, we can be
assured that he will have more time at his disposal; hence his contribution
to our understanding of Thai Buddhism will even be greater than
before.
S. Sivaraksa